LONDON, Ont. - Tom Bridger returned from injury with a vengeance, scoring 22 of Western's 42 points in a dominant win over Waterloo on Friday, 42-15, to remain perfect at 5-0.
Bridger scored two tries and booted six converts for the 22-point day.
The Mustangs scored three great tries off Waterloo turnovers, two worthy of highlight reel with a slew of straight-arms and shifty footwork.
Waterloo opened the scoring on a penalty goal from Richard Lebel before Western scored its first try from Bridger who ran in from about 20 yards out to cap off some great passing. Western had caused a Waterloo turnover and quickly swung the ball down to the wing where Bridger caught the first defender flat-footed and sped around the second to get over the try-line.
He booted a convert to make it 7-3 just over 10 minutes in.
But the Warriors responded quickly when Lebel drew a triple team and dished the ball to Travis Mullin who used blazing speed to get the ball over the line for a try and give Waterloo the 8-7 lead. Lebel missed the convert from a tough angle near the sideline.
Western, looking to stay undefeated, dug deep and responded with two converted tries to close out the half from Marcel Penzak and the second from Bridger, who also converted both. The talented Mustang had 16 of Western's 21 first-half points. His convert on the third try proved to be the winning points.
In the second half, Waterloo drew closer proving resilient. They stopped two threatening Western rushes and then countered with great penetration to score to make it 21-15 on a Zack Bentley try converted by Lebel.
But the Mustangs defence held strong from there, and excellent conditioning allowed the Mustangs to score three more converted tries with great team passing capped off by great individual play.
The first came when Cody Thistle beat two defenders on the wing - the first with a dazzling stutter-step, and the second with a nice dodge move - before straight-arming a Warriors defender to get in and score to put Western up 28-5 after another Bridger convert.
Minutes later, Rory Tomlinson scored after beating two Waterloo defenders to cap off a great counter play with strong, quick passing. Bridger converted this try with a nice boot from a difficult angle.
Then, Jesse Kliman scored to end a sequence which started to the left wing and was quickly switched to the right, catching Waterloo's defence out of position again. Ojo James made the switch on the play, and the ball worked its way efficiently down the wing for Kliman to scamper in with a great surge. Bridger booted the convert to give him 22 of Western's 42 points.
The Mustangs travel to RMC to play the winless Paladins Oct. 16 in Kingston, Ont., before hosting Brock Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. and closing out on the road on Oct. 23 at McMaster at 2 p.m.
