London, ON – It was close at halftime but some solid defensive play and late offensive power saw the Mustangs pick up a 47-20 win over the Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon and are going back to the Yates Cup Final for the 8th season in a row.
"Defensively, that was our best game of the year by far," said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall post game "(Alex) Vreeken's a good quarterback and the fact is our defence pretty much shut them down most of the game, our special teams did an amazing job today too,"
The Mustangs defence shut down a very talented Gaels team that consisted of the leading rusher in the nation in Running Back Jared Chisari and the returning Vreeken who has been out with an injury since the last time these two played.
"I think that was probably the best turnover game we have had as a defence, especially in that second half," said Mustangs DB Jackson Findlay who has two interceptions on the day "I finally got one of those tipped balls my way which was great on the first one, the second one I saw two open guys, one was closer and the other was further away, I thought the ball was coming to the closer one and I jumped it and it went over his head so I had to go up and get it and luckily I caught it,"
GAME RECAP
The Mustangs opened the scoring on the game with a Brian Garrity field goal with just over the midway point of the opening quarter.
Queen's would respond with just over two minutes remaining in the 1st quarter when Western QB Evan Hillock threw an interception which was caught by Queen's LB Josh Mcbain and taken back 86 yards for the TD and Queen's had the lead at 7-3.
The Mustangs wouldn't falter though as Kick Returner Daniel Kubongo would receive the kickoff on the very next play and ran almost the length of the field for a 97 yard kickoff return and the Mustangs regained the lead at 10-7.
The Gaels would get a field goal and touchdown to retake the lead at 17-10 but once again Western would respond with just under two minutes remaining in the half Hillock connected with REC Seth Robertson on a pair of receptions, finishing with an 11 yard TD to tie the game at 17-17.
Western would get two more points on a safety and lead 19-17 at half time.
The second half was all Mustangs. Savaughn Magnaye-Jones would get a 10 yard TD reception on a play that Hillock scrambled for what felt like 10-15 or more seconds and then connect with one of his main targets to push the Western lead to 26-17.
"Shout out to the offensive line first and foremost for giving Evan (Hillock) the time back there and then we as receivers try to make it easier for him, getting open," said Magnaye-Jones "You know Evan, he's a gun slinger, and I was able to get out into some open space there and he was able to find me in the end zone,"
After a pair of field goals from Garrity, Western saw a pair of big runs late in the game, one from Ethan Dolby for 54 yards and then another by Marcel Phillips for 44 yards with just over a minute remaining.
"He comes to every meeting, every practice, every lift, he's always smiling and never complains about opportunites and he got his chance today," said Marshall of Phillips "Our guys went crazy (when he scored) because everyone on our team genuinely loves Marcel, he's such a great kid,"
The touchdowns helped Western to the 47-20 final and booked their spot in the 115th Yates Cup game next weekend against the Laurier Golden Hawks.
KEY STATS
QB Evan Hillock – 19 for 30 for 308 yards & 2 TDs
REC Savaughn Magnaye-Jones – 10 receptions for 128 yard & 1 TD
REC Seth Robertson – 4 receptions for 115 yards & 1 TD
KR Daniel Kubongo – 2 returns for 117 yards & 1 TD
DB Jackson Findlay – 2 Interceptions, 4 tackles and 2 pass break ups
RB Ethan Dolby – 5 rushes for 57 yards & 1 TD
LB Riley MacLeod – 7 tackles
NEXT GAME
The 115th edition of the Yates Cup Championship will be played Saturday, November 11 at 1pm at Western Alumni Stadium. It is a rematch of the final weekend of the regular season when the Mustangs took on the Laurier Golden Hawks.
"There is no one I respect more than Michael Faulds, What he did for me as a player and as a friend," said Marshall "In 2016 we suffered the worst loss ever for us, (a 43-40 loss when Laurier scored 24 points in the 4th quarter) but after the game, as bad as I felt, when I saw him, I felt better because that's one of my guys, yes we have a rivalry with them sure, but it's a little bit different than the one we have with Queen's".
Fans can get their tickets at WesternMustangs.ca/Tickets soon, stay tuned for full ticket details.
