LONDON, Ont. – A last minute drive ended just yards short of the end zone on Saturday afternoon as the Western Mustangs fell to the Guelph Gryphons 23-17 at TD Stadium in the 108th Yates Cup, presented by Investors Group.
"Give credit to Guelph, they played well," said Mustangs head coach
Greg Marshall. "They did a good job, it was kind of a back and forth game all game. I thought there were moments when our defence was outstanding and moments when our offence did a good job.
"I'm proud of our players. We've got good kids, they worked hard, and Guelph's a good team. It's disappointing, but it's a game and we'll move on and learn from it.
"The hardest thing for me right now is going into the dressing room and seeing kids who worked hard every single night, staying until ten o clock or ten thirty every night, and it's over in seconds."
The win gives the Gryphons the fourth Yates Cup in program history and they will now host the Montreal Carabins next week in the CIS Mitchell Bowl, with the winner advancing to the Vanier Cup against either St. Francis Xavier or the University of British Columbia.
Down by six with just over a minute remaining, quarterback
Stevenson Bone drove the Mustangs 70-yards down to the Guelph 10-yard line with 5.7 seconds remaining on the clock. With time for one last play, Bone found receiver
Justin Sanvido at the five yard line. Unfortunately, the fourth-year veteran was met by the Gryphons defence, who made the stop to seal the win for the visitors.
"I was proud of Stevenson's composure down the stretch" said Marshall after the loss. "He gave us a chance to get back in there."
Stepping in for starter
Will Finch, who was injured in last week's semi-final win over Laurier, Bone went 21 for 39 for 236 yards. He also picked up 86 yards on the ground on 16 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Mustangs offence.
"I'm proud of the way Stevenson played," said Marshall. "He hung in there, he didn't get rattled. It's not an easy situation to put a quarterback into, to put them into a game like that. Especially against a defence as good as the University of Guelph's is."
The trio of James Roberts, Johnny Augustine, and Jacob Scarfone powered the Gryphons offence on Saturday, while kicker Gabriel Ferraro added three field goals.
Roberts went 14-28 with 221 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception and chose Scarfone as his preferred option in the pass game, as the receiver hauled in six passes for 142 yards with one touchdown. Augustine led all players with 108 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Defensively the Gryphons limited the number one rushing team in the nation to 194 yards, and were led by linebacker John Rush who had 12 tackles and three sacks to earn the Dalt White Trophy as the Yates Cup MVP.
As he has virtually all season,
Jesse McNair topped the Mustangs scoresheet with 11 tackles, and he was closely followed by
Ricky Osei-Kusi and
Malcolm Brown with 8.5 and eight tackles respectively. Defensive end
John Biewald had a standout performance in the loss, registering six tackles and two sacks, along with a forced fumble.
Western opened the scoring late in the first quarter, picking up their first major of the day on an 11-yard run from Bone, sending the Mustangs into the second quarter with a 7-0 lead.
Ferraro put Guelph on the board with a 22-yard field goal early in the second, capitalizing on a 50-yard pass from Roberts to Scarfone that put the Gryphons into scoring position.
On the ensuing drive, Bone and the Mustangs offence ran their most efficient drive of the game to that point. Big plays from Bone and a 23-yard reverse to receiver
Matt McDougall took the ball all the way down to the one-yard line. Once again Bone took the ball across the line to give the Mustangs a 14-3 lead at halftime.
The Gryphons came out in the second half with lots of energy and engaged Western in a physical battle. With 5:30 minutes gone in the third, returner Ryan Nieuwesteeg, who was dangerous all game, spun a dynamic punt return into Mustang territory and set up the Gryphons in position. Roberts would punch the ball in from the one-yard line for the major, pulling Guelph to within four points of the Mustangs.
Ben Kelly extended Western's lead to 17-10 heading into the fourth quarter after hitting a 38-yard field goal late in the third.
Guelph didn't wait long to tie things up in the final frame, scoring on a perfectly placed deep ball from Roberts to Scarfone once again. The 36-yard strike evened the game at 17-17 at the start of the fourth quarter.
On the first play after the Guelph touchdown Western gave the ball right back as Taylor fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. The Gryphon offence returned to the field and seemingly took the lead on an Augustine touchdown run, but the play was called back on an offside penalty.
This proved extremely fortunate for the Mustangs as linebacker
Nick Vanin intercepted a tipped ball two plays later and Western escaped with the game still tied. However, the tie did not last much longer as Ferraro hit his two field goals five minutes apart and gave the Gryphons the lead for good and take a 23-17 victory.
"We've got a lot of guys back, we'll be fine," said Marshall. "That's not going to make it any easier tonight, or is it going to make it easier for these boys. But I tell you, I'm proud of the way our players played. I'm proud of the way Stevenson stood in there and hung in there, and made plays."
"They battled hard, and they gave their all. That's all I can ask for."
