WINDSOR, Ont. – The Western Mustangs were nothing short of dominant on Saturday afternoon, controlling both sides of the ball in a 59-7 win over the Windsor Lancers at Alumni Field. 
 
"Our defence played a whale of a game, they really gave us lots of opportunities," said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. "We still need to be a little bit more consistent on offence. There were things there… we've got to block the run a little bit better, we were better in the second half but had dropped passes, and when we didn't drop passes we had some bad reads.
 
"We're not there yet, but the defence gave us lots of opportunities. Overall, I think we got some good play from the guys on offence, but we just need to be a little more consistent."
 
Western now improves to 4-0 on the year and sit tied for first place in the OUA standings alongside the Waterloo Warriors, while Windsor falls to 0-4 this season.
 
The Mustangs defence shined on Saturday and had their strongest game of the season, holding the Lancers to just 76 total yards on 58 plays, and refusing to even allow a first down until the second half.  
 
"Coach Marshall said at the beginning of the week that we wanted to focus on execution and getting better. Looking back on it we dropped some interceptions, there were a couple of fumbles we could have recovered, and that always keeps you going," said Mustangs linebacker Nick Vanin.
 
"You're never as good as you think until you watch film. We'll find things to nitpick and get better going forward as we get into the toughest part of the season."
 
Western's offence put up 697 yards in the win, including 320 yards passing from Chris Merchant, who completed 20 of 30 passes with one touchdown and one interception. The quarterback not only led the Mustangs passing attack but also finished with 90 yards rushing and one touchdown.
 
Veteran fullback David Mackie led the Mustangs receivers in the win, catching six passes for 98 yards as the Western offence made passes out to the flats a featured part of the game plan.
 
"Our big focus this week was to make Western better," said Mackie. "We want to go out there and beat our opponents, whether it's McMaster, Windsor, or whoever we face. Our big focus was on making Western better and one thing we worked on was hitting those flats routes, whether it was to me or other backs, and we did that."
 
Running back Cedric Joseph got involved in the pass game as well, recording three receptions for 45 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 80 yards and one score.
 
Western's offence got off to a strong start on Saturday, utilizing their running backs and fullbacks as receivers coming out of the backfield to march down the field and cap off their opening drive with a 12-yard field goal from Marc Liegghio.
 
The Mustangs continued to throw passes into the flats on their next drive, with Merchant finishing things off with a 15-yard swing pass to Joseph to make it 10-0 for the purple and white.
 
A conceded safety from the Lancers and a single from Liegghio extended the Western lead to 13-0 before Stevenson Bone scored on a quarterback keeper from the one-yard line to make it 20-0 for the Mustangs midway through the second quarter.
 
Western would add another 13 points to the board before the end of the half, with a trio of safeties and a one-yard touchdown run from Joseph making it 33-0 for the Mustangs heading into the third quarter.
 
After the Lancers conceded a safety on their first drive of the half, the Mustangs found the end zone on their next two drives, with Yannick Harou scoring on a three-yard run before Merchant scored on a 54-yard rush to extend the Western lead to 49-0.
 
A 14-yard run from Bone and a 22-yard field goal from Liegghio rounded out the scoring for the Mustangs, while Marcus Kentner put the Lancers on the board late in the fourth, to make it a 59-7 final for Western.
 
The Mustangs will return home for their next matchup as they'll welcome the Queen's Gaels to TD Stadium on Saturday, September 23. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and fans can watch live on Rogers Cable channel 368 and OUA.tv, or listen on Radio Western 94.9 FM and Newstalk 1290 CJBK.