London, ON – The Mustangs added another win to their undefeated season on Saturday night with a 66-24 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues.
A late second-quarter scoring flurry was the difference on the night as Western scored 22 points, all within the fine minute and a half of the quarter.
"I was impressed with our play, but more than that I was impressed with our discipline," said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall "They (Toronto) were taking some penalties and there was some pushing and shoving there and we walked away from it, I was very impressed with that,"
GAME RECAP
The Mustangs got the only TD of the first quarter when Evan Hillock connected on a 7-yard throw with Mohsen Jamal to take a 10-0 lead and held that score through the end of the quarter.
Near the end of the 2nd quarter, the Mustangs put a full force offensive effort up. It started with Keon Edwards getting a 7-yard TD with 1:38 remaining.
On the ensuing Toronto drive, on their first play, the Mustangs Jacob Saunders would force a fumble and give Western the ball back. Hillock would throw a pair of 15-yard connections and finish with a handoff to Edwards and the Mustangs added another TD.
Western would force Toronto to punt on the next play, the ball went just past midfield and Daniel Kubongo would pick it up and return the ball 61 yards to the 2-yard line and then Edwards would take it for the TD again. The Mustangs went from having an 18-16 lead with 1:38 remaining to being up 32-16 with 19 seconds remaining in the half.
"The game plan in that situation is to get the ball and then get to the opposite sideline, obviously I trust my blockers, those guys are the reason for all of my yards out there," said Kubongo "As soon as I picked it up, I just trusted my guys out there and it worked out,"
After the half, Western would pick up right where they left off when Hillock connected with Brayden Misseri who made an acrobatic catch and added to the Western lead early in the second half.
"I'm very thankful, the guys out there did their job and Evan (Hillock) trusting me to throw up that ball and it was a good team win," said Misseri "A lot of teams may not realize how much we are willing to change things up on the fly and how all of our guys are willing to do whatever is needed to make the play successful,"
After the Mustangs added 10 more points in the 3
rd quarter and another 10 added early in the 4
th quarter, The Mustangs would extend their bench and get some additional players into the game. Matt Williams stepped up when called upon and intercepted the Toronto pass and took it back 63 yards for a pick-6 touchdown and pushed the Mustangs lead even further.
KEY STATS
QB Evan Hillock – 23 for 25 with 333 yards passing, 2 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD
REC Mohsen Jamal – 7 receptions for 100 yards and 1 TD
REC Brayden Misseri – 5 receptions for 75 yards and 1 TD
RB Keon Edwards – 10 rushes for 61 yards and 2 TDs
QB Jerome Rancourt – 4 rushes for 14 yards and 2 TDs
DB Matt Williams – 1 INT for a TD
K Brian Garrity – 3 for 3 on FG
REC Daniel Kubongo – 3 Kick Returns for 153 yards
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs finish out the regular season with what is expected to be a showcase of two powerhouse teams as the undefeated Laurier Golden Hawks come to Western to take on the undefeated Mustangs. With the winner of that game securing the #1 spot in the standings for the season and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
"I've watched a little bit of video on them, they're good, simple as that. They're going to be a challenge that's for sure," said Marshall of the Golden Hawks "They're as good of Laurier team as I have seen in a long time,"
Mustangs fans can buy their tickets at WesternMustangs.ca/Tickets and as always Western University students get FREE admission, all you need is to present your Western ONECard at the gate. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 PM at Western Alumni Stadium.
