In the 59th overall Battle of Waterloo game in history, the Laurier Golden Hawks (4-0) prevailed 44-19 over a 1-3 Waterloo Warriors team that had their hands full with purple and gold playmakers all day long.
The first quarter was a scoreless back-and-forth affair between the two offences, each trying to strike first.
As the quarter was drying up, Laurier quarterback Callum Wither (19-of-25, 299 yards, four touchdowns) began to mount a drive that sapped away the rest of the time as they sat comfortably in Waterloo's red zone to start the second quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Wither took the snap, looked left, and fired to an open and in-stride Ethan Jordan (eight catches, 177 yards, three touchdowns) in the flats for the opening touchdown of the game. Dawson Hodge's extra point would solidify the score at 7-0.
That would be the beginning of the story of Ethan Jordan's performance on the day, as he accumulated a fourth-straight 100-plus yard receiving performance in 2025 in this game.
Waterloo's offence got the ball back, led by quarterback Nick Orr (23-of-35, 288 yards, two touchdowns, one interception), who did not play in the previous game for the Warriors.
Their drive was emphasized by runs from Roy Van Der Veen (eight rushes, 39 yards), but was quickly foiled by the Golden Hawk defence.
The next Golden Hawk offensive drive saw the same result, just in a different format: a Callum Wither touchdown pass to Ethan Jordan.
On second down with 9:20 to go in the second quarter, Wither rolled left and fired to a wide-open Ethan Jordan on the left sideline, who took off immediately to the end zone.
A great block from Jace Atkinson aided Jordan on his way to the endzone for his second score of the day on a 98-yarder to make the score 14-0 after a Hodge XP.
On the Warriors' next offensive possession, passes from Orr to Isaac White (two catches, 30 yards) and Evan Basalyga (seven catches, 50 yards, one touchdown) led the offence into position for Evan Astolfo to come on and kick a field goal to cut the Golden Hawk lead down to 14-3 with just over six minutes to play in the first half.
With 5:52 on the clock in the second quarter, Laurier got the ball back and completed a third-straight scoring drive as Quentin Scott (seven rushes, 53 yards, one touchdown) powered his way in the end zone for his first touchdown of the year and to extend Laurier's lead to 21-3 with time dying down in the second quarter.
With under a minute left in the first half, the Warriors would answer back with a touchdown, their first of the game, as Orr unleashed a pass to Basalyga in the flats, who rounded the edge and extended the ball over the pylon for a Waterloo touchdown.
Astolfo's extra point made the game 21-10 with minimal time, but Laurier's offence was able to set Hodge up for a last-second FG attempt to end the first half at 24-10 for the Golden Hawks.
To start the third quarter, Waterloo received the opening kickoff, but saw the possession relinquished as Anthony Miller fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Laurier linebacker Jessie Wilkins-Flaricee.
Laurier's next offensive drive ended with the final Wither to Jordan touchdown connection of the day, which came on a first and ten with 7:15 to go in the third.
On that play, Wither took the snap and handed the ball off to Jordan in motion on a jet sweep, who scampered in for his third score of the day.
Hodge kicked the extra point to make the score 31-10 in the third quarter.
Laurier kicked back to Waterloo, and the Warriors got right down to business after their first offensive drive of the second half went so wrong.
Orr's best chemistry with an individual on his team in this game came with wide receiver Romell Samuel-Slocombe (seven catches, 118 yards), who was the recipient of multiple big passes to help set up Yinka Ogunnote's touchdown catch with just under three minutes to play in the third.
A conceded safety in the end zone by Dawson Hodge due to a high snap on an attempted punt would cut Laurier's lead down even more to 31-19, and would also be the last points scored of the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter started, each team would exchange possessions before Laurier got the ball back with 9:45 to go in the game.
Wither started executing an efficient drive, with passes to Ethan Jordan and Jaxon Stebbings, that helped set up his fourth and final touchdown pass of the day, this time to a wide-open Ryan Hughes down the right sideline, who jogged in for his third touchdown of 2025 with under 6:30 to go in the game.
Waterloo's last drive would end in a sack from Matteo Laquintana as he broke through the interior offensive line and brought down Orr for his second sack of 2025.
From here, the only remaining points that would be scored would come off another Hodge field goal to make it a final score of 41-19.
Looking ahead
We know, and knew before the season started, who the Golden Hawks are. They are talented, they are fun, and they are capable of scoring points quickly, whether answering another team with a touchdown or staving off a challenger, which is essential for success.
Their only flaw is that they have not consistently shown the ability to close out inferior opponents early. Three out of their four games, excluding the home opener against Windsor, were played against teams that showed some fight towards the end of regulation, especially the week one road win over Guelph, 33-28. That trend could be an issue come playoff time.
The next game will be challenging as they take on the 3-1 Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday, 1 p.m. at Gee-Gees Field.
The Gee-Gees look every bit as competitive as their record suggests after coming off a dismantling victory of the Guelph Gryphons this past weekend, 30-23.