Taking a shot at perfection
Warriors, Hawks hit the road with unbeaten records
WATERLOO — A three-game win streak is nothing to sneeze at, especially when it comes on the heels of a two-year losing streak.
That being said, Waterloo Warriors head coach Chris Bertoia will be the first to admit his young squad will move up to another weight class Saturday when they take on the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa. The Warriors (3-0) are riding high after wins over Windsor, York and Toronto, but expect a stiffer challenge against the Ravens (1-2), who dropped a threepoint decision to the mighty Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in their last outing and were far better than the score would indicate in a 23-9 loss to McMaster.
“No disrespect to the previous teams, but they are the teams we needed to start beating to turn the corner,” said Bertoia.
“This is the next step and it’s going to be a tough task, no doubt.”
The Golden Hawks (2-0) are also on the road this weekend and will take on the Queen’s Golden Gaels (0-2) in Kingston.
The Warriors have relied on the one-two quarterback punch of Tre Ford and Lucas McConnell to lead the offence this season, but it’s uncertain whether Bertoia will have that option at his disposal Saturday.
Ford suffered an upper-body injury in Saturday’s win over Toronto and returned to practice Thursday, after four days of therapy. The first-year QB will travel with his teammates to Ottawa on Friday morning, but Bertoia listed him as a “game-time decision” when asked about his status.
Carleton’s defence will be a tough nut to crack, with or without Ford. Linebackers Leon Cenerini and Josh Walsh lead the conference in tackles (10.8 and 8.7 per game, respectively) and defensive end Kene Onyeka is third in sacks with four. Frederik Robitaille is another standout at defensive end.
On offence, Carleton quarterback Michael Arruda has thrown for four touchdowns and has averaged 248.7 yards per game.
“They’re 1-2, it’s their homecoming game, lowly Waterloo is coming in 3-0 and they’re going to want to make a statement. There’s no doubt about that,” said Bertoia.
Waterloo’s rushing attack could play a huge role in Saturday’s game, which means the running back tandem of Dion Pellerin and Brandon Metz will play keys roles, especially if Ford is unable to go.
Ford leads the team with 109.7 yards per game, Pellerin is next at 72.3 yards per game, and Metz is averaging 55 yards per game.
Meanwhile, the No. 5 nationally-ranked Golden Hawks will take nothing for granted against a Gaels squad that has lost two games by a total of six points. Kingston dropped a 14-13 decision to the Ottawa Gee-Gees (3-0) in their last outing Sept. 4, so will have had two weeks of preparation for Laurier.
“A couple of plays here and a couple of plays there and they could easily be a 2-0 football team,” said Laurier head coach Michael Faulds.
The Golden Hawks gave up 21 fourth-quarter points in their last outing against Carleton, a game that saw Laurier rack up 576 yards of total offence. Running Levondre Gordon trotted for 206 yards and quarterback Michael Knevel completed 22 of 37 passes for 373 yards. Kurleigh Gittens Jr. caught 10 passes for 130 yards.
The Golden Hawks were strong defensively in their opening win over Toronto, but coughed up 551 yards of total offence against Carleton. The defence looked especially vulnerable through the air, as Carleton quarterback Michael Arruda connected on 27 of 51 passes for 441 yards.
The ebbs and flows, said Faulds, are part of maturation process.
“You don’t want to be playing perfect football right now. You still want to be chalking up the wins, obviously, but the goal is to be playing as close to that perfect game, in fifth gear, come playoff time,” he said.
Following this weekend’s action, the Warriors and Golden Hawks will both turn their attention to next week’s annual Battle of Waterloo contest.
This year’s instalment goes Saturday afternoon (Sept. 23) at Warrior Field.