Hamilton, ON – The Mustangs continued their undefeated streak with a 34-17 win over McMaster on Saturday afternoon.
Mustangs Quarterback Chris Merchant was impressive going 21 for 27 with 212 yards but it was his ground game that was even better, 13 rushes for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Mustangs struck first in this one. After driving the ball down the field, Merchant would drive the ball into the end zone from the 1-yard line to take a 7-0 lead.
Under three minutes later, Marc Liegghio would kick a 42-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead.
Although McMaster would get into penalty trouble in the 2nd quarter they were able to get their first score of the game when Noah Griffith caught a pass from QB Andreas Dueck to cut the Mustangs lead to 10-7.
McMaster would then tie the game at 10-10 with a field goal late in the 2nd quarter.
With just over a minute left in the half, the Mustangs drove the ball the length of the field starting at their own 35-yard line and Trey Humes finished it with a three-yard run for the TD and a 17-10 lead heading to the break.
McMaster came out strong in the third quarter and scored a quick TD to tie the game again at 17-17.
Chris Merchant would then step up in a big way on the next possession as he would rush the ball four times including a twenty-yard run concluding with a 2 yard TD run to take a 24-17 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs kept the pressure on and went to the trick play section of the playbook when Merchant handed the ball off to Humes who then flipped the ball to Brett Ellerman who would throw the ball back to Merchant for a touchdown. This made it a 31-17 Mustangs lead.
With the win, the Mustangs move to 3&0 for the 2019 season. McMaster drops to 2&1.
Key Stats
QB Chris Merchant – 21 for 27 with 212 yards, 13 carries for 104 yards and 2 TD's
RB Trey Humes – 29 rushes for 129 yards and 1 TD
WR Brett Ellerman – 6 receptions for 80 yards, 1 for 1 throwing for 1 TD\
Next Game
The Mustangs now come back home on Saturday, September 14th for a 7:00 pm start. It's the annual BLACKOUT game against Carleton where the Mustangs will wear their special edition black jerseys. Tickets are on sale now at westernmustangs.ca/tickets. Western students get FREE admission with their Western ONEcard at the box office.
