LONDON, Ont. – The No. 2 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs faced their 2010 Yates Cup opponent, the No. 9-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees, Saturday afternoon at TD Waterhouse Stadium in front of a crowd of 9,718.
In what most anticipated being a tight game, it was not until the second half that the Mustangs pulled away from the Gee-Gees. COMPLETE GAME STATS
Despite 41 passing yards for Western, and a predominately Gee-Gees led quarter, with 11 rushes and 63 yards, both teams were left scoreless after the first 15 minutes. Gee-Gees’ Brendan Gillanders’ (Orleans, Ont.) late-quarter touchdown was called back because of a penalty. Both teams remained scoreless after the first.
Early in the second, the Mustangs succeeded in putting their mark on the scoreboard with 22 and 29-yard field goals from kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to take a 6-0 lead.
At 13:24 though, Ottawa followed up with a field goal of their own from 37 yards bringing them to within one field goal of Western’s six points.
Donnie Marshall passed for a total of 161 yards in the quarter while Ottawa’s 96-rushing yards just about doubled Western’s 56. The score remained 6-3 for the Mustangs at half time.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Matthew Bond-Lapointe (Montreal, Que.) intercepted a Marshall pass. The possession brought Ottawa into field goal range where they completed a 15-yard field goal to tie up the game at 1:58 of the quarter.
The first touchdown of the game came at 4:31 of the third quarter on another Marshall pass to wide receiver Zach Bull. Bull rushed 48 yards for the touchdown and Hajrullahu completed the convert bumping Western up 13-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Hajrullahu gained another point on a rouge increasing Western’s spread to 14-8, as the Mustangs offense began to show signs of life.
Ten minutes later, the Mustangs were once again within kicking range and Hajarullahu showed why he is one of the nation’s top kickers with a 17-yard field goal, his third of the game.
#Mike Van Praet recovered a forced fumble on Ottawa’s 30-yard line to return possession to the Mustangs.
This possession resulted in a Nathan Riva touchdown, his first of the game and fifth on the season. The touchdown came on a 20-yard pass from Marshall at 13:18. Hajrullahu completed the convert. Western led 24-6 with two minutes remaining in the third.
At 3:01 of the fourth quarter, Hajrullahu completed his fourth field goal, this time from 17 yards, putting Western in front 27-6.
Rookie runningback Tyler Varga got his first taste of the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. Varga scored on a two-yard rush. Hajrullahu gained another point with his fifth convert of the game.
A late-fourth quarter Ottawa drive resulted in a Simon Le Marquand (Gatineau, Que) touchdown for the Gee-Gees, and with a convert from Matthew Valvo, Ottawa made the score 34-13.
But, it was Varga’s second touchdown of the game at 14:08 of the fourth that really put the exclamation point on the match-up. The touchdown came on a 54-yard rush, giving him his ninth on the season. Hajrullahu earned his sixth and final convert of the game.
The 41-13 final puts the Western Mustangs at 3-0 on the season as they head to Waterloo on Sept. 24 to face the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks are 1-2 on their season.
Marshall completed 18 of 37 passes for 332 yards with a pair of touchdowns and three interceptions, Varga led Western’s rushing attack with 149 yards on 23 carries and a pair of touchdowns, and Bull led the Mustangs with 144 yards and one touchdown.
For a game summary from The Globe and Mail, click here.
For a game story from London Community News, click here
Quotes from Western Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall
On what has been working for the team:
"Our defense stepped up today, played very well."
"We might have offensively gotten greedy a couple times, but they're stacking the box against us, and their coverage guys were pretty good."
"We've got to be a little bit more productive of offense, have a little more continuity on offense."
"I don't think we've played against a team that is as fast as they are."
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Quote from Donnie Marshall
On the Ottawa defense and Western passing:
"They're fast. We still need to complete some more passes; we did a pretty good job of it second half, but it still needs to get better."
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Quotes from Ottawa Gee-Gees head coach Jean-Phillippe Asselin
On his expectations of coming to London to play Western:
"Definitely looking to play close to our potential and get a W."
On the minor victories:
"We proved it to ourselves that we can play with anybody. We need to control the football on our offense, find a way to play four quarters on defense, and play with injuries. I think that's the victory, the small victory."
On the outlook for the Gee-Gees future:
"It's the beginning of the season. We'll be focusing on getting better every day."
