HAMILTON – The Western Mustangs ended a 23 year Vanier Cup drought with an exclamation mark, knocking off the defending champion and No. 1 nationally ranked Laval Rouge et Or 39-17 in the Canadian university football championship game on Saturday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
It marked the seventh Vanier Cup for Western in program history and served to avenge the Mustangs' 2008 loss against Laval in the championship game also played in Hamilton that year. Western's last national championship victory came in 1994 against Saskatchewan.
Western's quarterback Chris Merchant of Calgary captured the Ted Morris Trophy as the Vanier Cup's most valuable player rushing for two touchdowns and tossing another in the victory. He finished with 365 all-purpose yards completing 13 passes on 20 attempts for 276 yards while adding 89 on the ground.
"This is a credit to our team and the hard work put in." said Merchant who is in his second season with the Mustangs. "I like playing under pressure and playing on a big stage is the best thing in the world. Obviously, this is one of the most historic trophies in Canada; so growing up as a kid and watching it on TV; playing football since I was eight years old, is a dream come true."
Mustang running back Cedric Joseph also had two touchdowns in the victory putting up 63 yards rushing while teammate Alex Taylor of Winnipeg tallied 150 yards which was the game high in rushing.
For Greg Marshall it was jubilation as he collected his first ever Vanier Cup win after 18 seasons as a head coach. He has now won three Vanier Cups overall, having won two as an assistant coach with the Mustangs in 1989 and 1994.
"You know I'm going to enjoy this one for a while," said Marshall who is in his 11th season with the Mustangs. "We are not going to start looking at tape tomorrow, that's for sure. I've always said, you learn lessons either way, sometime you learn more about yourself when you lose. You might learn more, but it's a lot better to win."
Western's Fraser Sopik was the game's top defensive player registering 10.5 total tackles and one sack.
The Mustangs dissected their opponents all year long, leading the country with 48.3 points per game and prevailing by an average of 35.1 points in league play. They ratcheted it up in the playoffs outscoring opponents by an average of 49.3 points (261-64), including the Vanier Cup.
"It certainly is one of the best teams that I really believe to have played U SPORTS football," said an elated Marshall in his postgame comments. "It was just a dominant team; to go undefeated and dominate the way we did in the playoffs, I'm really proud of these guys."
Although the margin of victory was tighter in the Vanier Cup, Western handled Laval and turned the tables on the Rouge et Or who have dominated U SPORTS play having captured nine titles in 11 appearances since their inception in 1996.
Western's defence shut down Laval's offensive attack limiting them to just 277 yards. Vincent Alaire-Tardif was Laval's top rusher with a mere 35 yards. The Mustang defence also caused fits for Laval quarterback Hugo Richard all day long sacking him four times.
Western built a 16-7 halftime lead converting two opening half touchdowns and collecting two rouges. Joseph had 1 of his 2 touchdowns in the first half while Merchant got the Mustangs on the board with their first drive of the of the game. He capped an 8 play, 83 yard opening drive with a 13 yard run touchdown.
"I think it's just something we've done all year," said Merchant of the opening drive touchdown score. " If you look at what we've done in other games I think we've scored on every first drive of the season all year long."
"It's been our game plan. We come out fast, we hit them hard, hit them in the chin right off the bat and it takes some of their confidence away. Credit to my teammates they came out ready to go, they are the best guys in the world.
"When you come out fast and score right away and up 7-0 on the board you can breathe easy. But again, Football can change at any moment. We knew we had to keep our foot on the gas and play a complete 60 minutes. I wasn't taking a breath until three minutes left until we saw them start to run the ball."
Penalty trouble cost the Mustangs just before half with Laval converting a touchdown with 2:14 remaining. Richard tossed a 28-yard pass to Benoit Gagnon-Brousseau of Montreal to put Laval on the board with their seven points. Western's defence were charged with three penalties on that drive including two costly unnecessary roughness penalties which helped set up the Laval touchdown.
Western would rebound on their first drive of the second half with Joseph putting the finishing touches on a six play, 54-yard drive just minutes into the second half. That was followed with Western pinning Laval in their end zone for a safety.
Laval's David Cote of Quebec put up a 34-yard field goal before the third quarter closed out to put the score at 25-10.
In the fourth, Western sealed the game by punching in two more touchdowns. Merchant connected with Cole Majoros for a 32 yard strike just 52 second into the final frame. Merchant added a 10 yard run at 7:52 to close Western's scoring at 39 points.
Laval would add a late touchdown with just seven seconds remaining in the game to close the scoring at 39-17.
NOTES: The Mustangs are the first OUA team to go undefeated since Wilfrid Laurier won the Vanier Cup in Hamilton in 2005… It is the eighth perfect season in Mustangs history, and second 12-0 season…With a touchdown in the opening minutes of the game, Western has registered points on every opening drive in the 2017 season…The Mustangs out performed Laval on offence in the first quarter 124 yards to 30… Attendance announced was 10,754.
