GUELPH, ON – The OUA football regular season schedule is nearing an end. And with just two weeks to go, there remains a significant log jam in the standings. Nine of the 11 teams in the conference are either battling for playoff positioning, or fighting for their postseason lives.
 
Here is what we do know: Although the Gryphons will not be hosting a postseason football game this season, they still control their own playoff destiny. A win this Friday on the road against the No. 7-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks would not only put them in a great position to make the playoffs, it would also serve as a blunt reminder to the rest of the conference that the defending Yates Cup champions are still a force to be reckoned with.
 
The Gryphons (2-4) and Golden Hawks (5-1) are set to kickoff at 11am on Friday, October 14 at University Stadium in Waterloo. The rare Friday morning kickoff is part of Laurier's "School Day" promotion. With most Laurier students having returned home during their Fall reading week, the stands are expected to be filled with local elementary school students instead of university students.
 
For a fourth straight week, the Gryphons find themselves squaring off against a team ranked in the CIS Top 10. Following losses to No. 9 Ottawa, No. 3 Western and No. 8 McMaster, the Gryphons take a 2-4 record into Waterloo to face the No. 7-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks who boast a 5-1 record. The Hawks, who avoided Ottawa and McMaster this season after drawing them as non-combatants, suffered their only loss of the season to the Western Mustangs. The signature win for Laurier this year was a 17-16 road win over Carleton. In order to leave Waterloo with a victory on Friday, James Roberts and the Gryphon offence will have to find a way to put some points on the board against a tough Laurier defence that features some standout players at every level.
 
The top rated CIS player on the CFL's Scouting Bureau in advance of the 2017 CFL draft is Laurier's Kwaku Boateng. The 6-2, 250-pound defensive end is the reigning OUA lineman of the year and will be looking to get to James Roberts in the Gryphon backfield. At linebacker, the Golden Hawks are led by No. 11 Nakas Onyeka, who was also listed in the top 20 of the CFL's Scouting Bureau. His cousin, Godfrey Onyeka, helps anchor a solid Laurier secondary. This season, Laurier is allowing just 15.3 points per game and have scored a CIS-best five defensive touchdowns.
 
James Roberts enters this game fourth in the OUA in passing with 274.3 yards per game. Roberts has spread the ball around evenly to his receivers this season. On the ground, fourth year running back Johnny Augustine has impressed since returning from injury, eclipsing the 100-yard mark in two of his last three games.
 
On the other side of the ball, the key for the Gryphons defence on Friday will be slowing down the Laurier ground game. No team in the country has rushed for more yards this season (1,751 total, 291.8 per game) than the Laurier Golden Hawks. Leading the way for Laurier is their senior running back Eric Guiltinan who ranks second in the CIS with 135.6 rush yards per game. Last season, the Gryphon defence shut down Laurier's All-Canadian running back Dillon Campbell, limiting him to just 73 yards on 17 carries. The Gryphons will need a similar type of effort this year if they are to extend their head-to-head win streak versus Laurier to five. The Gryphons have not lost to the Golden Hawks since October of 2011.
 
Friday's game versus Laurier will be broadcast on channel 368 for Rogers customers and can also be seen live online at www.oua.tv.
 
Following Friday's game at Laurier, the Gryphons return home to wrap up their regular season schedule versus York on October 22nd. The OUA playoffs will get underway on Saturday, October 29th with a pair of quarterfinal matchups.