HAMILTON (October, 31, 2015) ­– The 2015 season for the McMaster Marauders ended on Saturday as they lost 29-15 to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in a OUA quarter-final football game.
 
Laurier used a two-pronged approach to defeat the Marauders with Laurier's Dillon Campbell of Whitby, Ont., doing the hard work on the ground while Eric Morelli of Burlington, Ont. capped the rushing drives with touchdowns.
 
Campbell rushed for a CIS-season-high 295 yards on the ground on 40 attempts (also a Wilfrid Laurier school record) to set up three Morelli touchdowns – two in the air and one on the ground.
 
"They've been a power run team all year, no secrets there," said McMaster head coach Stefan Ptaszek of Campbell's big day. "For him to get 300 yards is them sticking with what they're good at. There were a few counter punches and play action plays just to keep you on your toes."
 
Asher Hastings of Regina finished with 320 yards through the air, tossing two touchdowns in the loss for McMaster. Dan Vandervoort of Barrie, Ont. and Dan Petermann of Stoney Creek, Ont., caught the two Hastings touchdowns in the game.
 
Petermann was the game's top receiver, hauling in 153 yards including a touchdown.  However, it was the dropped touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter that will sting the most this offseason.
 
"When I dropped my touchdown pass in the third quarter, and we couldn't get any rhythm, I thought that we could be on to something bad," said Petermann.
 
That touchdown would have made the game 27-22 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
"When we were winning, I thought we were doing well, but in the last couple of weeks, it took us a while to get into a rhythm," Petermann said. "We thought that being in the playoffs would get us there."
 
By The Numbers
 
66 – Dan Petermann caught a 66-yard touchdown pass by Asher Hastings for the Marauders first touchdown of the game.
 
53 – Robbie Yochim of Kelowna, B.C., intercepted a Morelli pass and returned it 53 yards.
 
139 – Penalty yards McMaster tallied in the games loss.
 
They Said It
 
"I thought that group had a chance to beat anybody in this conference on any given day, and we did seem out of sorts for the last couple of weeks." 

"I was more nervous for this football game than any I can remember. We knew this was a possibility. It was not a shock, we aren't used to it and we don't want to get used to it, but we knew it was possible."- McMaster head coach Stefan Ptaszek

"Everyone thought that this would be a building year for the defence, and I think they played well overall all year. I think we have the window to be right back in contention for the Yates next year. We'll be just fine." – Dan Petermann McMaster wide receiver