The Western Mustangs made their 2014 post-season debut last Saturday with a 25-10 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks that knocked the purple and gold out of the playoffs and kept the dream of capturing the prestigious Vanier Cup title alive for the Mustangs.

With the quarterfinal win, the Mustangs now advance to the semi-final match-up where they will gear up on the gridiron against the Guelph Gryphons this Saturday, November 8. A must-win battle, the purple and white will look to continue their efforts to defend their Yates Cup title, as well as their hopes of claiming the Vanier Cup - a title that Western hasn't seen since 1994.

The Mustangs trailed for a large part of last week's quarterfinal, unable to put up a major score until late in the fourth quarter when Yannick Harou crossed into the Laurier end zone with only two minutes remaining. Harou got the bulk of the carries for the Mustangs last weekend, running the ball 22 times for 162 yards.

Kicker Zack Medeiros helped keep Western in the game, hitting four of his five field goal attempts including one from 49-yards out early in the fourth to give the Mustangs a 15-10 lead.

With quarterback Will Finch out of the line-up due to injury, Stevenson Bone stepped in to lead the Mustangs. Battling high winds, Bone completed just one pass for seven yards by the end of the first, along with two interceptions. As the game continued Bone regrouped, completing nine of his 22 passes for 142 yards while also picking up 59 yards rushing on six carries.

Western's defence held strong, limiting Laurier quarterback James Fracas to seven completed passes for 36 yards, while also holding top rusher Dillon Campbell to 25 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown.

The Gryphons head into this weekend's semi-final match-up ready after their second place finish in the OUA standings earned them a first round bye. They closed out the regular season with a 41-36 victory over the Golden Hawks on Saturday, October 25^th to finish with a 7-1 regular season record.

Entering off of a bye week the Gryphons should be rested and aiming to repeat the success they had against the Mustangs back on October 18 when they emerged with a 49-46 victory, thanks to a last second field goal from Daniel Ferraro. 

Starting quarterback Jazz Lindsey was the driving force in Guelph's regular season win over Western, completing 34-of-53 passes for a school-record 513 yards passing, with four touchdowns and only one interception. While Lindsey was outstanding on the day, the Mustangs defence virtually shut out the Gryphons running game, holding Guelph to 36 yards rushing. Look for the Mustangs to once again try and limit the ground attack while trying to lock down the Gryphons receivers in the passing game.

Along with the Gryphons potent offence, Western will have to contend with Ferraro in the kicking game. Last time the two teams met Ferraro went 4-5 on field goals, including hitting a pair of 41-yarders, one of which cemented the win for the home side in the final seconds. The kicker led the CIS with 26 field goals this season, connecting on all but four of his kicks, while also adding 27 extra points and nine singles to lead the nation with 114 points scored, just eclipsing Medeiros who finished with 113. With two of the nation's best kickers in action Saturday's game could come down to which team's kicker has the better day. 

Saturday's game time is set for 1:00 p.m. in Guelph. Fans can watch all the action live on OUA.tv, or listen live on CHRW radio and on Newstalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.