Ottawa quarterback dismantles Golden Hawks

The Ontario conference-leading Ottawa Gee-Gees busted open a tied game in the third quarter en route to a 44-21 romp over the Laurier Golden Hawks in weekend university football action.

Ottawa quarterback Brad Sinopoli continued his assault on the record books as he completed 18 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns on the day.

He is now his school's single-season leader in passing yards and completions and is on pace to shatter the Canadian university records in the same categories.

The Hawks scored first, in the first quarter, following a rare Sinopoli fumble.

"We beat ourselves (Saturday)," said head coach Gary Jeffries, whose Hawks saw their three-game win streak halted.

"Our kicking game was as bad as I've seen it and we couldn't generate any offence. Sinopoli is as good as there is and we hung in there as long as we could."

Laurier's starting pivot Evan Pawliuk completed six passes for 31 yards in the first half before he was replaced by Shane Kelly, who hit 11 passes for 152 yards.

Kelly also hooked up with receiver Dustin Zender for Laurier's only passing touchdown, as Ottawa shook off a recent stunning defeat to the Toronto Varsity Blues.

The win guarantees the 6-1 (won-lost) Gee-Gees no worse than second place in the nine-team conference.

The Hawks drop to 3-3 on the season and must now await the ruling of an independent arbitrator who will determine if defensive end David Montoya is eligible to play this season.

If the arbitrator rules against Laurier, the Hawks will also have to surrender another victory, a 37-6 decision over Toronto in which Montoya played.

The Hawks entertain Queen's on Saturday at 1 p.m. at University Stadium.

In other games over Thanksgiving weekend, Queen's bombed Toronto 66-1 and Windsor dismantled York 61-15. Second-place Western enjoyed a bye.