#CFCOVFL PREVIEW: “It’s tough for us to play three games in eight days but no one is looking to use that as an excuse”

ALL PHOTO CREDITS – LONDON JR MUSTANGS

By the time the final whistle sounds in tomorrow’s game against Cambridge Lions, the London Junior Mustangs will end one of the most challenging weeks a team has ever faced in the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL).

While it may mark the final game of the regular season for the Jr. Mustangs, it will conclude a three game stint that has spanned over a week.

Last Sunday, the Jr. Mustangs went on the road and earned a 56-0 shutout victory over Etobicoke Eagles.  On Thursday night, the team continued a previously suspended game against Brampton Bulldogs at home.  Resuming the game from where they left off in the first half, the Jr Mustangs cruised to a 56-23 win.

Despite the uphill battle, the Jr. Mustangs have made the best of the hand they’ve been dealt when it has come to preparation for all three contests.

“It’s really a challenge that’s pretty unique that I have never faced in the OVFL,” commented Jr. Mustangs Head Coach Jordan Haylor in an interview on Thursday, prior to the Bulldogs game.   “We didn’t even watch any Etobicoke film this week.”

“The coaches could have watched it on their own if they wanted but as a team, we didn’t watch any of the Etobicoke film. We dealt with Brampton at Tuesday’s practice.  Tuesday’s practice was really light.  We didn’t do any contact and we got out of there about 20 minutes early.  We kept it light and we haven’t watched any Cambridge film with our team yet. The coaches have watched it and tried to make some adjustments that we’ll use on Sunday. We want our team focused right now on Brampton and then tomorrow morning [Friday], we focus on Cambridge but it’s a challenge because we’re not going to have a practice Friday or Saturday so what we might end up doing is tell the players to watch the Cambridge film on their own and then we’ll probably have a DVD or something for the bus ride down to Cambridge.”

With tomorrow’s game pitting them against a perennial tough opponent, the Jr Mustangs hope that there will be some gas left in the tank and that momentum will carry them against the Lions.

“Cambridge is always a tough game,” elaborated Haylor.  “They have good coverage.”

“They’ve got really good players and they are well coached.  They’re a challenge every year to play.  This year for us, it will be a bit of an extra challenge. We definitely got our hands full against Cambridge. It’s going to be very interesting to see how we respond with these three games and see if we’re able to spark it up for Sunday and make it a great football game.”

Heading into this contest tomorrow, the Jr Mustangs, like other teams in the OVFL, will not have the services of a couple of player and a coach due to the Football Canada Cup, which is set to begin Monday in Quebec.  Tailback Brentyne AndersonBrown, who is ranked in the TOP 10 for OVFL in rushing and defensive lineman Justin Georgopoulos will be suiting up for Team Ontario.  Additionally, Jr. Mustangs Offensive Coordinator Tom Flaxman will not be available as he is an assistant coach with the Ontario squad.

“It’s a significant loss for us but every team has got to deal with it,” added Haylor.  “I don’t think we’re unique in that regard.”

Anderson’s loss means that OVFL Rushing Leader Cole Kussmann plays an even more significant role on offence. If the Jr Mustangs hope to pull out the victory against the Lions, Kussmann will need to deliver an exceptional performance, as he has been able to throughout the season.

“We have a good chance to be successful if Cole has a great game, especially with Brentyne being away,” elaborated Haylor.  “During the season, we’ve done a pretty good job sharing the workload between those two and not letting Cole get beaten up too, too badly but with Brentyne away Sunday, Cole is going to get a lot of the carries so he needs to have a great game.”

Otherwise, Haylor offered that the offence will continue to do the things that have been working this summer. However, the team has to contend with the injury bug that has plagued the receiving core.

“On offence, it’s kind of the same old story for us,” said the Jr. Mustangs Head Coach.  “We want to run the football to be successful.”

“We are a little banged up in terms of our receiving group so we haven’t been able to throw it as much as we would like but for us to be successful we really feel that we have to control the line of scrimmage and move the ball against Cambridge and really try to keep the ball off their hands because they have an offence that is really capable of scoring a lot of points.”

However, one area that has improved for the Jr. Mustangs is their defence.  While the shutout victory was against the Eagles was a confidence booster, Haylor said the improvement could be seen in the team’s victory over Sault (SSM) Sabrecats in Week 5 of the OVFL season.

“For me, the turning point was Sault Ste Marie because we went down there and played a pretty good football team,” explained Haylor.  “Our defence held them to 200 yards.”

“It might have been a season low for the Soo but our defence started to turn around.  It was a huge road trip – it’s an eight hour trip and we were really pleased with how our team responded there, particularly with how our defence played there.  It was a pretty close game up until the third quarter and the defence got an interception deep in Soo territory and it was kind of a turning point in the game.”

As the defence has been the Achilles Heel for the Jr. Mustangs, the team has been making strides in making adjustments so that come playoff time, they can go deep in the playoffs.

“If we’re going to make a run at the OVFL title obviously we need our defence to play very well for a chance to even consider that,” commented Haylor.  “It was a big concern at the start of the year.”

“If you look at the Niagara and Essex games, where I think we scored 45-40 points, those were games we had a great chance to win and then the victory kind of slipped through our fingers in the last minute, minute and a half. We had to change some things for our defence.  We had to simplify things and I think that helped a lot.”

One main difference from the beginning of the season until now is that the defence has embraced one thing that was lacking – crafting their own identity.

“I have had a lot of long talks with our Defensive Coordinator Austin Scarpelli and one of the things we kind of agreed upon is that any good team or any good unit has a strong identity in what they do and what they believe in,” recalled Haylor.  “If you look at our offence, our identity is to run the football so I kind of challenged the guys on defence to come up with an identity.”

“For the defence, what do you want to be about? You got to be able to hang your hat on something that your players have confidence to buy into. Our defensive staff has done a really good job the last few weeks of really creating an identity. I think our defence has really started to take an identity in the last few weeks playing more man coverage, start to bring more pressure and the players starting to buy into that.”

While their identity has evolved in the past few weeks, it will be challenged tomorrow by the Lions. Ultimately, it will come down to how the Jr. Mustangs respond and continue to conquer on the field.

“Cambridge will test that identity there because they’re capable of making big plays,” elaborated Haylor.  “We want to bring pressure and try to get after the quarterback and keeping that mentality of knowing that Cambridge will make those big plays.”

“We have to keep on bringing pressure and then try to make some big plays so that we can try to give our offence some good field position.”

As for their opponents, Haylor said it will be a huge task for the Jr Mustangs on the road because the Lions are traditionally known for their tenacious, relentless style on defense as well as their depth and crafty tricks on offence.

“The thing that jumps out about Cambridge right away is that they’re well coached on both sides of the ball,” assessed the Jr. Mustangs Head Coach. “Defensively, they have an aggressive front seven that their identity is to bring a lot of pressure and try to create havoc for the offence that way and they do a great job of it.”

“They play us pretty tough every year.  They do a great job against our run game every year so we have to be really prepared for that.  Offensively, they are pretty dynamic. They have a good quarterback, good receivers, do a lot of creative things on offence and are well coached on both sides of the football.  It’s a challenge for us and make sure our team is prepared so that we can beat a good team on the road.”

For the Jr. Mustangs, it will come down to one thing which will dictate how the team fares in the contest.

“We know that Cambridge is going to score some points but if we can make some big stops throughout the game and get our offence some good field position, then we feel like we have a good chance to be successful,” said Haylor.

There is no underestimating the significance of Sunday’s game.  With only two weeks away from the postseason, the Jr. Mustangs are jockeying for a good playoff position and different scenarios could evolve win or lose.  If the team wins tomorrow, the Jr Mustangs could potentially be looking at a third place finish and a playoff collision course against Mississauga Warriors. However, should the team lose to the Lions, it is possible the team will host SSM Sabrecats at home in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite coming into this game with one of the toughest stretches in the OVFL, the Jr Mustangs will be ready for battle and hope to finish their regular season on a high to gain momentum going into the postseason.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of playing Cambridge,” expressed Haylor.  “They’re a really good football team and they’re really well coached.”

“It’s tough for us to play three games in eight days but no one is looking to use that as an excuse.  We had to make a decision as a coaching staff and said let’s play three games in eight days and see what our team’s made of and take the two weeks to get healthy for the playoffs.  As difficult as it has been to deal with, it’s a pretty exciting challenge.  We’re looking forward to going down to Cambridge on Sunday.”

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