LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs football team made a statement by unexpectedly trouncing the Laurier Golden Hawks 46-1 in front of 8,201 fans at TD Waterhouse Stadium on Wednesday night.
Jerimy Hipperson of St. Catharines, Ont., scored three touchdowns, all in the first half, on 14 carries for 97 yards.
Donnie Marshall of London, Ont., was effective at quarterback for the No. 9 ranked Mustangs, rushing the ball for 65 yards and throwing 12-for-20 for 183 yards, one touchdown and one interception. FULL STATS
"Our offensive line played so well. We could run the ball and throw the ball. I feel amazing right now," said Donnie Marshall. "We worked hard all week and we thought we could beat them and we proved we could."
But it was the stifling Mustangs defence which added the exclamation point. They did not allow a single point - Laurier's only score came on special teams on a rouge on a missed Nathan Hawkes 22-yard field goal attempt - and did not give up a first down in the third quarter.
In fact, Laurier's total offence was just 144 yards on 49 plays and they only managed to record eight first downs.
“We always prepare to win and our depth chart shows that," said senior linebacker John Surla. "People were questioning our offence more than our defence and it feels great to have proved ourselves out on the field tonight.”
Surla and the Mustangs defence were effective all around. Surla had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 5.5 tackles to lead the defence, while safety Mike Spence of Burlington, Ont., had three interceptions.
But the veteran linebacker was quick to spread the praise.
“The offence came out strong," Surla said. "Hipperson came out so successfully because he saw an opportunity and capitalized on it. As for the defence, the one point on Laurier’s side of the scoreboard showed how we held out for the win.”
The 45-point win is the widest margin of victory between the football rivals in history. Previously the widest spread was a 42-point cushion set on Nov. 7, 1981, when Western thumped the Golden Hawks 53-11 in the OUA semifinals at JW Little Stadium.
It was a sloppy and bizarre start for both teams in a game that carried little flow early. Mustangs punter Darryl Wheeler recovering his own punt, and Donnie Marshall fumbled the ball on a bad exchange with Hipperson and then threw an interception to Hawks Giancarlo Rapanaro.
Laurier quarterback Shane Kelly, a transfer from Columbia who finished 7-for-18 on passing with two interceptions and 64 yards, drove Laurier to the redzone with just under six minutes remaining in the opening quarter, but they had to settle for a rouge when Hawks, a freshman kicker, missed a 22-yard field-goal attempt.
It was their only scoring play.
"They flat out beat us," said Laurier head coach Gary Jeffries. "We made too many errors and too many mental mistakes. They won all three phases. They deserved to win. We're a lot better than that. We'll learn from this."
Lirim Hajrullahu of St. Catharines, Ont., got Western on the board with a 24-yard field goal with 1:19 left in the first quarter to give Western the 3-1 edge.
Hipperson and Donnie Marshall ran for strong gains and then Hipperson closed it off with a 13-yard rushing touchdown to extend Western's lead to 10-1.
A safety, then another one-yard Hipperson touchdown run, and another safety gave Western a 21-1 lead midway through the second quarter before a 45-yard Zach Bull catch set up Hipperson's third touchdown run, another one-yard scamper, to extend the lead to 28-1.
Bull was Western's top receiver and he finished with seven catches for 120 yards and a touchdown. He credited Marshall's poise and ability to play under immense pressure.
"Donnie was unbelievable," said Bull. "No one handles this situation like he does. He’s the coaches son, the ultimate team player, how he handles himself and the pressure, he works harder than any one in the off-season and he’s our leader. He was just unbelievable for us.”
Hajrullahu added a career-long 35-yard field goal and then Bull caught a 17-yard Marshall pass for a touchdown to expand the lead to 38-1.
Defensive back Craig Butler of London, Ont., added a touchdown on a 20-yard interception return and Harjullahu kick a rouge to round out the scoring.
Next, Western (1-0) travels to play No. 5 Ottawa (1-0) on Monday Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. at Frank Clair Stadium in the nation's capital.
“Our coaches have prepared us for this win, but the preparation has been tough both mentally and physically,” Surla said. “If our offence keeps rolling and the defence keeps doing our job, we will be able to continue winning.”
“We have a relatively healthy team, so as long as we stay healthy, strong and focused it will be a great season”
