Montreal, QC – A staunch Montreal defence and multiple turnovers by the Mustangs saw them fall 29-3 in the 2023 Uteck Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
"It was one of those weird games, we haven't had that many turnovers and mistakes in a game this year and you can't do that against a good football team like Montreal," said Mustangs Football Head Coach Greg Marshall "I think we ran the ball well and I thought our offensive line battled but the turnovers just put our defence in some tough spots today,"
Statistically, the Mustangs were fairly even with Montreal as the Carabins had 325 yards of total offence compared to Western's 317, It was the Mustangs three fumbles and two interceptions that were hard to recover from.
"On our defensive front we definitely missed having Soren Hallschmidt after he broke a bone in his leg last week, so not having him limited our depth today," said Mustangs Defensive Lineman Max von Muehldorfer "We came out with our game plan and tried our best to execute it but sometimes, like today, it just didn't go our way,"
GAME RECAP
The 1
st half of the game didn't go the way the Mustangs had planned as the Carabins controlled play including two touchdowns and three field goals to hold a 24-0 lead at halftime.
The Mustangs came out in the second half with a need to make something happen. After driving the field Western would have to settle for a 21 yard field goal from Brian Garrity to cut into the Montreal lead.
After the field goal there wasn't much the Mustangs would do, Montreal extended their lead early in the fourth quarter with a field goal to push their lead to 27-3 and would get a late safety to secure the win.
While the loss is difficult for the team, Marshall was quick to express how proud he is of the team this season, especially given some of the projections of the group earlier in the season.
"That's how things work in sports, sometime you win and sometimes you don't but I'm so very very proud of our players and what we did this year," said Marshall "They will move past this and it's an opportunity to learn and build from it, if you told me at the start of the season that we would win 10 games in a row I don't think I would have believed it which speaks to the resiliency and character of our team that we are here today,"
It seems the sentiment of building towards something in the future is felt in the dressing room as well.
"This is definitely fuel for next year, I don't even know who we could play next year in this game but we just need to take things one day at a time, wait for the OUA schedule to drop next year and just get after it," said von Muheldorfer "I think we have a lot of key players coming back next year and I think next year should be even better,"
KEY STATS
QB Evan Hillock – 15 for 29 with 212 yards
RB Ethan Dolby – 12 carriers for 84 yards
REC Savaughn Magnaye-Jones – 4 receptions for 70 yards
K Brian Garrity – 1 for 1 on FG
DB Jackson Findlay – 5 tackles & 1 Interception
LB Jude Buchanan – 7 tackles
LOOK AHEAD
The Mustangs finish the 2023 campaign with a 10-1 record with the 35
th Yates Cup Championship in program history.
We would like to thank the student athletes, coaches, fans, alumni and supporters of the program all season for their dedication. We especially thank the student athletes who will graduate and move on to the next stage of their life, we look forward to seeing you back at Western Alumni Stadium next season.
