The No. 3 CIS ranked Mustangs will be gearing up on the gridiron this Saturday, October 4, against the No. 4 McMaster Marauders, who will be looking to put the Mustangs in their place after the Purple and White knocked them out of the playoffs with a 32-3 semi-final victory last year.
Western and McMaster have a bitter history with one another, as the Marauders eliminated Western from the playoffs in both 2011 and 2012 before the Mustangs got revenge in 2013. Adding to the excitement is the fact that both teams are undefeated heading into Saturday's game, which promises to see one of their winning streaks come to an end.
Western heads into this weekend's action coming off of a 69-3 road win over the Warriors last Saturday. Quarterback Will Finch topped the score sheet with 207 yards on 10-for-17 passing while also adding three touchdowns in the victory. The Burlington, Ont., native also added 12 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown in his two quarters of action before handing the reins over to back up Stevenson Bone in the second half. After last weekend's game, Finch now sits at second in the OUA for passing yards per game with 273.5 and third for passing touchdowns with nine.
But Finch wasn't the only one making impressive plays in last weekend's action. Nine different Mustangs put points on the board, as the team racked up 753 yards of total offence while limiting the Warriors to only 183 total offensive yards on the day. On defense, Ricky Osei-Kusi was solid, leading Western with 3.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble—which he would recover. In four games this season, Osei-Kusi has put up a total of 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
On special teams, kicker Zack Medeiros scored 15 points on the day, going 9-for-9 on extra points and making both field goal attempts. The St. Thomas, Ontario native has had a break-out season so far this year, as he leads the Mustangs in overall scoring with 56 points.
McMaster is also coming in fresh off a win after downing Queen's 28-19 in their Homecoming game on Saturday—a game which saw Marauder kicker Tyler Crapinga move within one career field goal of breaking former Mustang and current Winnipeg Blue Bomber Lirim Hairallahu's OUA record of 77. Needless to say, all eyes will be on Crapinga this weekend as he attempts to pass Hairallahu in Western territory.
He certainly isn't McMaster's only threat, however. Quarterback Marshall Ferguson was solid last weekend, finding eight receivers to tally 376 yards in passing with two touchdowns. Ferguson currently sits second in the OUA for passing touchdowns with nine and fourth place in the OUA for passing yards per game with 259. Wide receiver Daniel Vandervoot was also a big reason for the victory, racking up 107 yards on four catches to move him into fifth in the OUA for receiving yards per game at 91.6.
On the ground, Chris Pezzetta dominated for the Marauders, rushing for a game-high 154 yards on 24 carries. His victory-clinching, 59-yard touchdown rush in the final three minutes put the cherry on top of another solid performance and helped earn him the Mark Timpany Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the Homecoming Game.
Saturday's game time is set for 1 p.m. at TD Stadium. Fans can watch all the action live on OUA.tv, Rogers Cable 13 in London, and Rogers Sports Plus throughout Ontario or listen live on CHRW radio and on Newstalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.
