LONDON, Ontario — The Mustangs started the 2026 season with a booming effort in all aspects of the game as they took a 78-7 win over York on Sunday night.
Western scored in every quarter, posting 17 points in the first quarter, 21 in both the second and third quarters, and 19 in the fourth quarter. Western threw for 510 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 317 yards and six touchdowns, while the defense added three interceptions and three sacks.
The win marked the first of the Michael Faulds era at the helm of the program. Faulds pointed to the months of preparation behind the result. "We had eight months of kind of bottled up, wanting to play, right? We had a three-week training camp, but it was really eight months of work," said Faulds. "From January 5, we told the group that we're going to be the hardest working team in the country, super proud of our coaching staff, our players. It didn't look like week one kind of rust, right? It looked like a team that was well oiled, super proud of the execution."
He also highlighted the number of new contributors across the lineup, saying, "I would say we had at least 10 first-time starters. A lot of new faces in all three phases of the game. Super proud, defense, we have three or four rookies starting. A couple of transfers there offensively, some first-time starters like Emmett Charles, Jerome Rancourt is a first-time starter, right? Lots of new people and everyone contributed."
GAME RECAP
In the first quarter, Western scored on each of its first three full possessions, using a 32-yard Mateo Pasquini field goal and two Jerome Rancourt rushing touchdowns to build a 17-0 scoring edge. Brennan Keba's 41-yard opening kickoff return gave Western field position at its 45, and Rancourt completed passes to Emmett Charles and Dasani McIntosh before Pasquini finished the opening drive. Western's defense halted York's first series in Western territory when Nathan Summers shared a sack with Ayden Smallwood and then intercepted a pass at the Western 47, setting up a drive capped by Rancourt's 27-yard touchdown run at 6:05. After Marcus Robinson dropped York for a loss and Elliot Blake broke up a pass on the next series, Keba's punt return put Western at the York 42, Jack Kelly broke a 35-yard run, and Rancourt added a 4-yard touchdown at 3:23.
"I did tell pros that I was coming back prior to the draft to be doing this, to run the QB1 spot and I've been waiting for so long and I've worked hard to get to get to, and then I think it's been paying off I can do more than run a ball." said Rancourt "Nick (Shewchuk) and Emmett (Charles) are going to have a great season. Especially Nick has been here for a while. We knew he's been great but been dealing with injuries, and now he's healthy, ready to go, and I think he's displayed it very well today, and Emmett is just freak athlete with great hands and displayed that today. We put the league on notice with all those guys."
The Mustangs scored all 21 points in the second quarter and kept York off the scoreboard. Backed up at their own 7 early in the quarter, Western put together a scoring march highlighted by Rancourt's 54-yard completion to Charles and capped by Rancourt's 13-yard touchdown pass to Nik Shewchuk at 9:03, with Pasquini adding the kick.
"I saw the ball in the air and I was like, yeah, it's mine. So I stole it out of the air and scored. It, it was really good." said Shewchuk.
After York's next possession ended with a punt, Keba's 17-yard return gave Western the ball at its 49, and Rancourt moved the offense with a 14-yard pass to Shewchuk, a 13-yard run and completions of 25 yards to Ethan Dolby and 14 yards to Jackson Taylor before Kelly scored from the 2 at 2:43. Owen Jackson then intercepted York at the York 53 with 1:49 left, and Western converted the takeaway with gains of 13 and 11 yards to Jackson Taylor, a 19-yard Dolby rush and Rancourt's 5-yard touchdown pass to McIntosh with 12 seconds remaining.
Two late third-quarter defensive stops turned into short-field touchdowns, with Kelly and Geoffrey Clubine finishing drives after takeaways. Earlier, after York opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive, Western answered from its 12-yard line as Rancourt hit Shewchuk for 38 yards and Jackson Taylor for 36 before Rancourt scored from the 1 and Pasquini added the kick. Alex Cordeiro forced a fumble on a third-down run later in the quarter, and Western took over at the York 19 before Rancourt found Charles for 16 yards and Kelly ran in from the 3. Thomson Silcox intercepted Maurice Sodja on York's next snap and returned it 13 yards to the York 47, setting up Dolby's 19-yard run and Clubine's 28-yard touchdown. York moved to the Western 51 before time expired.
The Mustangs closed the game with a 19-0 fourth quarter, highlighted by Ben Casselman's 74-yard touchdown pass to Shewchuk and his 75-yard touchdown pass to Keba.
"We saw a cover zero, Ben (Casselman) threw a great ball outside shoulder and just turned up field, saw green grass and turned on the Jets.
Earlier in the quarter, after a York punt, Western put together a three-play, 96-yard drive, getting a 10-yard completion to Keba and a 12-yard Clubine run before Casselman found Shewchuk at 12:16. Western's defense followed with a sack by Braydon Thompson, a Joseph Abou Mechrek tackle for loss and a team safety, and Casselman connected with Keba for another long score on the next Western snap at 10:38. Thompson added another sack on York's ensuing possession, Elliot Blake returned the punt 19 yards, and Western put together a 10-play, 71-yard drive that ended with Pasquini's 17-yard field goal at 4:45. Cordeiro broke up a late pass before York punted again, and Western finished the quarter with the ball before closing out a 78-7 win.
After the postgame celebration, which includes a traditional chant in the locker room Faulds added, "It was amazing to sing it again. I'll admit I maybe knew 75% of it, kind of mouthed some of it, but no, we're living and learning, lots of new stuff, but it was great to sing that. You could see how proud the rest of the staff and players were. Definitely a celebratory evening."
KEY STATS
Jérôme Rancourt - QB
----------------------
- 24-for-28 passing for 339 yards
- 2 passing touchdowns
- 49 rushing yards
- 3 rushing touchdowns
Nik Shewchuk - WR
----------------------
- 5 receptions
- 139 receiving yards
- 2 receiving touchdowns
Ben Casselman - QB
----------------------
- 5-for-5 passing for 171 yards
- 2 passing touchdowns
- 43 rushing yards
Brennan Keba - WR
----------------------
- 2 receptions
- 85 receiving yards
- 1 receiving touchdown
- 49 punt return yards
Mateo Pasquini - K
----------------------
- 2-for-2 on field goals
- 32-yard long field goal
- 10-for-10 on PAT kicks
NEXT GAME
Up next, the Mustangs travel to Windsor to face the Lancers next Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. Fans can stream the action live on OUA.tv.
