It was a tough outing for the Carleton Ravens football team as they lost 41-13 to the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinals.
The Ravens were outgained by nearly 200 total yards on offence—they tallied 325 yards while the Golden Hawks recorded 508. The Ravens could not get their run game going, finishing with only 72 yards on the ground compared to 210 by the Golden Hawks.
Ravens quarterback Tanner DeJong completed 20/34 passes for 262 yards and two passing touchdowns. Both passing touchdowns came in the fourth quarter, leaving little time for a Ravens’ comeback.
Wide receivers Tristan Ready and Kaseem Ferdinand caught the Ravens’ two touchdowns, finishing with five catches for 91 yards and four catches for 57 yards respectively.
The Golden Hawks’ defence put on a strong performance. They shut down the Ravens’ rushing attack which made the Ravens’ offence one-dimensional. The Golden Hawks’ secondary played tight coverage all game long, making it difficult for Ravens’ wide receivers to get open and make plays.
Golden Hawk quarterback Taylor Elgersma completed 21-28 passes for 303 yards and two passing touchdowns, one of which was a long 54-yard deep ball to wide receiver Raidan Thorne. Thorne finished his night with six catches, 93 yards and a touchdown.
Elgersma’s success passing the ball was set up by a determined rushing attack that consistently found holes in the Ravens’ defensive line. Credit goes to the Golden Hawks’ offensive line for their success in the run game as they won the line of scrimmage all game long.
A duo of Golden Hawks running backs had phenomenal games. Quentin Scott rushed 15 times for 95 yards and found the endzone once. Tanner Nelmes rushed 11 times for 75 yards and had two rushing touchdowns.
Their success on the ground forced the Ravens to bring additional defensive players closer to the line of scrimmage. It then created more gaps in the Ravens’ secondary which Elgersma exploited with his accurate passes.
As the Ravens conclude its season the Golden Hawks will visit the number one seed Western Mustangs in the semifinal on Nov. 5.
Featured image by L. Manuel Baechlin.
