For the second time in three years, the Waterloo Warriors ruined homecoming for the Carleton Ravens.
Gordon Lam (Kitchener/) caught three touchdown passes, and Michael Reid (Sault Ste. Marie/) led Waterloo's best defensive performance of the season, as the Warriors defeated the Ravens 34-24 on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.
The Warriors scored 28 unanswered points in the second and third quarters, improving to 3-1 on the season. Reigning OUA MVP Tre Ford (Niagara Falls/) finished 21-27 with 348 yards and 4 touchdown passes, while adding 60 yards on 7 rush attempts. Lam caught 7 balls for 158 yards and three scores, while Tyler Ternowski (Hamilton/) added 81 yards on 6 receptions. Barnaba Niel (Kitchener/) also caught a touchdown pass for Waterloo, and Dion Pellerin (Abbotsford/) rushed for 98 yards on 22 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Warriors got a massive performance from veteran linebacker Reid – the fourth-year wrecking ball registered an eye-popping 13 solo tackles, while adding a sack and a pass breakup. Kurtis Gray (Waterloo/) made six tackles and came up with a huge late-first-half interception, which helped to send the Ravens to 1-3 on the season.
Carleton was held to 375 yards of offense compared to Waterloo's 500. Ravens quarterback Tanner DeJong completed 22 of 32 passes for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Nathan Carter added 106 yards on the ground in a losing cause.
It was arguably Waterloo's most complete effort of the season, but it didn't start that way – the Ravens scored on their first two drives, while holding the Warriors to a 2-and-out and a turnover on downs to jump out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.
But the Warriors offense stayed patient, and they were rewarded with back-to-back big plays early in the second quarter: following a 17-yard carry from Pellerin that put Waterloo over midfield, Ternowski hauled in a 41-yard bomb that put the ball all the way to the Ravens' 7-yard line. On the ensuing play, Ford hit a wide-open Lam in the back of the endzone to finish a 100-yard drive and get Waterloo on the board.
That turned out to be the boost the Warriors needed, and the energy was apparent on both sides of the ball. Waterloo's defence forced four straight punts, and the offense grabbed the lead when Ford delivered a perfect seam ball for Lam in-stride. The second-team All-Canadian did the rest, scampering 68 yards to the house, giving Waterloo a 14-10 lead. It looked like the Ravens might respond before the end of the half, but Gray's redzone interception maintained Waterloo's narrow margin heading into halftime.
The Warriors continued to dictate the pace on both sides of the ball in the third quarter. After a strange deflection led to a Zendrew Audain Altidor interception, Reid's massive second-down sack gave the ball right back to the Warriors. Just two plays later, Ford hit Niel across the middle for the 45-yard major, extending Waterloo's lead to 21-10. The Warriors forced another Carleton 2-and-out, and promptly marched down the field on a 65-yard drive that was capped with Lam's third score of the day, making it 28-10 after three quarters.
The Ravens showed signs of life with a fumble recovery early in the fourth, setting up a 24-yard touchdown reception from Phil Iloki to cut the Carleton deficit to 28-17. Former Raven Jonah Zlatinszky (London/) capped a ball-control response from the Warriors with a 33-yard field goal, but the Ravens refused to go away, as DeJong snuck it in from a yard out to narrow Waterloo's advantage to 31-24 with under three minutes to play.
But with the advantage narrowed to one possession, and facing a 2nd-and-12 deep in their own territory, Ford and Lam came up with the biggest play in the game – Lam broke behind the Ravens defence, and Ford got perfect protection to deliver a 42-yard bomb, hauled in by a diving Lam, to keep the clock ticking. Five plays later, Zlatinszky converted from 20 yards to round out the scoring with just 21 seconds left.
The Warriors will now return home to play in front of their own raucous alumni crowd, as they host the York Lions on Waterloo's Alumni Black and Gold day, next Saturday, September 28. Kickoff is slated for 1pm from Warrior Field.
