Kingston, ON - A tense last minute of regulation included a Savaughn Magnaye-Jones touchdown with 13 seconds left to give the Mustangs a 32-27 win over the rival Queen's Gaels Saturday afternoon.
"We took what they gave us (on that last drive) and Savvy (Magnaye-Jones) beat them," said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall.
The Mustangs opened the scoring with a 16 yard touchdown pass from QB Evan Hillock to Brayden Misseri with 8 minutes left in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, as the Gaels were feeling the pressure, Queen's QB Alex Vreeken threw a 52 yard pass to Nathan Falconi for a touchdown and closed the scoring gap to 9-8 in favour of Western.
At the midpoint of the second quarter, Mustangs Kicker, Brian Garrity drilled a field goal to extend the Mustangs lead to 12-8.
The Mustangs capitalized in a big way with 10 minutes left in the third quarter when DB Jackson Findlay picked off a Queen's pass attempt and ran it back 95 yards, for a pick six. This big play from the Mustangs changed the momentum of the game and surged the score to 22-11.
"It didn't feel real honestly", says Findlay about his key play, "I was running with the ball, I was waiting for a whistle, I looked around and it was just clear space."
Marshall spoke of Findlay's pick six post game "Oh ya, I wish we had four or five of him! Jackson played a great game, he's a smart kid and he's just going to get better and better."
With seconds left in the third quarter, Gaels Anthony Soles cut the Mustangs lead in half with a 3 yard run touchdown. The scoreboard now read 25-18, still in favour of the Mustangs.
An unbelievable interception from the Gaels with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter put the Mustangs at risk. A bouncing ball between Mustangs receiver Seth Robertson's hands, after a pass from Hillock, and was tipped in the air and ended up in the hands of the Gaels.
The excitement didn't stop there, with less than a minute left in the game, the Gaels took the lead for the first time in the game on a goal line TD. This close game now has a field goal score difference, 27-25 in favour of the Gaels, with all the pressure on the Mustangs.
The Mustangs knew they had the game in their hands and an opportunity to win the game. Rather than tie up the game with a field goal, Western would drive the field and with less than 30 seconds left QB Evan Hillock would step up and send a 55 yard throw to Magnaye-Jones and connected for a 55 yard game winning touchdown.
"There are definitely things we need to clean up, but overall I think we played for each other and that's why we ended up coming out on top." said Findlay of the win over their heavy rivals "I was tearing up out there at the end of the game, it feels unreal, I have been waiting for this game since the start of the season."
KEY STATS
QB Evan Hillock – 17 for 27 with 2 TDs
DB Jackson Findlay - 1 pick six for 95 yards
RB Keon Edwards - 18 carriers for 133 yards
REC Savaughn Magnaye-Jones - 5 catches for 104 yards
K Brian Garrity - 4 field goals for 238 yards
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs now look to next Saturday afternoon when they host the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm 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 Western ONECard at the entrance to support your Mustangs.
