Box Score WATERLOO, Ont. – Quarterback Will Finch threw for 423 yards and two touchdowns while receiver Brian Marshall hauled in seven passes for 209 yards to help the Western Mustangs come from behind to defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks 45-24 on Saturday afternoon at University Stadium.
"It's just one of those games you're kind of off to a bad start, they make some big plays and all of a sudden everyone gets a bit tight," said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. "It's good that you play a game like this and are able to come back in the second half, settle down and make some plays."
The win moves the CIS No. 2 Mustangs to 5-0 on the season and maintains their spot on top of the OUA standings while Laurier now holds a 1-4 record. Saturday's win was also the eighth consecutive victory for Western over the Golden Hawks, extending a streak that began in 2008.
Finch led the Mustangs offence on Saturday, completing 26 of 36 passes for 423 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. It was the third time this season that the Burlington native has thrown for over 400 yards in a game, and he's had less than 300 yards passing only once this year, throwing for 297 yards against Ottawa.
While Brian Marshall was Finch's main target in the victory, Justin Sanvido and Adam Sinclair both had strong performances, catching six and seven passes respectively with one touchdown each. Yannick Harou made up the bulk of the Mustangs rushing attack, running for 73 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball Beau Landry led all Western defenders with seven tackles, with Sean Blake and Preston Huggins coming in just behind with five tackles each. The Mustangs defence also added to their CIS leading interception total as Trevor Lass picked off his fourth pass of the season and Malcolm Brown recorded his first interception of the year.
Laurier got the scoring started on Saturday, picking up the first points of the day on a 35-yard field goal from Ronnie Pfeffer to give the Golden Hawks an early lead. They extended their lead just over five minutes later as James Fracas capped off a four play 88-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put Laurier up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, marking the first time all season that the Mustangs had been shut out for an entire quarter.
The second frame was more of the same for Western with Laurier's defence containing the Mustangs for long periods of play, however the Mustangs got on the board early on thanks to a conceded safety and a 12-yard field goal from Lirim Hajrullahu to cut the Laurier lead to 10-5.
Golden Hawks running back Dillon Campbell fired back for Laurier late in the quarter, scoring on a 100-yard run to extend the Golden Hawks lead to 17-5. Western responded before the end of the half as Harou scored the Mustangs first major of the day, finishing a 77-yard drive with a one yard run to make it 17-12 Laurier at halftime.
The Mustangs offence then came alive in the third quarter, and Hajrullahu scored the Mustangs first points of the half, nailing a 17-yard field goal that was set up a few plays earlier by a beautiful 78-yard pass to Brian Marshall.
Western wouldn't wait long to strike again as Sinclair hauled in a 19-yard pass on the team's next possession to take their first lead of the game. Justin Sanvido would then close out the quarter, scoring on an 18-yard pass from Finch to make it 29-17 heading into the final quarter.
The Purple and White continued to take control in the fourth, and after Campbell scored his second touchdown of the day with 10:43 remaining, the Mustangs responded with a pair of rushing touchdowns from Harou to close things out with a 45-24 victory.
Next up for the Mustangs is a Homecoming showdown with the CIS third-ranked Queen's Gaels on Saturday, September 28 at TD Stadium. Fans across Canada can watch the game on Sportsnet 360 or listen live on 94.9 CHRW Radio or on NewsTalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.
