Western runs away from Ottawa, Varga scores 2 more touchdowns (video)

The No. 2 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs faced their 2010 Yates Cup opponent, the No. 9-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees, Saturday afternoon at TD Waterhouse Stadium in front of a crowd of 9,718.
In what most anticipated being a tight game, it was not until the second half that the Mustangs pulled away from the Gee-Gees.

Despite 41 passing yards for Western, and a predominately Gee-Gees led quarter, with 11 rushes and 63 yards, both teams were left scoreless after the first 15 minutes. Gee-Gees’ Brendan Gillanders’ (Orleans, Ont.) late-quarter touchdown was called back because of a penalty. Both teams remained scoreless after the first.

Early in the second, the Mustangs succeeded in putting their mark on the scoreboard with 22 and 29-yard field goals from kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to take a 6-0 lead.

At 13:24 though, Ottawa followed up with a field goal of their own from 37 yards bringing them to within one field goal of Western’s six points.

Donnie Marshall passed for a total of 161 yards in the quarter while Ottawa’s 96-rushing yards just about doubled Western’s 56. The score remained 6-3 for the Mustangs at half time.

Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Matthew Bond-Lapointe (Montreal, Que.) intercepted a Donnie Marshall pass. The possession brought Ottawa into field goal range where they complted a 15-yard field goal to tie up the game at 1:58 of the quarter.

The first touchdown of the game came at 4:31 of the third quarter on another Marshall pass to Zach Bull. Bull rushed 48 yards for the touchdown and Hajrullahu completed the convert bumping Western up 13-6.

On the ensuing kickoff, Hajrullahu gained another point on a rouge increasing Western’s spread to 14-8, as the Mustangs offense began to show signs of life.

Ten minutes later, the Mustangs were once again within kicking range and Hajarullahu showed why he is one of the nation’s top kickers with a 17-yard field goal, his third of the game.

Michael Van Praet recovered a forced fumble on Ottawa’s 30-yard line to return possession to the Mustangs.

This possession resulted in a Nathan Riva touchdown, his first of the game and fifth on the season. The touchdown came on a 20-yard pass from Marshall at 13:18. Hajrullahu completed the convert. Western led 24-6 with two minutes remaining in the third.

At 3:01 of the fourth quarter, Hajrullahu completed his fourth field goal, this time from 17 yards, putting Western in front 27-6.

Rookie runningback Tyler Varga got his first taste of the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. Varga scored on a two-yard rush. Hajrullahu gained another point with his fifth convert of the game.

A late-fourth quarter Ottawa drive resulted in a Simon Le Marquand touchdown for the Gee-Gees, and with a convert from Matthew Valvo, Ottawa made the score 34-13.

But, it was Varga’s second touchdown of the game at 14:08 of the fourth that really put the exclamation point on the match-up. The touchdown came on a 54-yard rush, giving him his ninth on the season. Hajrullahu earned his sixth and final convert of the game.

The 41-13 final puts the Western Mustangs at 3-0 on the season as they head to Waterloo on Sept. 24 to face the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks are 1-2 on their season.

Marshall completed 18 of 37 passes for 332 yards with a pair of touchdowns and three interceptions.

Varga led Western’s rushing attack with 149 yards on 23 carries and a pair of touchdowns.

On the receiving side, Bull led the Mustangs with 144 yards and one touchdown.

Western Sports Into

GEE-GEES FALTER 41-13 IN YATES CUP REMATCH AT WESTERN

Football (2-1 OUA)

Visited Western (3-0 OUA) Saturday, September 17, 2011, at TD Waterhouse field in London, Ont.

The uOttawa Gee-Gees were deep behind enemy lines as they visited the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at TD Waterhouse Field in London, Ont with 9,718 fans in attendance. The garnet and grey could not sustain their defensive momentum early on, and went on to lose the game by a final score of 34-6 for their first loss of the season.

The uOttawa Gee-Gees offense struggled today with only 293 yards on the day. Fourth-year quarterback Aaron Colbon (Orleans, Ont.) was 17-40, with one touchdown, one interception, and three sacks. Third-year running back Brendan Gillanders (Ottawa, Ont.) also struggled and was held to less than 100 yards for the first time this season, finishing with only 25 yards for the game.

It was a battle of two very different, but seemingly evenly matched, teams as the OUA’s top offensive team, Western, would do battle with the OUA’s top defensive team, the uOttawa Gee-Gees. The first half was largely a defensive battle throughout with the score set at 6-3 Western at the half.

The Gee-Gees defense made some big plays, and held the Mustangs to their lowest tally so far this season after two quarters. Third-year linebacker Robert Griffiths (Burlington, Ont.) had a crushing sack on Western’s starting pivot Donnie Marshall in the first quarter for a total of 12 yards lost on the play. The garnet and grey’s defence had a total of 11.5 tackles in the first half while Western had 22 yards lost in the first half.

Fourth-year kicker Matt Falvo (Welland, Ont.) finally got the Gee-Gees on the board late in the second quarter with a 37 yard field-goal to notch the score at 6-3. Western scored two field goals in the second quarter, after failing on two earlier attempts in the first quarter.

The second half however would be a very different story. Both teams exchanged some big plays early on, including third-year defensive back Matthew Bond-Lapointe’s (Montreal, Que.) second interception of the game which led to a Gee-Gees field goal to tie the game at 6-6.

Unfortunately from there, Western’s offense woke up and went on to score 18 unanswered points to take a 24-6 lead after three quarters of play. The Gee-Gees gave up some big plays on a few costly penalties and a fumble to allow for the Mustangs’ offensive surge.

In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs offense continued to wear down the Gee-Gees defence and scored another 17 points, including two touchdowns and a field goal to finish the game. Still, the Gee-Gees were able to save face by scoring a late touchdown and their first of the game when fourth-year quarterback Aaron Colbone connected with third-year receiver Simon Le Marquand to set the final score at 41-13.

Although the score might have indicated differently, head coach Jean-Philippe Asselin was optimistic that his team can compete with the Mustangs. “I think for any defense it’s tough to hang with them when they get the ball back four times in a row. They’re a good offence, but I think we showed that we can definitely play with those guys,” said Asselin.

While the Gee-Gees did not execute well on offense, Asselin acknowledge that Aaron Colbon had a rough day for his first start at TD Waterhouse and knows he will learn from the experience. “It’s a good learning curve for [Aaron Colbon], it was a big crowd here and I think it was a good learning experience for him as a first year starter, and I know he’s better than what he showed today. I think this will be positive for him, and he’s going to play better the next time that’s for sure,” he added.

Looking ahead to next weekend’s homecoming game against the lowly Toronto Varsity Blues, Asselin is not taking anything for granted and looks forward to getting back on track. “It’s not about who we play, it’s about getting better. We have Toronto next week, and we’re looking forward to a week of practice to make sure we fix our mistakes, and make sure we’re getting better all the time.”

Ottawa Sports Info