Uren catches four TD passes, breaks OUA record in Quarterfinal victory (Video)

LONDON, Ont. – Rain and high winds were supposed to cause problems for receivers on Saturday afternoon as the Western Mustangs took on the Windsor Lancers in an OUA Quarterfinal showdown.

BOX SCORE

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAiargmbnjI&feature=player_embedded

 

Western Sports Info

Apparently no one told Matt Uren.

The second-year receiver racked up 403 total yards and hauled in four touchdown passes, leading the Mustangs to a 56-35 victory over the Lancers, putting Western into the OUA Semi-Finals.

The four touchdown receptions sets a new OUA playoff record, and is one off the CIS playoff record of five.

“It’s always nice to get those accomplishments, but the win is what counts the most here today. [The record] is just nice, it’s the cherry on top of everything else,” said Uren.

In total the London native caught eight passes for 166 yards, ran the ball three times for 40 yards, returned six punts for 135 yards and added three kickoff returns for 62 yards.

“The only people surprised are the people who don’t practice with Matt everyday,” said Western head coach Greg Marshall. “Matt Uren is special, we said this in training camp, he’s a special player. I’m really happy, the game he had today is the game he’s had in him all season.”

Throwing the ball to Uren was first-year quarterback Will Finch who had an outstanding playoff debut, completing 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns. It’s Finch’s second four TD game of the season as he connected with Brian Marshall four times against Laurier, which tied the OUA regular season record for touchdown receptions.

“The line really gave me time today,” said Finch on his performance in his first playoff contest. “As soon as I got the ball I could take my three step [drop], my one-step, make my read and go through my progression. When you can do that you can find the open receiver and make a nice throw.”

Fourth-year linebacker Pawel Kruba had a great game on the defensive side of the ball, recording nine tackles and picking off Windsor quarterback Austin Kennedy then returning it 60 yards for Western’s first touchdown. Fellow linebacker Sean Blake was also impressive earning 8.5 tackles and two sacks, helping the Mustang defence put pressure on Kennedy all game long.

Kruba’s interception return got things started for the Mustangs, putting them up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.

Following a 28-yard field goal from Windsor’s Dan Cerino the Mustangs proceeded to go on a nearly seven minute drive before Yannick Harou punched it in on a two-yard run to put the Mustangs up 13-3.

After being trapped in their own end Windsor conceded a safety, however after later getting the ball back they would put together a long-drive of their own, capped off by Kennedy connecting with Jordan Brescacin on a three-yard touchdown pass to end the first quarter down by five.

Tha’s when Matt Uren decided to take over.

Uren got his quarter started off with a 51-yard touchdown, taking a short pass from Finch before running through the Windsor defence to take it in for the score. He wouldn’t waste any time getting back into the end zone, catching a 21-yard pass from Finch just over three minutes later making it 27-12 for Western midway through the second quarter.

The Mustangs offence wasn’t done as Lirim Hajrullahu recorded a 31-yard field goal to extend the Western lead by three before Harou scored his second touchdown of the day after it was setup by a 71-yard punt return from Uren.

Less than 90 seconds later Finch and Uren connected on a nine-yard touchdown pass to send the Mustangs to the locker room with a 44-12 halftime lead.

Despite facing a significant deficit, the Lancers showed their mettle and came back hard in the third quarter on the strength of two touchdowns from Kennedy. First the nation’s leading passer found the country’s leading receiver in Jordan Brescacin on a four-yard touchdown pass, followed up with two points on the convert, before scoring on a three-yard run to end the third quarter with the Lancers down 46-27.

Kennedy would add another touchdown run and two-point convert five minutes into the final quarter pushing the Lancers to 23 unanswered points.

Fortunately for the Mustangs faithful that streak would come to an end shortly thereafter as Finch threw an excellent 24-yard pass to Uren for his fourth touchdown of the day, putting Western ahead 53-35 with less than six minutes left to play.

Hajrullahu would add a 21-yard field goal a few minutes later to make it a 56-35 final.

The win now puts Western on a collision course with the undefeated McMaster Maruaders in the OUA Semi-Finals. Although the Mustangs are heading on the road to take on the CIS’ number one ranked team, coach Marshall is confident about next weekend’s showdown.

“I really believe that we match up pretty well,” said Marshall. “I hope we came out of this game healthy, we had a lot of guys going down there at the end, we’ll need full strength. Mac’s a great team, well coached team, we’re going to need everyone healthy and we hope to get some players back this week. That’s going to be important. I really believe we match up well with McMaster.”

Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 3 at Hamilton’s Ron Joyce Stadium. Fans can tune in live on the Score television network or listen to NewsTalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and Larry Haylor calling all the action.