LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs football program officially welcomed 30 new players into the family on Thursday afternoon at an event unveiling the team’s 2014 recruiting class.
Along with revealing Western’s newest players, the team also announced the hiring of former Toronto Varsity Blues offensive coordinator Tom Flaxman as their newest assistant coach.
“[This year’s class] certainly addresses some of the needs that we had,” said Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall. “We have very good offensive linemen, but we’re thin there, we just don’t have the depth. It’s the same thing at linebacker, we’re going to lose Sean Blake, Pawel Kruba, Jerod McCrory, we’re losing a lot of linebackers and a lot of quality linebackers – we needed to address that.
“We’ve got some good young kids here, we’ve got some good athletes, we did a good job across the country nationally and also did a good job with some of the local kids.”
This year’s recruiting class is made up of 15 players on the offensive side of the ball, 14 on defence, and one on special teams. The majority of this year’s class is from Ontario including nine players from London who will don the colours of their hometown Mustangs. Along with the 22 players from Ontario the Mustangs added five players from Quebec, one from Alberta, and two from British Columbia.
“It’s been a national year and it’s had to be that way because in Ontario with 11 teams now it’s very competitive and we need to branch out,” said Mustangs recruiting coordinator and offensive line coach Chris Bertoia. “That being said, we’re happy with the players we’ve got locally from London. London year in and year out is recognized throughout the country as one of the best cities for high school football and it’s very important to us to maintain our backyard, continue our relationships with the high schools, and have kids come to Western who are London kids.”
Western’s 2014 recruits are certainly no strangers to success as 14 of the 30 recruits announced on Thursday were named as all-stars in their respective regions during the 2013 season, while 10 have played on a provincial team and six were listed on Canada Football Chat’s Top 100 Prospects list.
“We feel that we’ve got a real strong class,” said Bertoia. “Each and every year there’s needs you have to address, linebacker and the offensive line were the two focal points and I think we’ve addressed those needs. That being said we still have our teeth into a few potential blue chippers that are yet to make their decision, a few potential transfers that are possibly coming in as well, things will come out as they will later on but we’re really happy with our recruiting class.”
Along with 30 new players the Mustangs also added Flaxman, who comes to the Mustangs after serving as the offensive coordinator for the Toronto Varsity Blues for the past two seasons, including helping the Varsity Blues go 4–4 in 2013, their best record in twenty years. He began his CIS coaching career as a running back coach with the Acadia Axemen in 2008, later taking on the additional responsibility of special teams coordinator in 2009 and acting as co–offensive coordinator in the 2011 season that saw Acadia capture the 2011 Atlantic University Sport Championship.
Flaxman was involved with the Ontario Varsity Football League’s (OVFL) Mississauga Warriors from 2004 to 2011 as an assistant offensive coordinator, co-offensive coordinator and offensive coordinator, during which time the Warriors claimed four division and three OVFL championships.
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Flaxman competed in the CIS, first playing under Greg Marshall as a member of the Yates Cup champion McMaster Marauders in 2003 before continuing his student–athlete career at Acadia, where he captured back–to–back AUS titles in 2005 and 2006 as a running back and fullback.
In addition to his CIS coaching and playing experience Flaxman also holds a Level 3 NCCP Coaching certification and has been involved within the community, coordinating the Axemen football program’s Alzheimer’s Drive that benefited the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
“Tom was the offensive coordinator at Acadia and the University of Toronto, we hired Tom because of his work ethic, because of his personality, and I know him and trust him,” said Marshall. “Loyalty and those characteristics are vital in coaching. Tom’s going to be recruiting for us, he’s going to help right now on the defensive side, help with special teams, but he’s got outstanding character. It’s always good when you know someone, and I’ve known Tom for a long time. Both coach Bertoia and coach [Chris] Marcus got to know Tom over the last few years and they really spoke highly of him as well. So it was easy for us when he decided that he wanted a change he was a perfect fit for us.”
The Mustangs kick off their 2014 schedule on September 6 on the road against the York Lions. Western’s first home game also doubles as the team’s annual Homecoming contest when the Mustangs will play host to the Toronto Varsity Blues on September 20 at TD Stadium.
Information on each member of the 2014 recruiting class is listed below.
Offence
John Arboleda – 5’8 – 170 – RB – Catholic Central / TVRAA ’13 All–Star (London, ON)
Adam Ashby – 6’0 – 270 –OL– St. Andrews College / Team Ontario ’13 / CISAA All–Star ’13 (Aurora, ON)
Spencer Bollman – QB – John Paul II / Jr. Mustangs (London, ON)
Greg Bouchard – 6’2 – 300 – OL – Vanier CEGEP/2013 Division 1 CEGEP All–Star / Team Quebec / CFC Top 100 (Chicoutimi, QC)
Jamie Duncan – FB – St. Benedict / WCSSAA All–Star (Waterloo, ON)
Cole Majoris – 5’10 – 175 – REC – Lakeshore Catholic / Niagara Quad ‘A’ All–Star (Port Colborne, ON)
Zach Marcus – 6’0 – 190 – REC – St. Andrews College / Jr. Mustangs / Team Ontario ‘12 / CFC Top 100 (London, ON)
Danny Mundt –6’1 – 215 – RB/REC – Sir Wilfrid Laurier / Forest City Thunderbirds / TVRAA ’13 All–Star (London, ON)
Allan Oliver 6’2 – 280 – OL – St. Francis Xavier (Mississauga, ON)
Jeremy O’Neil – 6’3 – 295 – OL – Moira High School / Kingston Grenadiers (Belleville, ON)
Aarmin Purewal – 6’5 – 265 – OL – Mount Douglas/ Provincial All–Star ’13 / Team BC / CFC Top 100 (Victoria, BC)
Dylan Shervill – 6’3 – 280 – OL – Catholic Central / Carleton Transfer (London, ON)
Mitchell Smiley – 6’1 – 185 – RB – Northern Collegiate / Jr. Mustangs / Team Ontario ’13 / CFC Top 100 (Sarnia, ON)
Riley Terriff – 5’11 – 175 – REC – Western Canada / Calgary Falcons (Calgary, AB)
Cameron Wright – 6’2 – 190 – REC – Bishop Tonnes / Hamilton Hurricanes / Team Ontario ’13 (Ancaster, ON)
Defence
Jordan Beaulieu – 6’0 – 205 – DB – John Abbott CEGEP/ Division 2 CEGEP All Star (Montreal, QC)
Lloyd Bureau – 6’0 – 200 – LB – Vanier CEGEP (Quebec City, QC)
Jordan Carter – 5’9 – 170 – DB – St. Andrews College / CISAA All–Star ‘13 (Toronto, ON)
Philippe Dion – 5’11 – 217 – LB – Champlain CEGEP / CFC Top 100 (Blainville, QC)
Mackenzie Ferguson – 5’9 – 170 – DB/KR – Banting High School / Jr. Mustangs (OVFL All–Star) / TVRAA ’13 All–Star (London, ON)
Jean–Gabriel Poulin – 6’2 – 225 – LB – Vanier CEGEP / Team Canada / CFC Top 100 (St. Nicolas, QC)
Austin Heffernan – 6’1 – 200 – LB – King City/ Hamilton Hurricanes (King City, ON)
Craig Hinschberger – 6’1 – 177 – DB – Mother Teresa / Jr. Mustangs / Team Ontario ’13 / Canada Cup All–Star / TVRAA ’13 All–Star (London, ON)
Mason Kett – 6’2 – 220 – LB – Northern College / Jr. Mustangs / Team Ontario ’13 (Sarnia, ON)
Kevin Marshall – 6’3 – 210 – LB – St. Thomas More / Provincial All–Star ’13 (Coquitlam, BC)
Matt Rooney – 6’0 – 220 – LB – Waterdown District / Hamilton Hurricanes (Waterdown, ON)
Kevin Searle – 5’11 – 175 – DB – St. Michael’s College / Etobicoke Eagles / Toronto Jr. Argos (Toronto, ON)
Jake Smith – 5’10 – 181 – DB – Malvern/ Toronto Thunder / Team Ontario East ’12 (Scarborough, ON)
Andrew Thurston – 6’1 – 205 – LB – Saunders / Jr. Mustangs / Team Ontario ’13 / TVRAA All–Star ‘13 (London, ON)
Special Teams
Ben Kelly –6’3 – 190 – K/P – Central / TVRAA All–Star ’13 (London, ON)
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