Toronto, ON – The Mustangs scored early and often on route to a 83-0 win over the York Lions in the opening game of the 2023 OUA Football season on Saturday afternoon.
"I thought we were a little rusty initially out of the gates but overall I thought we were really good," said Greg Marshall, Mustangs Head Coach "Evan (Hillock) got settled in and got in a groove, I thought we did a good job on special teams and defensively we played outstanding."
This was the first meeting between Western & York since the 2018 season.
"York is a young team that is trying to rebuild, I was proud of our guys for maintaining their discipline and slowing the tempo down in the second half." said Marshall.
Keanu Yazbeck got the fireworks going early on in the game when he broke off a 60 yards run just beyond the 10 minute mark in the opening quarter.
"You know when that hole opened up, you see green and you hit the gas," said Yazbeck post game "Gotta give credit to the O-Line and the receivers for making those blocks and it was a true full team effort as indicated by the scoreboard."
Western would continue the pressure when Evan Hillock found one of his favourite targets, Savaughn Magnaye-Jones for a 30 yard catch and short run to move the score to 14-0.
As the quarter was coming to a close, the reigning OUA MVP Keon Edwards took the ball for a 29 yard run. Edwards would finish the game with 128 yards on the day to extend his streak of 100+ yard games, something he did in all games played last year.
"It's the O-Line, they always do their thing up front for me and I just have to hit the holes." said Edwards "I was so impressed with the entire teams efforts, we all did a great job and now it's on to the next one."
Western would open up a 52-0 lead at halftime. Marshall would through most of the depth chart throughout the second half of the game to give opportunities to the entire team and rest the starters.
"Really good to see those young guys play. Malcolm Fraser went in and played d-line and did a great job, we got some young kids in on the offensive line and they did a nice job," said Marshall "It's good that we got all those young players into the game because it's a long season and some of those guys are going to have to step up and play and to get meaningful reps in a game like this is important."
QB Evan Hillock would only play the first half of the game but was all over the score sheet. Hillock threw for 305 yards and 5 TD connections including a pair to Savaughn Magnaye-Jones & Seth Robertson.
"I was trying to get into the 3
rd quarter but they (coaches) wouldn't let me. Everyone played good, I was happy to see Jerome (Rancout) and the rest of the guys get in their today." said Hillock "We have so many great receivers and weapons in our group, it's just my job to get the ball in their hands and let them do the rest. I thought Mohsen Jamal looked really good today, really happy for him getting his first start."
KEY STATS
Western finished the game with 700 yards of total offence on the day.
QB Evan Hillock – 13 for 18 with 305 yards in the air and 5 TDs
REC Savaughn Magnaye-Jones – 4 catches for 119 yards and 2 TDs
REC Mohsen Jamal – 4 catches for 106 yards and 2 TDs
REC Seth Robertson – 5 catches for 99 yards and 2 TDs
RB Keon Edwards – 8 carries for 128 yards and 1 TD
DB – Chris Cameron-Kogler – 5 solo tackles & 1 sack
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs now look towards next Sunday evening when they host the McMaster Marauders in their home opener. Kickoff is set for 7:00 at Western Alumni Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at WesternMustangs.ca/tickets, currently enrolled Western University students get free admission to all regular season, on-campus home games. Present your Wester ONECard at the entrance to support your Mustangs.
