London, ON – The Mustangs are headed to their ninth consecutive Yates Cup Championship game with a 30-19 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday afternoon.
As expected, the battle between the two programs that hadn't seen each other in over two seasons was a tightly contested game with both sides putting up some extensive defensive pressure, with neither side able to get over 100 yards rushing.
"I kind of expected this (to be a close game), they're stout on defence, they are hard guys to move around and find run creases. I thought they had a good game plan for us," said Mustangs Head Coach Greg Marshall of what Guelph brought on the day "We took a few too many penalties again today that we need to clean up but I really thought our defence was really resilient today and had a phenomenal effort,"
While the Gryphons have multiple offensive weapons, Western didn't allow a touchdown for the fourth week in a row.
"We knew they had a well-rounded and balanced offence and that their offensive line was one of the better ones we've seen in a long time so we had to take our game plan and put it into action," said DL Soren Hallschmid who had 1.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles "I'm not going to take credit for my sacks because our coverage held up and gave me time to get there.
GAME RECAP
The Mustangs made an immediate impact after they received the opening kickoff. Western drove the field 79 yards, finishing with a 3-yard TD rush from Keon Edwards and the Mustangs were up 7-0.
Both teams would trade field goals to make the game a 10-5 Western advantage.
Guelph would convert with just under four minutes remaining in the 2
nd quarter on a 23 yards touchdown and take a 16-12 lead.
Western responded with 1:27 remaining in the half, QB Evan Hillock connected with Seth Robertson for a 19-yard TD completion to gave the Mustangs a 17-13 lead.
In the 3
rd quarter both sides would again trade field goals and Western held the lead at 20-16.
To the 4
th quarter, the Mustangs got the big play they needed when Hillock connected with Brayden Misseri on a short-yard catch and run. Misseri got the ball and broke four Guelph tacklers and danced his way into the endzone and gave the Mustangs a 27-19 lead.
"When we came in at halftime we talked about that specific play and what look their defence had been giving us, Evan (Hillock) saw the look and put the ball out there and I knew I had to go out and make a play," said Misseri "Not going to lie, there was a little anger behind that run because I wasn't super happy with how we had played to that point, we got the job done today but I know we can do better than that and I know we will,"
Western would add a final-minute field goal from Brian Garrity to extend the lead to 30-19 and hold on for the win.
KEY STATS
QB Evan Hillock – 20 for 28 for 314 yards & 2 TDs
REC Brayden Misseri – 4 receptions for 79 yards & 1 TD
REC Seth Robertson – 2 receptions for 39 yards & 1 TD
RB Keon Edwards – 6 rushes for 16 yards & 1 TD
DL Soren Hallschmid – 1.5 sacks & 4.5 tackles
LB Max Nixon – 1 sack & 4.5 tackles
DB Jackson Findlay – 8.5 tackles
K Brian Garrity – 3 for 3 on Field Goals
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs are on the road to Waterloo next weekend for the 116
th edition of the Yates Cup. It's a rematch of the week four match up between the top two teams in the OUA. Game time is set for 1 pm on Saturday, November 9
th from University Stadium at Laurier. Fans can buy their tickets
HERE
