GUELPH, Ont. – With just two games remaining in the 2022 OUA football regular season, the Gryphon football team will look to keep their playoff hopes alive as they hit the road for the final away game of their 2022 regular season schedule.
This Saturday (Oct. 15), the Gryphons will make the short bus trip to Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo for a 1pm matchup versus the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. It will be a tough test for the Gryphons (1-5), as they prepare to face the No. 9-ranked team in the country in the Wilfird Laurier Golden Hawks, who enter Saturday's contest with a 4-2 record this season, with Laurier's only losses on the year coming at the hands of the No. 1-ranked (Western Mustangs) and No. 7-ranked (Ottawa Gee-Gees) teams in the country.
"The Laurier Golden Hawks are playing at a very, very high level right now," says Gryphon head coach,
Ryan Sheahan, who last season helped lead the Gryphons to a 31-18 playoff win over Laurier in the 2021 OUA quarterfinals. "Their quarterback is playing very well, their offensive line is allowing their offence to execute at a high level. And it is no secret, they have the premier rushing attack in Canada at the moment. When you add to that the fact that they have a very stout and athletic defence, it all adds up to a team that we have a tremendous amount of respect for.
We are going to have to dig deep and find the effort to match them on Saturday afternoon. Consistently, we have been a tough group, but still a young and inexperienced group. But the spirit of the Guelph Gryphons has not been broken and we are looking forward to finding an effort that will match the Golden Hawks on Saturday."
Saturday afternoon's matchup carries no shortage of playoff implications for both teams, as the 2022 OUA football regular season reaches its final two-week stretch. Despite Guelph's 1-5 record to this point, the team remains alive in the hunt for a playoff spot. Of the 11-teams in the OUA, the top seven will make playoffs. The Gryphons currently sit in 9th-place in the OUA standings, but can still earn a spot in the postseason by winning their final two games and getting a little help along the way from some of the teams currently ahead of them in the standings. The Golden Hawks, on the other hand, will be fighting for home-field advantage in the opening round of playoffs. Laurier currently sits 4th in the OUA standings, and will host the 5-1 Queen's Gaels on October 22 to close out their regular season.
The Gryphons enter this week's matchup coming off of a tough loss at home to the McMaster Marauders back on Friday, October 7 in the inaugural 'Highway 6 Bowl.' The challenge this Saturday for the Gryphons comes in the form of one of the best offensive backfields in the OUA, with Laurier led by sophomore quarterback, Taylor Elgersma, and standout running back, Quentin Scott. Elgersma, a London, Ontario native in his second season with the Golden Hawks, currently sits at 3rd in the OUA in passing yards per game (230.0) and 2nd in passing touchdowns (11).
In Scott, Laurier have the leading rusher in the nation, averaging 126.3 rushing yards per game for a total of 758 yards on the season.
A bright spot for the Gryphons 2022 offence has been one of the top performing freshman in the OUA this season in rookie running back
Isaiah Smith. The 19-year-old currently sits at 8th in the OUA in rushing yards per game (78.0) and yards per carry (5.9). The Burlington native has rushed for at least 100 yards in three of the past five games. Alongside Smith in the Gryphon backfield is University of South Carolina transfer quarterback,
Jake Helfrich. In Helfrich's five games this season he has showed promise, throwing for 730 yards, and finding the endzone 6 times this season (3 passing, 3 rushing). Helfrich's favourite target this season has been third-year receiver
Vyshonne Janusas. The Windsor native currently ranks 9th in the OUA in receiving yards per game after accumulating 346 yards and 2 touchdowns this season. Defensively, the Gryphons have been led up front by a trio of defenders in
Brandon Ferigo,
Kole Watson, and
Scott Murray. In Ferigo the Gryphons have one of the premier linebackers in the nation. The Guelph native currently ranks 4th in the country in total tackles (39.0). Next to Ferigo is fellow linebacker
Kole Watson, who ranks 10th in total tackles in the OUA with 32.0. Last, but certainly not least, is talented linebacker,
Scott Murray. The 4th-year Mississauga native is one of the best pass rushers in the country with a nation-leading 11 tackles for a loss, while also ranking 3rd among U SPORTS sack leaders with 6 sacks on the season.
Backing up the trio of Gryphon linebackers is a 2021 U SPORTS All-Canadian talent
Harrison Bagayogo. Bagayogo, a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian in 2021, recorded his first interception during Homecoming on September 24 and has continued his stellar play for the Gryphons this season.
The last time the Gryphons and Golden hawks met was
during the 2021 playoffs where the Gryphs traveled to University Stadium in Waterloo for an OUA quarterfinal. The Gryphons earned a 31-18 victory that day following an impressive performance from the Gryphons on both sides of the ball. The Gryphon defence held the Golden Hawks to 199 yards passing while forcing two turnovers in the form of an interception as well as a scoop-and-score in the first quarter. On offence it was
Shawn Lal,
Clark Barnes and
Keegan Dicks who impressed. Lal went 20-of-24 for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns to help lead the Gryphons to a playoff win. Barnes caught 5 of Lal's passes for 90 yards and a touchdown while Dicks had 79 yards and 2 touchdowns. Much like last season's playoff game, the Gryphons have held the advantage against the Golden Hawks in recent years, winning four of the last five meetings and seven of the last 10. Following Saturday's game in Waterloo, the Gryphons will return home for their regular season finale versus the Carleton Ravens on Saturday, October 22. The Gryphons and Golden Hawks matchup Saturday afternoon can be see live at
www.oua.tv.
