With only one game left in the regular season, Mustangs fans couldn't ask for a more captivating matchup.
When Western last met with the Queen's Golden Gael's, it was a royal upset for the Kingston team as they lost 46-10 against a powerhouse Mustangs squad.
The Mustangs will be facing a Queen’s Gaels team attempting to end their perfect record as Western enters the game 7-0. The last time the Mustangs went undefeated in the regular season was 1998, but that team was not able to keep their record unblemished for the entire season as they lost to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Churchill Bowl (now the Uteck Bowl). The last time the Mustangs went an entire season undefeated was in 1994 when they reached the ultimate of CIS football by winning the Vanier Cup.
Last Saturday in Toronto the offensive strategies of the two teams were polar opposites oeach other. The Mustangs, led by Riva, were rush heavy, running the ball 53 times for 304 yards on the ground, while Toronto only rushed for 69 yards on 24 carries. Conversely, Toronto passed for 260 yards while Western only picked up 106 yards through the air.
This season, Nathan Riva carried the ball a team-high 34 times and gained 218 yards and one touchdown on the ground against the Varsity Blues. After rookie standout Tyler Varga left the game with an injury at the end of the first quarter, it was Riva who carried the offensive load and responded with another big day. Nick Riva, Nathan’s brother, had one of his strongest games of the season defensively. Riva (Nick) led the Mustangs in tackles with 7 tackles and helped the defense to its strongest game of the season, limited the Varsity Blues to only 9 points on 3 field goals.
Another week, another Tyler Varga touchdown. Varga entered play on Saturday with an outside chance of besting the OUA and CIS rushing touchdown records, but a more realistic record is still in sight. With his touchdown on Saturday in Toronto, Varga has scored a rushing touchdown in every game this season, for a total of 15. Varga now trails Tim Tindale’s school record of 16 rushing touchdowns in a season set in 1991.
