London, ON – The Mustangs showcased their impressive offensive prowess in a 36-point opening half, leading to a 46-10 win over McMaster in the OUA Quarterfinal matchup Saturday afternoon.
Western finished with 630 yards of total offence in the win while holding McMaster to 261 total.
"I really thought defensively we keep taking it up a notch each week, that's an outstanding quarterback they have over there (McMaster's Keagan Hall) and we did a great job mixing up pressure and coverage and making it difficult for him all day, said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall "
Anyone who knows Mustangs Football, especially in the Greg Marshall era knows that he professes running the ball when the temperatures get cold and Keanu Yazbeck was all over the field, amassing 176 yards on the ground, including a 33 yard TD run.
"That was a lot of fun today that's for sure," said Yazbeck "Our mentality is we have five games, which started today and we knocked the first one off the board and we are on to the next,"
GAME RECAP
The Mustangs got their offence moving early on with a seven-play drive for 68 yards, finishing with QB Jérôme Rancourt taking the 8 yards for his 10
th touchdown of the year.
McMaster got on the board with a field goal with just under 8 minutes remaining in the opening quarter to cut the Western lead to 7-3.
The Mustangs would add a field goal of their own and hold a 10-3 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The second quarter would see Western put their foot on the gas and really drive their offence.
Once again it was Rancourt getting the scoring started, finishing with a one yard rush for his second TD of the day and Western moved to a 17-3 advantage.
Just over two minutes later Keanu Yazbeck found a seam in the offensive line and took the ball 27 yards for a TD and pushed the lead to 24-3.
"There's nothing better than running the ball, imposing your will on an opposition," said Yazbeck "Shout out big time to our o-line (offensive line) because my grandma could have run through some of the holes they opened up for us today and they deserve a lot of the spotlight today,"
After another Garrity field goal gave Western a 27-3 lead, the Mustangs drew up a play with under 3 minutes remaining in the quarter which saw H-Back Craig Coleman get a 24-yard pass from QB Evan Hillock and get rumbled his way into the end zone and Western led 34-4.
"Once I got the ball, I turned around, and there was absolutely no one there so I just ran to the endzone. I thought I was down at the one-yard line too, so I looked over at the ref, just praying he put the signal up, said Coleman of the TD, which is his 1
st OUA touchdown "It just felt amazing, I had a big group of friends and family here this week including my girlfriend's parents as well so it was awesome they were here for it,"
McMaster would surrender a safety with just over 2 minutes remaining, giving Western a 36-3 advantage.
The Marauders would get a touchdown as time expired in the 2
nd quarter and the score was 36-10 at the break.
Western would get a lone touchdown in the third quarter on a Sandro Pierini 21-yard pass and run to give Western a 43-10 lead.
"Major shoutout to Craig & Sandro, those guys put their bodies on the line every game for us, tearing across the line of scrimmage and go crack a defensive end, so they deserve all the glory for those touchdowns. They showed they can catch the ball so maybe teams have another thing to worry about," said Yazbeck of the H-Back combo.
KEY STATS
RB Keanu Yazbeck – 176 yards on 14 rushes with 1 TD
QB Evan Hillock – 17 for 22 with 258 yards and 2 TD
REC Mohsen Jamal – 6 receptions for 96 yards
DL Soren Hallschmid – 3.5 sacks & 4 tackles
H Craig Coleman – 1 reception for 24 yards and 1 TD
H Sandro Pierini – 1 reception for 21 yards and 1 TD
QB Jérôme Rancourt – 7 rushes for 30 yards and 2 TDs
K Brian Garrity – 3 for 3 on FG
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs advance to the OUA Semi-Final next weekend where they will host the Guelph Gryphons. It'll be the first meeting between the two since the opening game of the 2022 season.
"They've got two quarterbacks with two different styles but are both very good, they've got a few really good options on offence," said Marshall "They're a well-balanced team and they've improved a lot over the last couple year, both of their quarterbacks can throw and run so we need our defence to keep stepping up,"
Kickoff is set for 1 pm at Western Alumni Stadium. Get your tickets today at WesternMustangs.ca/tickets.
