After dropping the first two games of the season, the Golden Hawks men’s football team seems to be back on track after taking down the York Lions by 68-14 on Saturday to move to 2-2.

At home, the Golden Hawks took an early lead and didn’t look back. Evan Pawliuk hit Mark Surya for 42 yards to give Laurier and Mitch Bosch returned a blocked kick for a score.

Pawliuk then threw to Dillon Heap for yet another touchdown, putting Laurier ahead by 26-0 after just the first quarter.

Isaac Dell, Anton Bennett, Shamawd Chambers and Josh Pirie all found the endzone as well, helping the Hawks rout of the Lions.

During the game, Heap set a new Laurier record for all-time punt return yards, increasing his career total to 1368.

But the Hawks can’t celebrate yet. Their two wins came against Toronto and York, both teams known for their poor football programs, and they’ve struggled against tough opponents Western and MacMaster.

All eyes will be on the football team this homecoming weekend, when they face a strong Guelph team who will be looking to get back on-track following a loss to Western this past weekend.
The Golden Hawks schedule doesn’t get easier from there, either. The following week they head to Ottawa to face the #2 team in the nation, the Gee-Gees. They follow that up with a home game against Queen’s, last year’s Vanier Cup Champions.

They finish the season off against Windsor, in a game that could very well determine whether Laurier will get a taste of the post-season or not.

With the difficult schedule ahead and the disappointing start that Laurier has gotten off to, perhaps no game is more important than this weekend’s against Guelph.

If the Gryphons are able to stifle Laurier’s offence in front of an anticipated sold-out homecoming crowd, it could very well spell the end of the Golden Hawks’ chances to bring home Vanier Cup gold.