The York University Lions football team went head-to-head with the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday in Waterloo. York entered the matchup coming off its bye week looking for its second win of the 2026 campaign after opening the season with a 35-34 win over Carleton before losses to Western and McMaster.
In the first quarter, York opened the scoring with Nathan Walker connecting on a 48-yard field goal to give the Lions an early 3-0 lead. Laurier responded late in the first with a Tayshaun Jackson 38-yard touchdown run. Marcus Reypa's extra point gave the Golden Hawks a 7-3 lead. Reypa added a 28-yard field goal a minute into the second quarter, extending Laurier's advantage to 10-3.
The second quarter saw York cut into the Golden Hawks' lead. Laurier conceded a safety to make it 10-5 before Laurier answered with another rushing touchdown, this one a 33-yard Lewc Rayner scamper, to extend its lead to 16-5. With just 10 seconds remaining in the half, York found the end zone on a two-yard Rex Walker plunge after a solid 13-play, 70-yard drive. York went for two but could not convert after being backed up due to penalty prior to the attempt, making the score to 16-11 at halftime.
York continued to battle in the third quarter. Laurier gave up another safety to bring the Lions within three points at 16-13. Laurier responded with a 21-yard field goal from Reypa with just over a minute remaining in the quarter, making it 19-13 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Caelan Gray-Stapleton ripped off a long 42-yard run, the Lions longest of the year, but had the ball punched out at the end of the play, and Laurier recovered. From there, the home side pulled away. The Golden Hawks quarterback Will Russell connected with Keyon Robinson for a 37-yard touchdown with just over 10 minutes remaining to make it 26-13 and added another major with 3:27 left, with Reypa converting both kicks to extend the lead to 33-13. Laurier went onto win 36-13, to drop the Lions to 1-3 on the season.
Without starting quarterback Maurice Sodja, Matt Linn went 11-26 for 69 yards in his place, while Gray-Stapleton had a coming out party on the ground despite the fumble, carrying the ball 20 times for 117 yards. Avery Ford made his return to the Lions lineup, making his season debut and hauling in a team-leading seven passes for a team-high 44 yards. Defensively, Kyle Symons led the charge for York, with 5.5 tackles, while rookie defensive back Jay Shepherd hauled in York's first interception of the year in the fourth quarter.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will look to bounce back when they travel to Windsor to face the Windsor Lancers on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. You can watch the game live on OUA TV.
