Golden Hawks aim for summit of football mountain
Every team wants to plant flag at the top, says coach Faulds
WATERLOO — Faces change, opponents change, but the goal remains the same.
The Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks are once again a team with championship aspirations as they prepare for their Ontario University Athletics season-opener against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The teams, which have played each other just once since Golden Hawks head coach Michael Faulds took over the program prior to the 2013 season, will meet Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) at University Stadium.
“The last two years, we’ve been in the Yates Cup, so the goal again is to first win the Yates Cup and the next goal is to win the Vanier Cup. Those expectations don’t change at all, that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Faulds. “Do we recognize there’s a super, super long road ahead? Sure. The adage, ‘You’ve got to take it one day at a time,’ is very true, but if we look at what we have on paper, and what we have system wise — on offence, defence and special teams — we’re really excited about where we’re at.”
Faulds, who was named Canada’s top coach in 2016, has cause for optimism as his team attempts to rebound from a 75-32 loss to the Western Mustangs, a team that went on to win the Canadian championship, in last year’s Yates Cup final. One year earlier, Laurier scored a 43-36 win over Western in the provincial final but fell to the Laval Rouge et Or in the following week’s Uteck Bowl.
The Golden Hawks return 15 starters from last year’s team that posted a 6-2 won-lost record in regular-season play and finished their season as the No. 5 team in the U Sports national ranking.
Scott Arndt, a second-year player out of London, begins the season as the Laurier’s starting quarterback. Arndt started two games last season, both against the McMaster Marauders, and recorded a pair of victories. He takes over from Michael Knevel, who decided to move on after three years with the team. Connor Carusello, a second-year player from Caledonia, and Jacob Spinella, a third-year player from Ottawa, will be on the sidelines.
The Hawks had the thirdranked passing attack in Ontario last season and leaned heavily on receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr., who caught 75 passes for 953 yards and six touchdowns and was named OUA’s most valuable player at season end. The Ottawa native was subsequently named a first-team all-Canadian as receiver and second-team all-Canadian as punt returner.
Third-year receiver Brendan McCracken, who played his high school football at Huron Heights in Kitchener, also figures to be one of Arndt’s preferred targets. Freshman Esson Hamilton, from Toronto, will see action after an impressive training camp and strong showing in Laurier’s 33-9 pre-season win over the McGill Redmen.
Laurier’s running game will also be solid, with fourth-year back Levondre Gordon leading the way.
The Mississauga product looked good in last week’s preseason win and last year rushed Kickoff: Sunday, University Stadium, 1 p.m. History 101: The Gee-Gees and Hawks are meeting for the first time since the 2015 regular season, a game that saw former Laurier quarterback Eric Morelli throw for six touchdown passes in a 65-30 romp at University Stadium. Laurier, 6-2 in regular-season play last year, is coming off a 75-32 loss to the Western Mustangs in last year’s Yates Cup final. Ottawa, 5-3 on the season, fell 30-8 to the Guelph Gryphons in the opening round of the OUA playoffs.
Extra points: The Hawks defeated the McGill Redmen 33-9 last weekend for their first pre-season win in four attempts under Michael Faulds. The Laurier offence piled up 518 yards of offence against McGill and the defence surrendered just 124 yards. Ottawa did not participate in a pre-season game.
144 times for 825 yards and eight touchdowns.
In May, Gordon was one of five Hawks to participate in the EastWest Bowl, along with Gittens Jr., offensive lineman Drew Mairleitner of Denfield, Ont., defensive lineman Trevaughan James of Whitby and defensive end Robbie Smith of Brampton.
Training camp opened Aug. 9 and Faulds has been impressed with what he’s seen, especially from the 30 or so recruits who are trying to stand out.
In addition to the aforementioned Esson, defensive lineman Tyler Eckert, from Burnaby, B.C., has likely done enough to earn playing time, said Faulds.
“I would say this nucleus of 17and 18-year-olds has even surpassed what our coaches thought they had, so it’s a really talented group we added to the veterans we have in place,” said Faulds.
Smith recorded a team-high 10½ sacks last year and leads a Laurier defence that figures to be strong despite losing defensive backs Godfrey Onyeka and Isaiah Messam as well as defensive lineman Rashari Henry to graduation.
Fourth-year safety Scott Hutter, from London, will also play a key defensive role.
The Hawks’ road to the playoffs is a challenging one, starting Sunday with Ottawa, a team that reached the playoffs last season. Laurier’s difficult schedule includes games, in order, against Queen’s, Waterloo, McMaster, Guelph, Carleton, Windsor and Western, but doesn’t feature perennial doormats York and Toronto.
The Mustangs go into the season as the team to beat, conceded Faulds, but the Hawks are looking to knock them off their throne.
“They’re the ones with the Yates Cup and Vanier Cup in their possession, so they’re the team and benchmark that everyone is looking to right now,” he said.
“It’s a team we respect greatly but it’s not a team we’re scared of or threatened by.”
Faulds said he’s shied away from buzzwords at his sixth training camp with Laurier, preferring to use the analogy of the team climbing a mountain throughout the season with hopes of reaching the top in November. They were in the valley two weeks ago, reached the base of the mountain in their preseason game and Sunday will begin their climb in earnest.
“All U Sports teams are trying to climb the mountain and only one team is going to put their flag at the top of that thing,” said Faulds.
The Hawks are idle the third weekend of the regular season and return to action Sept. 15 against the visiting Waterloo Warriors.