Coquitlam’s Dawson Hodge isn’t letting professional setbacks get him down.
Instead, the kicker for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks is getting better.
Saturday, Sept. 27, Hodge set a new school record for kickoff yards in a single game and became Laurier’s second-leading career scorer in the team’s 59-21 win over the University of Toronto Blues in Waterloo.
Hodge’s nine kicks from the tee sailed a total of 640 yards, breaking the previous record of 629 yards set in 2011 by former Canadian Football Leaguer Ronnie Pfeffer. Five of his kicks in Saturday’s game sailed deep into the Blues’ end zone for single points.
Hodge also kicked seven touchdown conversions as well as a field goal, bringing his career total points to 296.
“The guys had me working today. It was a lot of fun,” Hodge told Golden Hawks’ reporter Natasha Giannantonio after the game, which elevated the team’s record to six wins in six starts and solidified its place atop the U Sports national rankings for a sixth consecutive week.
Back to school
Hodge is in his fifth season at Laurier. He returned to the school for his final year of eligibility after failing to get selected in the CFL draft then attending training camps for the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders as a free agent last May. He kicked a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter of his lone appearance in an exhibition game, a 27-20 win by the Roughriders over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Hodge didn’t start playing football until his senior year at Terry Fox Secondary School in Port Coquitlam, after his twin brother, Brandon, coaxed his soccer-playing sibling to try his toe as the Ravens’ kicker.
He subsequently helped the team reach the semi-finals of the 2018 Subway Bowl provincial championships.
Working to hone his game with former BC Lions kicker Lui Passaglia — who also happens to be a neighbour — Hodge turned heads at a high performance kicking camp attended by some of the best high school kickers in America then enrolled for an additional year of secondary school at a football academy in Toronto.
The strategy paid off.
Hodge was recruited by half a dozen university programs in Ontario as well as Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.
Kicking history
He opted for Wilfrid Laurier, which has a history of sending kickers like Pfeffer on to play in the CFL.
Hodge said it was a special moment when Pfeffer, who is a kicking consultant for his alma mater, celebrated his performance against the Blues.
“I have Ronnie mentoring me every day,” he said, adding Pfeffer “came over, shook my hand and said congratulations.”
In 2021, Hodge was awarded the Golden Hawks’ rookie of the year and the following season he was named an Ontario University Athletics all-star and second-team All-Canadian. The geography student is also a four-time U Sports Academic All-Canadian.
Last season, Hodge helped Laurier to its first appearance in the Vanier Cup national championship since 2005, where the team was defeated by the Laval Rouge et Or 22-17.
So far this season, Hodge has successfully hit on six of his 10 field goal attempts and all 29 of his point-after kicks. His kickoffs have sailed a total of 2,134 yards.
Laurier’s next game is Oct. 10, against the Carleton Ravens.
MARIO BARTEL 