Box Score London, ON – The Mustangs kept their undefeated streak alive with a 40-23 win over the Carleton Ravens Saturday night in front of a crowd of over 4700.
"The last two weeks we have gotten the run game going early and once that happens everything seems to go smoothly" said Mustangs running back Trey Hume, who ran for 113 yards on the night. "Making some big adjustments at half time has been key, seeing what they're doing out there and what might not be working and fixing it as quick as possible and getting back out there and making it work.
The Mustangs made an early impact on the game when Bleska Kambamba picked off the ball on the Western goal line early in the first quarter, the Mustangs drove the ball the length of the field finishing with Antonio Valvano catching the opening score of the game to go up 7-0.
"It was nice, it's something i've been working at in the off season and it all came together tonight." said Valvano.
Before the end of the first quarter Carleton conceded a safety and Marc Liegghio kicked a field goal to put the Mustangs up 12-0.
Early in the second quarter QB Chris Merchant connected on a 67-yard pass with Malik Besseghieur who took it in for the TD and put Western up 19-0.
Carleton would respond on the next possession. Quinton Soares caught a 25 yd pass from QB Tanner DeJong, that cut the Mustangs lead to 19-7.
The Mustangs would answer when Chris Merchant would keep the ball from the 6-yard line and run it in for the TD to make it 26-9, which would hold up as the score at half-time.
"Valvano blocked well, Trey (Humes) ran hard, Jonathan (Femi-Cole) ran hard and our offensive line played better" said Head Coach Greg Marshall "Merch put the ball in good spots, definitely give them credit but we need to play better."
Western would continue to pour on the offence. Brett Ellerman would pull in a short pass for a TD in the third quarter and Jonathan Femi-Cole would punch in short TD run in the fourth to take 40-16 Mustangs lead.
Carleton would add a TD late in the fourth quarter to make it a 40-23 game but it wouldn't be enough to come back in this one.
With the win, Western remains undefeated at 4 &0 on the season and Carleton moves to 1&2.
Key Stats
QB Chris Merchant – 21 for 27 with 316 yard throwing and 3 TD's, 12 rushes for 38 yards and 1 TD
RB Trey Humes – 18 rushes for 113 yards
WR Brett Ellerman - 5 receptions for 93 yards and 1 TD
WR Malik Besseghieur – 2 receptions for 71 yards and 1 TD
Next Game
Western is on the road to Guelph next Saturday for a 1:00pm start. Fans can catch all the action on OUA.tv.
