After claiming their third consecutive victory of the 2014 season with a 63-15 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues in front of a Homecoming crowd of 11, 489 fans this past Saturday, the CIS No. 3 Mustangs are back on the road and looking to extend their undefeated streak in Waterloo on Saturday, September 27 as they face-off against the Warriors at 1 p.m.
With last weekend's win the Mustangs now hold a 3-0 record on the 2014 season so far, and are tied with the similarly 3-0 Windsor Lancers for second place in the OUA.
Leading the way for the Mustangs offence in their recent Homecoming victory was sophomore quarterback
Will Finch. Despite struggling at times to find his receivers downfield and throwing four interceptions, Finch was able to bounce back and help propel the Mustangs to a victory with an impressive performance both in the air and on the ground as he completed 25-of-37 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 68 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
Also contributing to the Mustangs 804 yards of offence on Saturday were veteran receivers
Matt Uren and
Brian Marshall. Uren hauled in eight passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns, while Marshall had six receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown as Finch and fellow quarterback
Stevenson Bone spread the ball around to eight different receivers against the Varsity Blues. Western's newest receiving option
Shaquille Johnson impressed in his second game as a Mustangs, catching six passes for 85 yards, while also returning two kickoffs and five punts for an additional 67 yards.
Third-year running back
Yannick Harou led Western's rushing attack as he rushed 13 times for a team-leading 96 yards, and one touchdown. Much like the passing game, the Mustangs utilized multiple options in the backfield with seven players combining for 408 rushing yards.
On the other side of the ball the Mustangs continued their assault on opposing quarterbacks, recording five sacks to maintain their spot on the CIS leaderboard with 15 sacks this season. For the third consecutive game second-year safety Jessie McNair was among the team leaders in tackles, topping all Mustangs players with 4.5 stops on the day.
While the Mustangs head into Saturday's contest on a three-game winning streak, the Waterloo Warriors have had a rough start to their 2014 campaign as they have yet to find their first win and currently hold a 0-4 record. So far this season the Warriors have been outscored 206-18 by their opponents, including last week's 63-4 loss at the hands of the Lancers.
Offensively the Warriors run a balanced attack, with quarterbacks Jamie Cook and Lucas McConneell posting similar numbers to combine for 586 yards passing with one touchdown and six interceptions so far this season. It's a similar story in the running game as Ryan Di Risio and Danny Silvestri have put up 114 and 113 yards respectively, while Cook is next on the list with 76 yards rushing.
The Waterloo receiving corps is led by the duo of Mike Dedys and Paul Cecile with 144 and 142 yards so far in 2014, while Christian Lewis has contributed 118 yards on 13 receptions.
The Mustangs and the Warriors have had contrasting seasons leading up to this Saturday's actions as one team has gone undefeated and the other is still searching for their first win. Game time is set for 1 p.m. in Waterloo, and fans can watch all the action live on OUA.tv, listen on CHRW Radio, or on CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach, and the newest member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Larry Haylor calling all the action.
