London, ON - The Mustangs picked up a 34-22 win over McMaster in the teams home opener on Sunday night.
The stands were filled with purple as fans were eager to support the Mustangs, with a large section of the east stands filled with the incoming first year class at Western.
The last time these two teams met was during the 2022 season when the Mustangs took the win 47-14, and they are hoping to repeat history tonight.
Mustangs kicker Brian Garrity opened the scoring to give the Mustangs a lead just minutes into the game.
The Marauders would respond a few drives later when McMaster quarterback Keagan Hall connected with Jacob Patten on a 10 yard pass to get the games first major and give them the lead at 7-3.
After both sides traded field goals, the energy was tense in the closing minute of the half. The Mustangs would drive the field and finish out the drive with a 1 yard TD score to take a 13-10 lead.
With seconds left until halftime, the Marauders would bring out kicker Michael Horvat who would boot a 49 yard field goal to tie the game at 13-13 as both teams went to their dressing rooms.
The third quarter opens with energy from both teams. After McMaster kicked a field goal to take the lead, Western was hungry to get it back. Mustangs QB Evan Hillock connected with receiver Seth Robertson for 25 yards catch and run for a touchdown. The score would shift back Western's way at 20-16.
The intensity from the Mustangs doesn't stop there. Hillock aired out a throw from around the 7 yard line to Mohsen Jamal leading to a 96 yard touchdown and the crowd went wild. This pushed the Western lead to 27-16.
"Mohsen has waited his turn and he's done a phenomenal job. That was a huge play for us and a great momentum boost." said Hillock of the play "He has made plays like that all the time over the summer during practice and I'm just happy that everyone's got to see it now. I have the utmost confidence in that guy and am very proud of him".
With two minutes left in the third quarter, the Marauders will kick a field goal to tighten the score to 27-19.
The final 15 minutes of the game began with the Marauder kicking a field goal 3 minutes into the quarter, advancing the score to 27-22.
With 50 seconds left in the game, Mustangs Linebacker Max Nixon intercepted a McMaster pass attempt and ran it back for the touchdown and brought the capacity crowd to its feet.
"It always feels good to make a play for the boys, but honestly I was just doing my part and was happy to step up for them", says Nixon postgame.
"There is lots of good teaching stuff and its early on in the season. The one thing is, McMaster is going to play a 5 man front and then add people in. They are giving you some passing opportunities." said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall "If they are going to add that many people in the run then you are going to have to throw and we felt that going into the season we will need to throw the ball a bit more than we have in the past because that's our skill set, we have great receivers and a great quarterback."
KEY STATS
Western finished the game with 456 yards of total offence on the day with 388 yards coming through the passing game.
QB Evan Hillock – 26 for 39 with 2 TDs
REC Mohsen Jamal – 7 catches for 173 yards and 1 TD
REC Savaughn Magnaye-Jones – 10 catches for 123 yards
LB Max Nixon - 1 interceptions and TD return of 43 yards.
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs are now headed on the road next weekend to the nations capital, when they meet the Carleton Ravens for a Saturday evening meeting. Fans can watch the action on OUA.tv, kickoff is set for 7:00pm.
