Waterloo, Ont. – The Western Mustangs faced a tough opponent today in Waterloo, Ont. as the Laurier Golden Hawks gave the Mustangs all they could handle, but the Stangs held on for a 34-28 win. The result was in doubt until a Shane Kelly (Basking Ridge, NJ) pass was intercepted by Western corner Jamie Symianick (Montreal, QC)  in the final minute of play at the Western 46 . The win moves the Mustangs to 4-0 on the season, while the Golden Hawks drop to 1-3.

Rookie running back Tyler Varga (Kitchener, Ont.) added three more touchdowns for the Mustangs on his 18th birthday, bringing his season total to a CIS-leading 12.

Varga finished the day with 88 yards rushing, while QB Donnie Marshall (London, Ont.) added 83 yards on the ground, with many of those yards on improvised runs and avoiding would be Laurier tacklers. Marshall was 19 for 32 for 195 yards through the air, as Zach Bull (Port Colborne, Ont.) picked up 62 yards on 5 catches and Nathan Riva had 50 yards on 4 catches. Luke Reda (Toronto, Ont.) and Aaron Handsor (Chatham, Ont.) led the Mustangs defense with 7 tackles apiece, while Reda, Symianick and Beau Landry (Kitchener, Ont.) and Sean Blake (Hamilton, Ont.) had one interception each. [Complete Boxscore]

After both teams failed to move the ball on offense, the Golden Hawks opened the scoring on a 63 yard Dillon Heap punt return with 6:15 left on the clock in the first quarter to put Laurier up 7-0.

The Mustangs offense finally got into gear two drives later when they marched 66 yards down the field in under two minutes, using a balanced ground and air attack and Varga capped off the drive with a six yard run to the left side of the offensive line. The first quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.

After a number of stalled drives, Varga added his second TD of the game from one yard out after Donnie Marshall (London, Ont.) connected with Nathan Riva (LaSalle, Ont.) for a 17 yard gain, followed by a Riva run for 13 to put the ball on the one yard line.

The Mustangs forced a Laurier fumble on their next drive, but Lirim Hajrullahu’s (St. Catharines, Ont.)  field goal attempt grazed the outside of the post, turning the ball over to the Golden Hawks offense, which eventually led to the biggest play of the first half.

Laurier quarterback Kelly was almost picked off by Handsor, but Mustang linebacker Sean Blake jumped Kelly’s next pass and returned the interception 25 yards for the score to put Western in the lead 21-7.

Two late Laurier touchdowns completed the first half scoring, as the teams went into halftime tied at 21.
Hajrullahu added a 22 yard field goal and Varga picked up his third rushing touchdown of the day in the third quarter as the Mustangs went up 31-21 going into the final quarter.

The Golden Hawks scored at the 11:55 mark of the fourth quarter on a 52 yard Kelly to Heap pass to bring Laurier within six of the Mustangs.

Neither team was able to score the rest of the way, although Laurier had the ball in the final minute but Symianick’s interception sealed the victory for the Mustangs.

The next game for the Mustangs is Saturday, October 1 at 1:00 p.m. against the visiting York Lions for homecoming at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont.