The Mustangs football team closed out the 2014 regular season last weekend with a 43-21 win over the Windsor Lancers, clinching third spot in the OUA and securing home field advantage in the first round of the OUA playoffs.
With the fans at TD Stadium behind them, the Mustangs will welcome a familiar foe to TD Stadium in the Laurier Golden Hawks. Saturday's contest will be the second time in three weeks that the two purple-clad opponents have squared off, with Western taking their first meeting of the year with a 61-20 victory on October 9 at TD Stadium.
Although both the Mustangs and Golden Hawks will be fighting for a win and move a step closer to the Vanier Cup, as defending Yates Cup champions Western will be trying to make sure that another purple and white shield is placed upon football's oldest trophy on November 15.
Western is coming off a strong regular season, although it hasn't been without its challenges as the Mustangs have been plagued by injuries this season, including a major blow to their offence in last week's game against the Lancers. Starting quarterback Will Finch sustained a hit late in the second quarter that would put him out for the remainder of the game. With Finch out of this Saturday's contest, Stevenson Bone will be called upon to direct the purple and white offence in his second start of the season.
This will be not only Bone's second start of the season but also his second start against the Golden Hawks, as the third-year pivot was behind centre for Western's win prior to Thanksgiving. Bone was nothing short of excellent in his previous start, completing 19-of-25 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He was also able to move the ball on the ground, rushing seven times for 86 yards and one score.
The Mustangs running game has been its usual strong self all season, although it appears to be peaking at just the right time as the team enters post-season play. Third-year back Yannick Harou displayed an impressive performance last weekend, recording a season high 21 carries for 209 yards and averaging 10 yards per carry. He wasn't the only Mustang racking up big yards as rookie Alex Taylor also put up a solid effort, carrying the ball eight times for 82 yards and a touchdown. Taylor also stepped up on special teams, returning six kick-offs for 168 yards.
The Golden Hawks enter this Saturday's game coming off of a three-game losing streak after losses to the Mustangs (61-20), McMaster (27-10), and Guelph (41-36). The Golden Hawks' 4-4 regular season record was good for sixth place in the OUA and the final playoff spot.
Laurier's offence is centred around Dillon Campbell, who has proven himself to be one of the top running backs in the CIS. Campbell finished the season atop the CIS leaderboard with 1,458 yards, good for sixth on the all-time rushing list. The Whitby native has run all over teams this season, averaging 182.2 yards per contest. However it was the Mustangs that held him to his worst outing of the season, limiting him to 111 yards and only one touchdown earlier this year. While those numbers would be cause to celebrate for most backs, prior to that game Campbell had been averaging 204.2 yards per game.
While the Mustangs defence will be trying to stop Campbell the team's offence will need to be on the look out for defensive back Chris Ackie. Ackie has been a nightmare for opposing coordinators this season, ranking 11th in the country with 48.5 tackles, including eight against Western.
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, Rogers Cable 20 in Kitchener, 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.
