LONDON, Ontario — The Mustangs booked their ticket to the 118
th Yates Cup with a 43-33 win over Windsor on Saturday afternoon.
"After the Laurier game, articles were saying we're going to find out, maybe nothing's changed at Western. This past week it was all about that we're playing the hungriest team in U SPORTS (Windsor). That was motivating for our guys. We wanted to show that we're the hungriest team in U SPORTS. We knew it was going to be a four-quarter battle. We were down 9 to 0 at one point, but I'm proud of how our guys responded," said Mustangs Head Coach Michael Faulds.
Western put on an offensive show, especially through the air, with some big yardage plays throughout the game, including a program-record tying 108-yard reception from Dasani McIntosh and an 86-yard touchdown from Emmett Charles.
"I would love for it to be an elaborate play where I did something super high tech, but I just had a flat route in the flats. Ben (Casselman) led me up field. I saw a couple of defenders. Emmett (Charles) made a huge block, and I just split them. I just wanted to get to the end zone," said McIntosh of the end-to-end, full-field TD.
The Mustangs paired 345 passing yards with 179 rushing yards while converting four of five third downs.
Western's offence matched Windsor's production with a passing game that generated 345 yards and two touchdowns, while the run game added three more scores. QB Ben Casselman was central to that output, throwing for 345 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 104 yards on 10 carries. RB Ethan Dolby finished three Mustangs drives with rushing touchdowns.
"Coach told us before the game that people were saying Windsor was hungrier than us, but we got fired up and said no way, we're going to go out there and win" said Dolby. "It was a good team win; the weather played a part in it. Special teams always plays a part of it too, field position. We had new guys stepping up at O-line and guys going down here, and everyone's got to do their job and fight as hard as they can and play the play longer than their opponent."
Windsor produced 521 yards of offence, including 308 rushing yards, but the Mustangs added takeaways and special-teams field position to their scoring production. The Mustangs' defence came away with one interception and one fumble recovery, while the return game added 120 kickoff-return yards and 88 punt-return yards. The Mustangs also converted four of five third downs, made both field-goal attempts and finished 5-for-5 on extra points, while their punt unit placed five of seven kicks inside the 20.
GAME RECAP
The Mustangs answered an early Windsor push with two touchdowns, including Ethan Dolby's 6-yard run and Ben Casselman's 86-yard completion to Emmett Charles. After Windsor went back in front, the Mustangs added a safety with 2:16 left in the first quarter and finished the quarter tied 16-16.
"It was intentional, and it was a play call. We had motioned Emmett down and thrown the boundary hitch to Dasani the last couple of games. We knew they were going to be aggressive and bite on it." said Faulds of the touchdown score. "We gave the same look, told Emmett to show hands, come off the line extra slow like he's blocking; he came free. Great call by Coach (Gaetan) Richard and great execution by Ben and Emmett."
The Mustangs' key response in the second quarter came after Windsor's 23-yard field goal, as Casselman hit Nik Shewchuk for 35 yards and added a 13-yard run to move the offense into scoring range. Mateo Pasquini finished the drive with a 22-yard field goal, tying the game at 19-19. The quarter ended there after the teams traded punts in the final two minutes.
The Mustangs scored 10 points in the third quarter, turning Luca Farinaccio's fumble recovery at the Windsor 19 into a Pasquini field goal before Casselman hit Dasani McIntosh for a 108-yard touchdown.
"I love when the receivers make a huge play. Targets are hard to come by on offence, just how the scheme goes, what Windsor's covering and whatnot, but every time they get the ball in their hands, they're trying to be as explosive as possible, and blocking downfield as well, got to thank them for that because that's how we pop big, big runs." said Dolby.
The Mustangs answered Windsor's early fourth-quarter touchdown with two sustained scoring drives, both finished by Dolby rushing touchdowns from 4 and 8 yards. Casselman helped move the Mustangs with runs of 41 and 42 yards on the first touchdown drive, and the Mustangs later covered 70 yards before Dolby's second score with 1:48 left. Luca Tassone intercepted a Windsor pass at the Mustangs 52 with 1:05 remaining, and the Mustangs finished off the win.
MUSTANGS KEY STATS
QB Ben Casselman
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- 12-for-23 passing for 345 yards
- 2 passing touchdowns
- 104 rushing yards on 10 attempts
RB Ethan Dolby
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- 3 rushing touchdowns
- 54 rushing yards on 15 attempts
WR Emmett Charles
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- 3 receptions for 130 yards
- 1 receiving touchdown
WR Dasani McIntosh
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- 1 reception for 108 yards
- 1 receiving touchdown
DB Luca Tassone
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- 7 total tackles
- 1 interception
NEXT GAME
The Mustangs now make their way to Kingston next weekend in a battle of the #1 & #2 seed teams from the OUA regular season in the 118
th edition of the Yates Cup Championship. Game time is 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 14
th at Richardson Stadium. Fans can stream the action on OUA.tv, and tickets are on sale now
HERE.
