LONDON, Ont. – In a rematch a year in the making, the Western Mustangs put up what can only be described as a statement win, defeating the Laurier Golden Hawks 75-32 to win the 110th Yates Cup on Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium.
 
"I'm so proud of these guys, they really stepped up, they were prepared and they were focused," said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. "They had to live a whole year of hearing about Laurier, and you know what for a whole year I don't have to hear about Laurier.
 
"Early on there was just some discipline things…we kind of were shooting ourselves in the foot to start the game. But I love the way we played in the second quarter, we took over and asserted ourselves defensively, and offensively? Cedric played a whale of a game, but our offensive line knocked them off the football. You could see after a while it kind of just wore them down."
 
The win gives the Mustangs 31 Yates Cup titles, more than any other program in OUA history, and is the team's first Ontario title since defeating the Queen's Gaels in 2013. Saturday's win will send Western on the road to the Uteck Bowl to play the AUS Champion on Saturday, November 18.
 
Cedric Joseph was named the winner of the Dalt White Trophy as Yates Cup MVP after racking up 250 yards rushing on only 20 carries, with three touchdowns. His three majors give the running back an astounding seven touchdowns over Western's two playoff games after scoring four times in the Mustangs semifinal win over Guelph.
 
"Exciting moment for myself. It was probably the most anxious I've been in a long time. There's a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but you've got to rise to the occasion when coach calls your number. The offensive line played their hearts out today and made the job easier for me so I've got to give it up to them."
 
While the ground game picked up most of the yardage, Chris Merchant quietly put together one of his best games of the season with 220 yards on 13-18 passing with two touchdowns. He was also the Mustangs second leading rusher on the day, with 66 yards coming on nine carries with one major.
 
Michael Knevel led the Golden Hawks offence, going 25-49 with 432 yards passing, three touchdowns, and one interception. His main offensive outlets were receivers Brendan McCracken and Kurleigh Gittens Jr., who both caught six passes for 152 and 119 yards, respectively.
 
The Mustangs didn't wait long to open the scoring on Saturday, capping off their first drive with a 28-yard field goal from Marc Liegghio just under four minutes into the contest.
 
Western continued to put points on the board on their second drive with Joseph scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run to put Mustangs up 10-0 midway through the first.
 
After a conceded safety put the Golden Hawks on the board, Laurier picked up their first major of the day on a 27-yard pass to Brentyn Hall to cut the Western lead to 10-9.
 
That score wouldn't last for long, as Sananes took back the ensuing kickoff 95-yards to the end zone to give Western an eight-point advantage.
 
The rapid scoring pace continued as Laurier responded with a 74-yard touchdown pass to Brendan McCracken to set the scoreboard at 17-16 in favour of the Mustangs after one quarter.
 
Things would quickly unravel for the Hawks from there as the Mustangs continued to run rampant over the purple and gold, as Western posted 26 points in the second quarter, highlighted by touchdowns from Joseph, Harry McMaster and Brett Ellerman.
 
Determined to send a message after last year's comeback by the Hawks, Western started off the third quarter by scoring another 11 straight points, including Joseph's third touchdown of the game to stretch their lead to 38.
 
Mario Villamizar found the endzone on the last play of the third quarter but it was too little too late for the purple and gold.
 
The Mustangs would add another pair of majors in the final quarter as they set a Yates Cup record for points scored, breaking the previous record of 65 points set by Windsor in 1975.?
 
Western's victory is not only the 31st title in school history, but it's also the 19th Yates Cup win for coach Marshall, combining his time as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
 
"This is right up there with the most satisfying it really was," said Marshall. "Like I said, for a whole year I don't have to hear about Laurier. And I think that was a good statement for our coaches and redemption for all of our coaches and all of our players. We wore that one for a year, and rightly so, but great character overcomes it, and this team has great character."
 
With the Ontario championship now in the books, the Mustangs will turn their attention to the national semifinal where they'll take on the AUS champion in the Uteck Bowl.
 
"My message to our players is that yes, this is a big win for us, but we didn't start this season just trying to win the Yates Cup. We talked about that in order to win the national championship we've got to beat Guelph, we've got to beat Laurier, and we have another big football game. I think our kids see a bigger picture than this. We're going to enjoy tonight, but we're going to temper it and get back here early tomorrow getting ready to play."