LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs handled the elements and the Queen’s Gaels 46-10 in front of a Homecoming crowd of 10,024 at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
The No. 5 nationally ranked Mustangs now improve to 5-1 on the year. They are 3-0 in London, Ont., having outscored their opponents 142-30 so far this season on home turf.
Donnie Marshall (London, Ont.) completed eight of his 15 passing attempts for 228 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Andrew Thibaudeau (Kitchener, Ont.), the TJ Baxter’s offensive player of the game, caught four passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
After having two touchdowns called back in earlier games this season, the rookie wide receiver said he was happy to get the scoring monkey off his back.
“It feels great. It’s like Jeopardy, but I guess it evened out today. I am just trying to keep it positive,” he said. “Donnie’s passing today was just top notch, and our line played well and our defense shut them down.”
Donnie Marshall scrambled to find Thibaudeau for a 64-yard touchdown strike to put Western up 7-0 with 7:30 left in the first quarter and he connected with him later in the game for a 45-yard touchdown strike.
It was a balanced offensive attack, amassing 556 total offensive yards against the defending Vanier Cup champion Gaels which had won five of the past six meetings against Western including the 43-39 Yates Cup win to end the Mustangs’ 2009 season and a one-point regular-season contest.
Defensive coordinator Paul Gleason said it felt great not only to win on Homecoming but to do it against the Gaels.
“All the elements were there. After two losses, and it was our Homecoming on our turf. Everything just came together,” Gleason said. “There were so many motivating factors for us going into this game, it feels great to win.”
Gaels head coach Pat Sheahan was quick to give Western credit following the loss.
“We knew they would be up for the game and we got into some injury trouble today with four starters going down. Then we were gone off our systems and unfortunately we got out of playing to our game plan,” he said. “It was unfortunate to take penalties at the time we did to take points off the board.”
The Gaels had two fumbles in the game and Western scored off both. Queen’s converted three of their six third-down gambles, with Western scoring twice on turnovers on downs.
“Full credit to Western, they played a very strong game and they were well prepared,” Sheahan added. “We have to be better to beat a good football team.
Jerimy Hipperson (St. Catharines, Ont.) had another solid day rushing with 16 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown, while Nathan Riva (LaSalle, Ont.) returned from a hamstring injury and faced limited action carrying the ball 11 times for 36 yards in his first game of the season.
John Surla (Niagara Falls, Ont.) led the Mustangs defence and was named the TJ Baxter’s defensive player of the game with 8.5 tackles and two breakups. The Mustangs held the Gaels to 254 offensive yards.
“Our guys played well,” Gleason said. “Our front four has played so well it gives us so many different options out there. We can do a lot because they give us great pressure up front. In the past we may have designed things to hide our weaknesses. Now we work to exploit our strengths.”
“The kids flew around today and did what they were assigned,” Gleason said. “We made some adjustments at the half, we did struggle against the run, but we knew with the weather they had to run the ball.”
The Mustangs have only surrendered 30 points – an average of 10 per game – on home field this season.
“The turf suits our speed,” Gleason said. “And playing in front of your home crowd, your family and your friends, it motivates the guys.”
After Thibaudeau opened the scoring on the Marshall catch, the Gaels were able to engineer a successful drive off a number of Jimmy Therrien runs but the drive was stalled inside the 10-yard-line. Dan Village kicked a 19-yard field goal to make it 7-3 Western with 10:30 left in the second quarter.
The Mustangs responded as Donnie Marshall found Thibaudeau for his second touchdown of the game, this time a 45-yard completion.
Western would keep the momentum going and recover a fumble by Village who was in to punt. Hajrullahu capped off the drive off the turnover with a 24-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-3 with 4:46 left in the half.
Hajrullahu would go on to add a 37-yard field goal with 1:51 left and off a Queen’s turnover on downs he added his third field goal of the half as time expired.
Western led 23-3 at the half.
The Mustangs used trickery in the third quarter to set up a Hajrullahu field goal as receiver Nick Pasic tossed a 53-yard pass to Nick Trevail. Hajrullahu was good from 13 yards out to make it 26-3 for the Mustangs.
After Matt Webster picked off a Donnie Marshall pass, the Gaels were able to put together a touchdown drive to end the third quarter. Justin Chapdelaine leapt over the pile on third and goal from the one-yard-line to give Queen’s their first score and only touchdown of the day.
With Village adding the extra point Western’s lead was cut to 26-10 entering the fourth quarter.
After another big Thibaudeau reception set up the Mustangs in the redzone, Hipperson banged in his OUA-leading eighth rushing touchdown of the year to make it 33-10 with nine minutes remaining.
The Mustangs were not done there as senior Ian Noble came in at quarterback to engineer a drive that ended with a 20-yard Hajrullahu field goal, extending the margin to 36-10 in favour of Western with six minutes remaining.
Noble put the icing on the cake with under three minutes left connecting with freshman slotback Bryce Lawrence for a 42-yard touchdown strike, the first of Lawrence’s career as a Mustang, and then Hajrullahu booted his career-best sixth field goal of the game to make it 46-10 with one minute left.
Western gets next week off with a bye and will return to action on Oct. 16 when they visit the winless York Lions, looking to secure a first-round bye in the OUA playoffs with a win.
The Mustangs final regular season game of the year will be played against the improved Toronto Varsity Blues – 40-35 winners over Ottawa at home today – on Saturday Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
In other OUA action, Laurier thumped Guelph 36-2, while McMaster hammered York 64-6.
Scoring Summary
Scoring Summary (Final)
Western Mustangs Football
QUEENS vs #5 WESTERN (Oct 02, 2010 at London, Ont.) QUEENS (1-3,1-3) vs. WESTERN (4-1,4-1)
Date: Oct 02, 2010 • Site: London, Ont. • Stadium: TD Waterhouse • Attendance: 10024
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score |
| QUEENS | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| WESTERN | 7 | 16 | 3 | 20 | 46 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | QUEENS -WESTERN | |||
| 1st | 07:31 | WESTERN | A Thibaudeau 64 yd pass from D Marshall (L Hajrullahu kick) | |
| 2 plays, 54 yards, TOP 1:04 | 0 – 7 | |||
| 2nd | 10:40 | QUEENS | D Village 19 yd field goal | |
| 8 plays, 56 yards, TOP 3:21 | 3 – 7 | |||
| 08:06 | WESTERN | A Thibaudeau 45 yd pass from D Marshall (L Hajrullahu kick) | ||
| 5 plays, 77 yards, TOP 2:29 | 3 – 14 | |||
| 04:46 | WESTERN | L Hajrullahu 24 yd field goal | ||
| 3 plays, 5 yards, TOP 0:55 | 3 – 17 | |||
| 01:51 | WESTERN | L Hajrullahu 37 yd field goal | ||
| 5 plays, 6 yards, TOP 1:44 | 3 – 20 | |||
| 00:00 | WESTERN | L Hajrullahu 12 yd field goal | ||
| 5 plays, 51 yards, TOP 0:40 | 3 – 23 | |||
| 3rd | 10:33 | WESTERN | L Hajrullahu 13 yd field goal | |
| 9 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:22 | 3 – 26 | |||
| 00:00 | QUEENS | J Chapdelaine 1 yd run (D Village kick) | ||
| 9 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:48 | 10 – 26 | |||
| 4th | 09:07 | WESTERN | J Hipperson 2 yd run (L Hajrullahu kick) | |
| 4 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:36 | 10 – 33 | |||
| 06:18 | WESTERN | L Hajrullahu 20 yd field goal | ||
| 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 1:32 | 10 – 36 | |||
| 02:46 | WESTERN | B Lawrence 42 yd pass from I Noble (L Hajrullahu kick) | ||
| 6 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:45 | 10 – 43 | |||
| 01:00 | WESTERN | L Hajrullahu 21 yd field goal | ||
| 6 plays, 41 yards, TOP 1:25 | 10 – 46 |
| Kickoff time: 1:11 PM • End of Game: 4:18 • Total elapsed time: 3:07 Referee: M. Drinkwalter • Umpire: J. Lindsay • Linesman: G. Montani • Line judge: G. Hill • Back judge: G. MacRae • Field judge: H. Murphy • Side judge: P. Schmidt • Scorer: R. Booth • Temperature: 10 C • Wind: 10 km/h • Weather: Rain |
| Team Statistics |
Team Statistics (Final)
Western Mustangs Football
QUEENS vs #5 WESTERN (Oct 02, 2010 at London, Ont.)
| Team Totals | QUEENS | WESTERN |
| FIRST DOWNS | 15 | 23 |
| Rushing | 7 | 10 |
| Passing | 8 | 12 |
| Penalty | 0 | 1 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 143 | 210 |
| Rushing Attempts | 32 | 41 |
| Average Per Rush | 4.5 | 5.1 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 1 | 1 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 159 | 219 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 16 | 9 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 111 | 346 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 13-31-0 | 12-26-1 |
| Average Per Attempt | 3.6 | 13.3 |
| Average Per Completion | 8.5 | 28.8 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 0 | 3 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 254 | 556 |
| Total offense plays | 65 | 69 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 3.9 | 8.1 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 2-2 | 0-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 6-51 | 6-55 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 10-360 | 5-207 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 36.0 | 41.4 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 23.6 | 36.2 |
| Inside 20 | 2 | 1 |
| 50+ Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Fair catch | 0 | 0 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 4-162 | 4-229 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 40.5 | 57.2 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 30.5 | 42.8 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 5-26-0 | 10-124-0 |
| Average Per Return | 5.2 | 12.4 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD | 4-58-0 | 4-40-0 |
| Average Per Return | 14.5 | 10.0 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD | 1-8-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 28:08 | 31:47 |
| 1st Quarter | 7:16 | 7:44 |
| 2nd Quarter | 7:48 | 7:12 |
| 3rd Quarter | 7:07 | 7:53 |
| 4th Quarter | 5:57 | 8:58 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 3 of 6 | 1 of 3 |
| Fourth-Down Conversions | 0 of 0 | 0 of 0 |
| Red-Zone Scores-Chances | 2-2 | 6-6 |
| Touchdowns | 1-2 | 1-6 |
| Field goals | 1-2 | 5-6 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 2-10 | 2-14 |
| PAT Kicks | 1-1 | 4-4 |
| Field Goals | 1-1 | 6-6 |
| Individual Statistics |
Individual Statistics (Final)
Western Mustangs Football
QUEENS vs #5 WESTERN (Oct 02, 2010 at London, Ont.)
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