LONDON, Ont. - Fourth-year running back Cedric Joseph tallied an incredible 355 yards and three touchdowns on just 17 carries to help lead the Western football team to the 63-14 blowout win over the Windsor Lancers on Thursday evening in TD Stadium.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to a perfect 6-0 on the season as they maintain their position atop the OUA standings. The Lancers' loss drops them to 1-5 on the season, as they will look to bounce back next Friday against the Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo, Ont.
Joseph, who tallied all 355 of his yards in the first half alone, was just 40 yards shy of the all-time U Sports record for yards in a game (395). However, with the Mustangs up big at halftime, Joseph sat for the remainder of the game, settling for the third-most single-game yards in U Sports history. But despite coming up short on the U Sports record, there was a silver lining in the fact that Joseph managed to set the Western record for single-game rushing yards, surpassing the previous record set by Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall (317) in 1981.
"The whole team was proud of Cedric's performance tonight," said Marshall. "It was certainly a tribute to his own talent and that of the offensive line. They created some open spaces for him and he made great runs. But he's never really too concerned with records, it's all about the outcome of the game. But he beat my record, so I think that's what's important. We're happy for him."
"To be honest, I'm really not concerned with records," said Joseph. "I just try and go out there and do whatever I need to do to help us win games. If the offensive line is opening up holes like they did and coach is calling my name, then I'm happy to get some good runs in. They make my job a whole lot easier. But it was a really special moment to be able to pass Coach's record though. I look up to Coach Marshall a lot. He's a great leader, a great role model, and a true legend in the game, so to be able to surpass him and earn that record was definitely a big moment for me."
Western receiver Harry McMaster also had a strong game, scoring two early touchdowns to give the Mustangs the early lead while Chris Merchant threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns on the day.
Windsor found themselves receiving to begin the day, but Western's defence would quickly force the Lancers into the safety just a minute into the game, giving the Mustangs the early 2-0 lead. On the other side of the ball, Western quickly took advantage of their first drive of the game, as Merchant connected with Harry McMaster to extend the lead to 9-0 for the purple and white.
The Lancers put together a promising drive on the ensuing possession, but a fumble on a potential huge run put Merchant in prime position to connect with McMaster for the second time in three minutes with a 69-yard catch, extending the Mustangs' lead to 16-0.
However, Merchant would throw just his second interception of the season on Western's following drive, leading to a Windsor touchdown late in the quarter to cut the Western lead to 16-7. Merchant continued to struggle against the Lancer defence in the quarter as he threw his second interception in as many drives with seconds left in the frame. However, the turnover would not hurt Western on the scoreboard as they went into the second frame maintaining their 16-7 lead.
Despite the rocky first quarter, Cedric Joseph helped extend the lead for the purple and white just seconds into the second frame, running 90 yards to the house and pushing Western's lead to 23-7. Joseph continued to dominate the running game for Western, earning a 71-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to extend the lead to 32-7 for the Mustangs. Brett Ellerman and Joseph would each add one more to the Mustangs' total in the half as they strolled into halftime with a 49-7 lead.
Trey Humes picked up right where Joseph left off in the second half as his replacement, scoring an early touchdown and dominating the Windsor defence throughout the half as Western extended their advantage to 56-7. The remainder of the half would be much of the same as the purple and white ran out the clock on route to the 63-14 victory.
"Heading into our next game, we just have to get back to the basics," said Merchant. "Obviously, Cedric had a huge game for us, but I made some mistakes on my end that I wish I could have back and I have to look to make those adjustments going into next week. But it's just something I have to move on from, it's part of the sport."
"To turn the ball over when we have scoring position is obviously concerning, but we'll look at it as we head into Ottawa and adjust accordingly," said Marshall. "It obviously didn't matter today, but those mistakes are going to matter in the future. We're in a competitive division, so we have to just clean it up and move onto the next one."
The Mustangs will be back in action next Saturday, October 12, where they will take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Ottawa, Ont. in a game that will decide who takes control of the OUA. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M. EST and fans can catch the action live on OUA.tv.
