After a shaky first half on the gridiron, the Gaels cruised to their second victory of the season, with a 47-24 win over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday.

While the Gaels were triumphant, Waterloo definitely made them uncomfortable during the first two quarters. The Warriors punched in touchdowns on their final two drives of the second quarter, including a 39-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half to put the score at 21-14 heading into the break.

“When you get scored on in any game in the last minute before the half, it’s never a good thing,” Gaels head coach Pat Sheahan said. “It’s like getting punched in the stomach and you can’t hit anybody back. Everybody feels foolish when it happens.”

Waterloo has historically been on the lower rung of opponents, with just four wins in total since the revival of the program in 2011. With this past weekend’s loss, the Warriors fell to 0-3 on the season as the Gaels moved to 2-1.

“Our performance puts us in the middle of the pack in the league,” Sheahan said. “Now we need to improve, and make sure we win the games that we’re supposed to win and who knows, maybe have a surprise or two.”

Running back Jesse Andrews carried the majority of the load for the Gaels, picking up 192 rushing yards on the day. Just eight yards shy of the milestone 200 yards, Sheahan pulled Andrews with still much of the game to play in the fourth quarter. 

“Had I known he was that close [to reaching 200 yards], I might have left him in for one more carry,” Sheahan said.

Sheahan said the Gaels offensive line unit was a strength, as they created space for Andrews to run and protected quarterback Nate Hobbs as he threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns on the day. 

“Hobbs was nice,” Andrews said. “There were a few dropped balls, but that’s just mental errors [by our receivers]. I don’t think we dropped one in the second half.”

Andrews’ three touchdowns on the day (two rushing, one receiving) accounted for half of the Gaels major scores. Receiving touchdowns also were scored by receivers Rudy Uhl and Curtis Carmichael, while Hobbs himself also punched it in for a one-yard rushing touchdown.

Uhl led the team in receiving with 77 yards, as he was one of eight Gaels with a reception on the day. The first-year Gael also had high praise for Hobbs’ creative play.

“The receivers at the start didn’t help him out too much,” Uhl said. “But in the second half, he was throwing the ball well and making plays himself too. When we were covered, he went and picked up the first down.”

Fifth-year defensive lineman Luke Ball, who picked up seven tackles on the day, including a quarterback sack, said he knows improvements need to be made despite the victory. 

“It was a win,” he said. “But there’s a few errors we need to correct. There were a few mental mistakes that could’ve cost us.”

Ball shifted the focus to the upcoming matchup in London against Western this Saturday, where the Gaels face a 3-0 Mustangs team they have yet to beat since 2012.

“We’ve got a new beast next week,” Ball said.