LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs faced the Guelph Gryphons this afternoon in their last regular season home game of 2011 in front of 4,784 excited fans at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont. The Gryphons put up a valiant fight, driving the ball deep into Mustangs territory in the final minute of play, but Western’s Mike Spence intercepted Gryphons’ QB Jazz Lindsey in the end zone to end the scoring threat and seal the victory 33-29.

[Final Game Stats]

The Gryphons, winless in their last three games, held the Mustangs to only two field goals in the first quarter, both kicked by Lirim Hajrullahu.

Guelph receiver Saxon Lindsey scored the first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter on a 25-yard pass from brother Jazz Lindsey, putting Guelph ahead 7-6.

A Ben Rossong fumble led to a 36-yard Guelph field goal by Daniel Ferraro giving Guelph a four-point advantage over Western.

On Western’s sixth and final drive of the second quarter, they were finally able to march the ball down the length of the field when Rossong connected with Zach Bull on a spectacular 35-yard catch to cap the 82-yard scoring drive.

Western led 13-10 at halftime.

An early Hajrullahu 40-yard field goal in the third quarter put the Mustangs up by six and on the ensuing drive Gryphons running back Rob Farquharson fumbled the ball in Guelph territory and the ball was recovered by Western’s Rob Hennessey (Lindsay, Ont.).

Seven plays and 36 yards later, Tyler Varga punched in his 14th touchdown of the season, putting the Mustangs up 23-10 and things were looking good for Western.

The Gryphons responded with a scoring drive of their own when rookie quarterback Jazz Lindsey connected with Jedd Gardner on a 52-yard pass for the Gryphons second touchdown of the day to bring them within six, as the Western lead was cut to 23-17.

The fourth quarter started with the Mustangs leading by six points and a rouge on a missed field goal stretched the lead to seven points early in the quarter.

A Guelph 42 yard field goal less than three minutes later made the score 24-20 and a poorly executed Mustangs punt led to a safety and the lead was down to 2, Western 24 – Guelph 22.

On the very next drive the Gryphons drove the ball 70 yards down the length of the field and capped the drive off with a Farquharson touchdown to put the Gryphons in the lead 29-24.

The momentum was clearly in the Gryphons’ favour, but the Mustangs were not about to give up and responded immediately when Rossong connected on a 73-yard bomb to a wide open Brian Marshall with 7:06 left in the game to put the Mustangs up for good, 30-29.

A Hajrullahu 25-yard field goal with two minutes left put the Mustangs up by four, meaning the Gryphons would have to put the ball in the end zone if they wanted to avoid the loss.

Guelph was able to move the ball from their own 35 all the way to the Mustangs 16 yard line and in the final minute of play the game was on the line on a 3rd and 10 when Lindsey’s pass was picked off in the end zone by Spence, sealing the win for the Mustangs.

The final stats were not pretty but at the end of the day it was all about the “W”. Rossong was 15-29 for 258 yards and two touchdowns, Varga picked up 109 rushing yards and his CIS and OUA leading 14th touchdown of the season. The big plays offensively were easily the Bull touchdown at the end of the first half and the Brian Marshall 73-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs (6-0) are now on the road for the next two weeks as they visit Toronto (2-4) next weekend and travel to Kingston the following weekend to take on Queen’s (3-2).



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Upcoming Games:
Saturday, October 15 - @ U of Toronto - 1 p.m.
Saturday, October 22 - @ Queen's - 1 p.m.
Saturday, October 29 - OUA Quarter Final
Saturday, November 5 - OUA Semi Final
Saturday, November 12 - OUA Final (Yates Cup)
Friday, November 18 - Uteck Bowl (Moncton, New Brunswick - 7 p.m.)
Friday, November 25 - Vanier Cup (Vancouver, British Columbia - 7 p.m.)

Buy Tickets:
Playoff dates and tickets will be announced on www.westernmustangs.ca when details become available.

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