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The Hawks looked like they were in complete control of the contest until a missed Chris Mama field goal was returned 114 yards for the major by the Gryphons' ledd Gardner to finally put Guelph on the board. It seemed like the momentum had finally turned for "he Gryphons. f only theWilfrid laurier Golden IHawks could turn back the clock like everybody else was being asked to on Saturday, per- haps they could have held on to their 24-0 first quarter lead against the Guelph Gryphons. instead time marched on. as did the Gryphons, who scored 38 straight points to win the OUA semifinal contest 38-31 at Univer- sity Stadium and clinched their first Yates Cup berth since 1996. Not only are the surprising Gryphons going to the Yates Cup, they are also hosting the OUA championship game, celebrating its 100th anniversary, after the Western Mustangs continued the string of post-season upsets by dumping the defending champs, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, 23-16. The. lower seed has won every game so far in the OUA playoffs, and the Mustangs look to continue that trend this weekend in the Royal City. left in their wake was a Golden Hawks team stunned by the turn of events and kicking themselves for the lost opportunity. The Hawks scored on their first four posses- sions including two touchdowns by running back Ryan Lynch, who had another 100-yard rushing day, and lo-straight completions by quarterback Ian Noble. including a touchdown toss to Josh Bishop. From there, the Hawks worst fears were confirmed as Gryphons' quarterback Justin Dunk and his partner-in-crime Nick Fitzgibbon proceeded to steal the game away from Laurier. The elusive Dunk shredded the Hawks defence with his running ability while Fitzgib- bon found his way to the end zone four more times. The Hawks finally responded on a two-yard dive by Lynch with 1:35 to go in the contest to cut the lead to 38-3]. And a fumble caused and recovered by Luke Pinder gave the Hawks the ball back with 1:28 to play. 7 But Noble failed to connect on a third and long attempt to fifth- year-veteran Andy Baechler to seal Golden Hawksrun out of time against Guelph Get Involved! Props! Pacnlight is delivering free ertergrembterrt "an bulbs to Omavio households this fan. and we'll be m your community soon! Min us to deliver CFL bulbs and coupons for amazmg snug 58mm produce. Help lldlt up your mmunltyl To sgn up to volumes. vlsit MWJW‘O' call Prpiect Porctutgttt at 18665856359. BY non mec Chronicle 5161f The Golden Hawks Ryan Lynch stretches for the first of three touchdowns he scored against Guelph Saturday. But, it wasn't enough as the Gryphons staged a huge comeback for a 38-31 upset win over the Hawks. the win for Guelph, after marching the Hawks to within the shadow of the Gryphons' goal posts. As the Gryphons celebrated their second-straight upset win, after a last-minute victory over McMaster a week ago, the Hawks were left to answer questions about what happened. "We got a like lead and every- thing was going our way early, but "They made plays and we had trouble getting them stopped." Head coach ofWLU Golden Hawks SPORTS Combléle Collision and Refinishing Service o","")",",)'):'":!)':',") Northgate" ' Auto Body BO Albert Street, Waterloo we knew they were a good football team," said Hawks' head coach Gary Jeffries. "They made plays and we had trouble getting them stopped. Jeffries acknowledged that the long run back on the missed field goal turned the game's momen- tum. But a change to the Gryphons defensive line kept the Hawks from running the ball like they wanted to after that. and made it tough to wind down the clock. LFull credit to them, they deservedit." "We couldn't get going again and they did," said Jeffries. "They went to a four-man from. and they did a better job (of controlling the run)." Despite the loss, Jeffries gave full marks to his team for the way 519-884-0550) they came back in the final three minutes of the contest. " couldn't be more proud of a group of kids." said Jeffries. “There's no quit in that group. "We said we're goihg tr) com- pete to the last second and we did that today." For the Gryphons' escape artist Dunk, he said his team never got "When you'r.e 24 down youre not going to win the game on one play. " Guelph Gryphans quarterback m-lust/Unk MN VAN “In! W70 WATER“) CHRONICLE . Wednesday, November 7, 2007 . " down after the Hawks put up the big lead, The goal was just to chip away at it, and that's what they did. "When you're 24 down you're not going to win the game on one play," said Dunk. "We just got com- fortable, and on offence we made some plays." And even though the Hawks knew what was coming they found it hard to stop Dunk and Fitzgib- bon after that. "I cant say enough about 'Frtz,' he's a great athlete," said Dunk. "He just knows where to be when I'm out of the pocket and scrambling. "We just make plays." Asked who was faster, Dunk said they've never figured that out. One person who does is Finder, who had a big day for the Hawks with a first-half interception and the fumble recovery to give laurier their last chance to tie the score. The fourth-year linebacker said it was pick your poison in how to control Dunk and Fitzgibbon, and it changed the way the Hawks nor- mally play defence. "We'ie never racEd," said Dunk. "Wed probably both say the other one is faster, but you never know." "We werent able to stop them and that's pretty much the bottom line," said Pinder. "They were able to do what they wanted and they took advantage of us to make some plays." Finder was just happy to finally get a hold of Fitzgibbon on his last carry, and give his teammates a chance to tie the game. "We all beli'eved we had a chance to come back," said Finder. "Unfortunately we fell short." - It will be the first time in four years that the Hawks didn't make it back to the Yates Cup game, which included Laurier's Vanier Cup championship season in 2005. For graduating veterans like inside receiver Baechler, who saved his best game of the season for his last game, it will be tough to think of it as his last Saturday playing for the Hawks. "The way we lost, as tough as it was, is something we're going to look back on and not regret," said Baechler, who was inches away hom making the final grab. "To code back wfth an effort like that and not quit. that helps. A "But it's tough. You try not to be greedy out here. but I've been for- tunate enough to be in a very sue cessful program here. "Thi, nature of this sport is that you want to win, and losing in this fashion doesn't make it easy."