First-year quarterback Will Finch was impressive in his first full game of the season, tossing four touchdown passes and 339 yards to lead the Western Mustangs to a 56-3 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon.
BOXSCORE
BOXSCORE
Western Sports Information:
Western head coach Greg Marshall was happy with the team’s play in an important game, particularly after the past two games.
“We needed it,” said Marshall on the win. “We know we can play like that and this late in the season it’s a big boost for us. Especially the way we started today, we dropped a kick off and giving them three points. Our team responded we didn’t panic. I thought we had a great week of practice coming off that loss, we kind of put it behind us and focused on what we had to do today.”
First-year quarterback Will Finch (Burlington, Ont.) was under centre for his second straight start with senior Donnie Marshall still sidelined due to injury. Finch bounced back nicely following last week’s game against Guelph, throwing four touchdown passes while throwing for 339 yards and rushing for another 88.
“I didn’t really think about last week at all, I kind of put it behind me, and just put my mind on having a good week of practice and having a good game,” said Finch.
“Winning like that, it was important for a lot of reasons, but it was important for someone like Will to step up,” said coach Marshall. “Will today, in his own way, stepped up. He grabbed hold of it and made great plays. When plays broke down he made great plays. I was proud of the way he responded; last week was a tough situation all the way around. For a young kid, 18 years old, to step up, I’m proud of the way he did it.”
Finch’s favourite target on the day was third-year receiver Brian Marshall who’s four toudchdown receptions tied a Western record. Marshall now joins Andy Fantuz, Nigel Wilson, and Nick Pasic as the only Mustangs to catch four touchdown passes in a single game. Marshall finished the game with seven receptions for 187 yards, and the chemistry he had with Finch was apparent from the game’s opening minutes.
“He’s a great quarterback, almost any receiver could have chemistry with him,” said Marshall. “He finds the open guy pretty well and throws a perfect ball, I just had to be on the other end to catch it for him.”
In the ground game Garret Sanvido (Vancouver, BC) continued his breakout season with 94 yards on 19 carries with one touchdown. He remains the CIS leader with 999 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. Sanvido has already etched his name into the Western record books, currently sitting in fifth place on the all-time single season rushing leaderboard, only 209 yards shy of Tim Tindale’s record setting 1991 campaign.
Defensively the Mustangs were again led by the front seven with Dylan Ainsworth was impressive recording 4.5 tackles and three sacks. Rory Connop also had a strong game, recording five tackles, while Pawel Kruba and Renato Rossi had four a piece.
Despite the final score the game started off on a sour note for the Mustangs, fumbling the opening kick off to give Laurier excellent scoring position in the opening minutes. The Golden Hawks took advantage with a 31-yard field goal from Ronnie Pfeffer to give Laurier their only points on the day.
Lirim Hajrullahu tied the game up just over two minutes after Laurier’s field goal with a 37-yard field goal of his own. The team’s would then trade possession for the next few minutes before Finch found Brian Marshall on a 67-yard pass for their first TD of the day putting Western up 10-3 with just under six minutes left in the first quarter.
Marshall and Finch wouldn’t wait long before connecting again, this time on a 55-yard pass, to make it a 14-point lead for the Mustangs after the first quarter. Following a 19-yard field goal from Hajrullahu early in the second quarter, Finch and Marshall found the end zone again towards the end of the quarter, putting the Mustangs up 27-3.
Hajrullahu would extend that lead to 30-3 in the final seconds of the first half, sending the Mustangs to the locker room with a commanding lead.
Western wouldn’t relinquish control in the second half, scoring 18 points in the third quarter on a pair of one-yard rushing touchdowns from Garret Sanvido and Finch, and a 16-yard field goal from Hajrullahu. Hajrullahu added a rouge late in the quarter on an absolutely booming 67-yard punt that went out the back of the Laurier end zone despite going against a stiff wind.
Early in the fourth quarter Finch and Marshall would complete their fourth and final TD pass of the day, with Marshall scoring from 20-yards out. Hajrullahu would add another rouge to make the final 56-3 for Western.
Marshall felt the win was important for the team following the past two losses, saying “it’s a confidence builder for everyone I think.”
“We struggled a couple of weeks ago, but I think that’s going to help going into playoffs and next week against Ottawa. Defence played well, held them to three points, offence put up over 50, I think everyone’s pretty excited and confident now.”
“We struggled a couple of weeks ago, but I think that’s going to help going into playoffs and next week against Ottawa. Defence played well, held them to three points, offence put up over 50, I think everyone’s pretty excited and confident now.”
The Mustangs now head to Ottawa next Saturday for their final regular season game of 2012. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on SSN Canada, and listen on NewsTalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and former Mustangs head coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.
Wilfrid Laurier Sports Information:
The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (3-4) were on the wrong end of a lopsided scoreline on Saturday afternoon as they were defeated by the Western Mustangs (4-3) 56-3 at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
Western quarterback Will Finch of Burlington, Ont., and receiver Brian Marshall of London, Ont., connected four times for touchdowns to lead the Mustangs offensive outburst that saw them score 56 unanswered points in the contest.
“Obviously, things didn’t go as planned,” said linebacker Drew Galpin of Kitchener, Ont., who recorded a career-high 10 tackles in the game. “They’re a very well coached team and they were very well prepared for us.”
The game started out on a positive note for the Hawks as Ronnie Pfeffer’s (Kitchener, Ont.) opening kickoff was fumbled and recovered by Laurier deep in the Mustangs end. After failing to find the endzone on consecutive passing plays, Pfeffer stepped up and hit a 31-yard field goal to put Laurier in front.
However, things would go downhill from there for the Hawks as Finch and Marshall connected three times in the opening half, and when combined with three field goals from Lirim Hajrullahu of St. Catharines, Ont., gave the Mustangs a 30-3 lead after two quarters.
With Laurier’s offence failing to move the ball throughout the contest, the Mustangs continued to take advantage of excellent field position, adding 18 more points in the third quarter.
With Laurier’s offence failing to move the ball throughout the contest, the Mustangs continued to take advantage of excellent field position, adding 18 more points in the third quarter.
Finally, third string quarterback James Fracas of Waterloo, Ont., was brought into the game and while he had more success than his counterparts, Steve Fantham of London, Ont., and Travis Eman of Brampton, Ont., Laurier could not muster any further offence as they dropped their fourth game of the season.
Despite the loss, the Hawks still sit in a playoff position as the York Lions helped Laurier out by defeating the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday. That means Laurier will make the playoffs with either a win next week over McMaster or a loss by Toronto at Queen’s.
“We’re still in a playoff race,” summarized Galpin. “We’ll look at the film tomorrow and put this game behind us. We’ve got Mac [next week] and once youre in, everyone’s 0-0 and well go from there.”
Photo: Corey Stanford
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