October 17, 2009
HEAP CLAIMS CIS FOOTBALL RECORD IN GOLDEN HAWKS WIN OVER GRYPHONS
GUELPH, Ont. - Dillon Heap claimed the Laurier, OUA and CIS records for punt returns in a season as the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (5-2) defeated the Guelph Gryphons (3-4) in a come-from-behind 21-14 victory at Alumni Stadium in front of 1,300 fans.
Heap, a third-year player from Waterloo, Ont., hit the Laurier and OUA records on back-to-back plays midway through the first quarter before breaking through the CIS mark in the third. He finished the game with 202 yards on 10 returns making his season total 827. The previous Laurier mark was set by Paul Bennett in 1976 with 686, while the CIS mark was set by St. FX's Richard Karikari in 2002 with 777.
"I didn't really think about it as the game was going on," commented Heap post-game about the historical marks. "It was a game of field position and my job [on special teams] was to move the ball as far as I could when they kicked it deep."
Guelph opened scoring in the contest as Mark Durigon picked up his first, of what would be three interceptions, off of Laurier quarterback Evan Pawliuk (Kingston, Ont.) and ran it back 111 yards for the major. Hawks kicker Chris Mamo (London, Ont.) nailed a 23-yard field goal towards the end of the quarter to bring the game to within four.
The Gryphon offence put together a five play, 44-yard drive after a Pawliuk's interception to get their unit's only major of the game. Nick Fitzgibbon carried for 27 of those yards on route to his 129-yard performance. He was the only effective member of the offence as the Golden Hawk defence was able to contain quarterback Justin Dunk. The former third ranked quarterback (by yards) only completed 6-of-23 attempts for 76 yards as well as three interceptions.
The Golden Hawks had a stronger second half as they scored 18 while shutting down the Gryphon offence. The points came from another Chris Mamo 23-yard field goal as well as a touchdown from Pawliuk and a two-point convert where the quarterback found rookie Alex Anthony (Victoria). Pawliuk later generalled a drive that saw the Hawks score another major.
"We were just off that little bit in the first bit but in the second half it was a team effort and teams win football games," said Pawliuk when asked about the stronger second half. "Because of games like today it'll make us that much stronger as we know we can rebound from errors and mistakes."
Laurier's defence saw a bit of a shuffle with Courtney Stephen (Brampton, Ont.) moving from free safety to linebacker and Giancarlo Rapanaro (Niagara Falls, Ont.) shifting to defensive back instead of linebacker.
"The defence had a plan and we were successful with it as we thought our athletes could cover their athletes we could just get him to stay back there," commented manager of football operations and head coach Gary Jeffries on the strategy to hold Dunk. "The three or four changes we made today made us better and some of them just might stay."
Defensive end Daniel Bishop (Mississauga, Ont.) led the team in tackles with 7.5 (seven solo) as well as a sack while just behind him was Stephen with seven tackles (six solo) and a pair of sacks. Carlos Naranjo (Whitby, Ont.), Scott McCahill (Kingston, Ont.) and Rapanaro were the three Hawks that had picks off of Dunk.
"Because of the offence we were expecting we wanted to make our defence just a little faster than it already was so we were shifted around," commented Stephen post-game. "We were just all able to make plays today."
Pawliuk finished the game 19-of-33 for 251 yards and led the team in rushing with nine carries for 68 yards and two majors. His top receiver was rookie Alex Anthony who had 95 yards on eight catches as well as the critical two-point convert.
Chris Mamo punted nine times for 351 yards for an average of 39 yards a punt including two to within the Guelph red zone.
Time of possession and penalties evened out by the end of the game with Laurier winning the first and fourth quarters in terms of time and both teams sitting with eight penalties for approx 50 yards.
"We made some errors but the guts and courage of these kids pushed us through," said an elated Jeffries post-game.
Laurier closes their regular season against the undefeated Queen's Gaels on Oct. 24 at University Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. as the Hawks honour "Those Who Serve" with members of the police, fire and ambulance units on site. Tickets for the game are available online at www.laurierathletics.com/footballtickets.
Guelph is still competing for a playoff berth, and will visit the McMaster Marauders for a 1 p.m. start. The game can be seen nationally on The Score.
Source: Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Heap, a third-year player from Waterloo, Ont., hit the Laurier and OUA records on back-to-back plays midway through the first quarter before breaking through the CIS mark in the third. He finished the game with 202 yards on 10 returns making his season total 827. The previous Laurier mark was set by Paul Bennett in 1976 with 686, while the CIS mark was set by St. FX's Richard Karikari in 2002 with 777.
"I didn't really think about it as the game was going on," commented Heap post-game about the historical marks. "It was a game of field position and my job [on special teams] was to move the ball as far as I could when they kicked it deep."
Guelph opened scoring in the contest as Mark Durigon picked up his first, of what would be three interceptions, off of Laurier quarterback Evan Pawliuk (Kingston, Ont.) and ran it back 111 yards for the major. Hawks kicker Chris Mamo (London, Ont.) nailed a 23-yard field goal towards the end of the quarter to bring the game to within four.
The Gryphon offence put together a five play, 44-yard drive after a Pawliuk's interception to get their unit's only major of the game. Nick Fitzgibbon carried for 27 of those yards on route to his 129-yard performance. He was the only effective member of the offence as the Golden Hawk defence was able to contain quarterback Justin Dunk. The former third ranked quarterback (by yards) only completed 6-of-23 attempts for 76 yards as well as three interceptions.
The Golden Hawks had a stronger second half as they scored 18 while shutting down the Gryphon offence. The points came from another Chris Mamo 23-yard field goal as well as a touchdown from Pawliuk and a two-point convert where the quarterback found rookie Alex Anthony (Victoria). Pawliuk later generalled a drive that saw the Hawks score another major.
"We were just off that little bit in the first bit but in the second half it was a team effort and teams win football games," said Pawliuk when asked about the stronger second half. "Because of games like today it'll make us that much stronger as we know we can rebound from errors and mistakes."
Laurier's defence saw a bit of a shuffle with Courtney Stephen (Brampton, Ont.) moving from free safety to linebacker and Giancarlo Rapanaro (Niagara Falls, Ont.) shifting to defensive back instead of linebacker.
"The defence had a plan and we were successful with it as we thought our athletes could cover their athletes we could just get him to stay back there," commented manager of football operations and head coach Gary Jeffries on the strategy to hold Dunk. "The three or four changes we made today made us better and some of them just might stay."
Defensive end Daniel Bishop (Mississauga, Ont.) led the team in tackles with 7.5 (seven solo) as well as a sack while just behind him was Stephen with seven tackles (six solo) and a pair of sacks. Carlos Naranjo (Whitby, Ont.), Scott McCahill (Kingston, Ont.) and Rapanaro were the three Hawks that had picks off of Dunk.
"Because of the offence we were expecting we wanted to make our defence just a little faster than it already was so we were shifted around," commented Stephen post-game. "We were just all able to make plays today."
Pawliuk finished the game 19-of-33 for 251 yards and led the team in rushing with nine carries for 68 yards and two majors. His top receiver was rookie Alex Anthony who had 95 yards on eight catches as well as the critical two-point convert.
Chris Mamo punted nine times for 351 yards for an average of 39 yards a punt including two to within the Guelph red zone.
Time of possession and penalties evened out by the end of the game with Laurier winning the first and fourth quarters in terms of time and both teams sitting with eight penalties for approx 50 yards.
"We made some errors but the guts and courage of these kids pushed us through," said an elated Jeffries post-game.
Laurier closes their regular season against the undefeated Queen's Gaels on Oct. 24 at University Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. as the Hawks honour "Those Who Serve" with members of the police, fire and ambulance units on site. Tickets for the game are available online at www.laurierathletics.com/footballtickets.
Guelph is still competing for a playoff berth, and will visit the McMaster Marauders for a 1 p.m. start. The game can be seen nationally on The Score.
Source: Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
