LONDON, Ont. - In front of an electric sell out crowd of 10,900 students, friends, and alumni, the Western Mustangs football team hosted the McMaster Maruaders for the 2012 edition of the annual Homecoming football game. In a hard-hitting contest the number one ranked Marauders outlasted the Mustangs to earn a 33-27 victory.

“There were times when we ran the ball well, but give [McMaster’s] defensive line credit, they were good and [McMaster middle linebacker Nick Shorthill] played a whale of a game on us, he made a lot of tackles. I’m proud of the way our guys played, they could have quit, but they stuck with it,” said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall.

The Marauders were led by by quarterback Kyle Quinlan, who threw for 247 yards on 18-for-32 passing with two touchdowns. He also added a touchdown on the ground along with 145 yards on 10 attempts.

“He’s an athlete. Not taking anything away from him, we were ready for that,” said Mustangs defensive back Clarence Buchanan. “We knew he was going to make plays, we have to limit those plays. He made a couple of big ones that hurt us, but at the same time there’s nothing we can’t handle, and we know we’re going to see him again down the road.” 

Offensively the Mustangs changed things up, and it was the passing game doing the bulk of the work for Western, racking up 365 yards through the air compared to 130 on the ground. Donnie Marshall went 16-30 for 223 yards, and Will Finch added 142 yards and one touchdown on six-for-eight passing in a relief effort.

Despite the running attack struggling at times, Garret Sanvido recorded his fifth straight 100-plus yards game, this time earning 109 yards with two touchdowns to remain the CIS leader in both categories.

In addition to the loss the Mustangs also suffered a number of injuries, with Aaron Handsor, Kalvin Johnson, and Donnie Marshall all being forced to leave the game. All three will be evaluated and their status for next week is yet to be determined.

As it was Homecoming there were a few special events surrounding the afternoon’s contest. The newest recipients of the Women’s Athletic Alumnae Elfrida Berzins Award, as well as the newest members of the W Club Hall of Fame, were honoured prior to the contest. There was also a flyover from Harvard Aircraft to mark the beginning of the game.

Clad in new purple helmets emblazoned with the Western University crest, the Mustangs started the game off strong, forcing McMaster to concede a safety midway through the first quarter before Garret Sanvido scored his eighth touchdown of the season to put the Mustangs ahead 9-0. 

McMaster didn’t wait long to return fire, when Quinlan scored on a one-yard run to make it 9-7 for the Mustangs after the first quarter.

The touchdown put momentum on the Marauders side, and after forcing Western to concede a safety, Quinlan connected with Tyler Loveday on a 14-yard pass to put McMaster up 16-9. 

The Marauders would then pick up another safety to two more points on the board before Tyler Crapigna scored on a 15-yard field goal to make it 21-9 for McMaster. Quinlan would throw his second TD pass of the game less than four minutes later to put the Maruaders up by 19.

Despite the Marauders controlling the play for most of the second quarter, the Mustangs were by no means ready to give up, and Lirim Hajrullahu hit a 37-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to send the game into halftime with the score in McMaster’s favour, 28-12.

The two teams would then trade possession for the majority of the third quarter, with McMaster picking up two points on a safety, before Garret Sanvido would score his second touchdown of the day on a two-yard run to end the third quarter, with the Mustangs trailing 30-18.

The Mustangs defence would take over in the fourth quarter, continually frustrating the McMaster attack, and keeping them off the board until late in the quarter when Crapigna  made a 17-yard field goal.

Just over a minute after their field goal McMaster would concede a safety, allowing the Mustangs to regain possession of the ball with rookie quarterback Will Finch behind centre. Finch, who had taken over from an injured Donnie Marshall a few minutes prior, proceeded to lead a six-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Finch connecting with Matt Uren on an 11-yard touchdown pass to pull Western within six points.

The Mustangs tried an onside kick, but were unable to recover the ball, and McMaster proceeded to kneel out the game, taking away a 33-27 victory to remain undefeated.

Western is back in action next week heading to Guelph to take on the Gryphons. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.