LONDON, Ont. – Three touchdowns by Harry McMaster helped the Western Mustangs complete an undefeated regular season with a 63-10 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium.
 
"I thought it was a little sloppy, but I thought overall we played very well," said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. "We settled into it, I don't know if it was just not having played in two weeks, but the first couple minutes we were not as crisp defensively and certainly not offensively but we settled into a very good game.
 
"It was good we were able to get lots of players in the game. Our backups played almost half the game, and they played very well. That's important because there is going to be times down the road in the playoffs when those kids are going to have to step up and play."
 
The win gives the Mustangs an 8-0 record heading into the playoffs, with the team having already locked up first place in the OUA with their October 6 win over Carleton. The Gee-Gees finish with a 5-3 record and will enter the postseason as the league's fourth seed.
 
McMaster led all players with 101 receiving yards on five catches with three touchdowns, scoring from 15, 26, and 37 yards out. Although McMaster led the way for the receivers, the Mustangs spread the ball around in the win with nine different players catching passes against the Gee-Gees.
 
"I think we knew that a lot of the stuff we had would work and we were just going stick to the basics and just take it to them," said McMaster. "I think we are always confident and we know we are going to have success." 
 
Throwing the majority of the passes was starting quarterback Chris Merchant, who went 10-15 with 168 yards passing with three touchdowns and one interceptions. All three of Western's quarterbacks got into the action with Kevin John completing six of seven passes for 78 yards, while Stevenson Bone threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Valvano before being forced to leave the game due to injury.
 
While the Mustangs aerial attack may have provided most of the highlights, the ground game was a key factor in the win as Western rushed for 452 yards. Both Trey Humes and Cedric Joseph put up good numbers against the Gee-Gees, rushing for 138 and 137 yards respectively, while Joseph added two touchdowns to finish in first place on the OUA leaderboard with 10 on the season.
 
The Mustangs defence put on a show for the Homecoming crowd, playing one of their finest games of the season and holding the Gee-Gees to just 189 yards. Veteran Jean-Gabriel Poulin topped the charts with 5.5 tackles and also added an interception, as did defensive back Alex Salytchev.
 
Just as the offence and defence impressed against the Gee-Gees, so too did the special teams with returner Mike Sananes racking up 119 punt return yards, including one return of 51 yards.
 
Marc Liegghio finished out his record-breaking regular season with another perfect day, going 4-4 on field goals to extend his streak to 22 consecutive attempts without a miss. The Woodbridge, Ont., native finishes the year with 29 field goals, setting a new standard for the Mustangs and leading the OUA with 125 points on the year.
 
After failing to pick up points on their opening drive for the first time all year, the Mustangs would open the scoring on their next possession.
 
Saltychev set things up by picking off Alex Lavric and then the Mustangs turned to the ground game, picking up 40 yards before Merchant hit McMaster on a 15-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0 just past the midway point of the first quarter.
 
That lead wouldn't last long, however, as Jamie Henry picked off a pass from Merchant and took it back 60 yards to tie things up.
 
A good punt from Liegghio and strong punt coverage resulted in a single to close out the opening frame with the Mustangs up 8-7.
 
After a fairly even first quarter it was all Mustangs in the second frame, starting off with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Merchant to McMaster to put Western up 15-7 less than two minutes in.
 
Liegghio added another four points thanks to a single on the ensuing kickoff and then a 16-yard field goal to give the home side a 12-point lead.
 
The Mustangs continued to roll, with Valvano catching a five-yard pass from Bone to make it 26-7 before Liegghio connected on a 36-yard field goal to extend the lead even further.
 
Joseph rounded out the scoring in the quarter with an impressive 26-yard touchdown run after a long lateral from Merchant to give Western a 36-7 lead at the half.
 
The Mustangs didn't slow down after the break, with McMaster, Joseph, and John all finding the end zone, while Liegghio added three field goals to delight the Homecoming faithful with a 63-10 win.
 
"I think we had a really good game plan but that we left a lot of our game plan and we didn't call it because we didn't need too," said Marshall. "I think that it was smart because there are things that we saw that we could do, but we are going to come out against defenses that are very similar to Ottawa's down the road.
 
"At this point now we need to try some of the new stuff we put in, rep it in practice and get another week at it and have our full playbook. We really ran simple plays at them most of the game. I mean if you look at it other than a few different passes we ran four or five different plays.
 
Next up for the Mustangs is an OUA Semifinal matchup, with Western hosting the league's lowest remaining seed on Saturday, November 4, at TD Stadium. Check back to westernmustangs.ca following next Saturday's quarter-finals when the Mustangs opponent will be determined.