WATERLOO, Ont. - For three quarters and change, the Waterloo Warriors stayed within striking distance of the top-ranked team in the country. Eventually, great offence beat great defence, as the Laurier Golden Hawks took the 2025 edition of the Battle of Waterloo on the gridiron, 41-19.
The setting for this game was unique in the long history of this battle. Longtime fans of either team will remember when both Waterloo and Laurier played at University Stadium, current home of the Golden Hawks. In fact, Waterloo's last Yates Cup victory came at then-named Seagram Stadium in 1999, against Laurier.
Fast forward to today, and ongoing renovations at University Stadium forced this game to be moved to Warrior Field, making this the first Golden Hawks home game to be played north of University Avenue.
The Laurier crowd was interspersed with a strong contingent of black and gold as the teams took the field. The Golden Hawks were looking to remain undefeated at 3-0, while the Warriors looked to bounce back after a hard-fought Black and Gold Day loss dropped their record to 1-2.
Much like that game against Carleton, this one began as a defensive standoff, with the first quarter ending in a scoreless tie. Laurier did manage to get into field goal range, but their attempt was deflected.
Laurier's running back duo of Quentin Scott and Tayshaun Jackson led a drive deep into Waterloo territory near the end of the frame, and quarterback Cal Wither found Ethan Jordan in the endzone on the first play of the second to open the scoring.
Waterloo's offence looked energized on the ensuing drive, with Nick Orr (Caledon/) finding Romell Samuel-Slocombe (Brampton/) and Elijah Pappin (Niagara falls/) on back-to-back plays for big gains. Orr started this game after leaving week 2's win over Toronto with an injury and sitting out week 3 against Carleton.
After taking another long shot at the endzone, Orr was stopped on a sneak attempt on third-and-inches, and Wither immediately found Jordan again for an 88-yard score to push the lead to 14-0. Waterloo responded with a field goal before Scott added another Golden Hawks major.
The Warriors finally found the endzone on a 10-yard pass from Orr to Evan Basalyga (Thunder Bay/), who made an acrobatic dive to break the plane for first touchdown of the season. A final-play field goal pushed the lead to 24-10 for Laurier before halftime.
Waterloo narrowly avoided a disastrous start to the second half when a wildcat snap went over the head of Anthony Miller (Brampton/). Laurier's Jesse Wilkins recovered the ball but was tripped up with nothing but empty field ahead of him.
The Warriors defence responded by forcing what looked to be a two-and-out, but a fake punt earned the Golden Hawks a first down to keep the drive alive. Wither later found Jordan to complete the hat trick for the fifth-year All-Canadian receiver.
Waterloo's offence was also finding its groove in the third quarter. Orr and Samuel-Slocombe connected three times on the ensuing drive before Yinka Ogunnote (Guelph/) caught his first major of the year.
Orr finished with a career-high 288 yards on 23/35 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception (on the game's final play).
Samuel-Slocombe also set his career best with 118 yards on seven receptions.
"That's six years of chemistry right there. We met in 2020 during the quarantine, and we've been working every day since," said Samuel-Slocombe.
"It's nice to see that it's finally coming to fruition, that we're finally able to execute the way we wanted to. We worked a lot of hot summer days, we had to shovel fields to work out in the snow, and it's finally paying off."
A safety cut the lead to 31-19 heading into the final frame, but an early touchdown pushed the lead to three scores for Laurier. Waterloo's defence held strong before finally conceding a garbage-time major.
"We hung with them, but certainly some missed opportunities offensively," said Warriors Head Coach Chris Bertoia. "Credit to them. They're a big, strong, physical team. It was a battle, that's for sure."
"The guys, they're ticked off about it. There's obviously that rivalry, but there's going to be stuff that certainly we can watch in the film room and definitely build on, build some confidence with and move forward."
Bertoia noted the offensive strides the team made. That side of the ball had struggled finish drives through the first three games of this season.
"We've been moving the ball all season, but we finally put a few points on the board, which is good to score a couple touchdowns, instead of always settling for field goals."
They'll look to continue that trend as they welcome the #9 Queen's Gales for Homecoming on Saturday, September 20. Tickets are still available. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM at Warrior Field.
