OUA RECAP (SEMIS): Injuries overshadow Mustang victory, Augustine steals show as Gryphons advance to Yates Cup final

LONDON, Ont. – Matt Uren rushed for two touchdowns to help lift the Western Mustangs over the Laurier Golden Hawks by a 32-18 score in an OUA Semi-Final on Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium.

With the win the Mustangs will now host the Guelph Gryphons in the 108th Yates Cup, set for Saturday, November 14, at TD Stadium.

The offence was lead by Uren and star running back Alex Taylor. Taylor rushed for 114 yards on 26 attempts, battling through contact and fighting the physical Laurier defensive line for every inch.

Uren ran two jet sweeps in at critical points in the game, extending the lead at times when the Golden Hawks were threatening. The Mustangs willingness to throw the ball down the field may have opened up the room for Uren to motor.

“If those corners on the far side are having to worry about covering their receivers downfield they have their backs to me,” said Uren, “So it definitely opens that up.”

Will Finch started the game but was replaced by Stevenson Bone in the third quarter after suffering an injury.

Finch went 17 for 24 for 160 yards before leaving the game. Bone came into the game and went 3 for 6 for 20 yards, but took several shots down the field that opened up the run game.

“I’m just happy we got the win,” said Bone “Just defending our home turf.”

The defence was led by safety Jesse McNair who had 4.5 tackles. McNair has quietly been one of the best Mustangs all season, consistently leading the team in tackles and placing the defence on solid footing from the safety position.

“They played outstanding,” said Western head coach Greg Marshall when asked about the performance of his team’s defence.

Western received the opening kick and instantly engaged their no huddle offence. The Mustangs strung together a nice drive, but settled for 23-yard field goal by kicker Ben Kelly.

The Mustangs and Golden Hawks traded several possessions without a score and halfway through the first, a time in which the Mustangs have generally been up two or three scores this season, Western continued to hold only a three-point lead.

Early in the game, the emphasis for the Mustang offence was for Finch to take off and run, eventually finishing with 67 yards on nine carries. The Golden Hawk defence was keyed on Taylor and limited the Mustangs primary ground attack to only 12 yards on five carries in the opening frame, helping to keep the score at 3-0 after 15 minutes.

Kelly doubled the Mustang lead on the second play of the second quarter, splitting the uprights from 35 yards to make it 6-0 Mustangs.

On the next drive OUA leading rusher Dillon Campbell, who was very quiet in the first quarter, busted a 53 yard run up the left sideline and put the Golden Hawks on the Mustang eight-yard line. Mustangs defensive back Malcolm Brown hunted Campbell down for 40 yards and prevented Campbell from striding to the end zone. Despite putting his team in excellent field position, run proved costly for Campbell, as he didn’t return to the game after the play.

Even after a Mustang penalty gave Laurier a fresh set of downs, they were unable to convert and settled for a field goal from 10 yards out courtesy of kicker Nathan Mesher.

A fumble by Finch was recovered by the Golden Hawks on the very next play from scrimmage, giving the visitors the ball on the Western 32-yard line. That set up a 37-yard field goal from Mesher to tie the game at 6-6.

Following another sequence of trading possessions, the Mustangs offence seemed to settle in a bit. The purple and white went 82 yards on seven plays and ended the drive with the first Uren touchdown run, giving them a 13-6 lead midway through the second quarter.

After a conceded safety from the Golden Hawks increased Western’s lead, the Mustangs took over the ball again with two minutes left in the half. Western’s offence ran a play action pass to the flats that they’ve completed dozens of times this year. However, this time Laurier defensive back Malcolm Thompson jumped the route, intercepted the ball and took it 58 yards for the pick six. It was the first defensive touchdown the Mustangs had given up all year and cut their lead to 15-13 heading into the half.

Early in the third Finch suffered a big hit in the Mustangs backfield, prompting Bone to take over at quarterback for the remainder of the contest.

On Bone’s first drive, the Mustangs leaned heavily on Taylor and Harou while driving the field and settled for a Kelly field goal to extend the lead to 18-13. Despite handing it off several times, Bone was not afraid to take a deep shot, throwing down the field a several occasions.

“There’s never really a plan for your backup to go in the game,” he said, “I have to be ready and we took some shots, they played some man coverage.”

With the Mustangs only up five early in the fourth, coach Marshall decided to concede a safety and reduce the lead to only three points. The move proved Marshall’s faith in his defence.

“At that point of the game we were pretty confident that we could stop them and pin them deep,” said Marshall of the decision to concede the safety.

The gamble paid off as the Mustangs pinned the Golden Hawks deep and eventually made them pay. Preston Huggins picked off a screen pass and gave the Mustangs the ball on the seven yard line. A few plays later Uren fought through several tackles and found the corner pylon for his second score to make it 25-15 for Western midway through the fourth.

Another Mesher field goal for the Golden Hawks closed the gap with 2:29 remaining, but the Mustangs iced the win with a Cedric Joseph rushing touchdown in the final minute, giving Western a 32-18 victory.

With the win the Mustangs advance to their second Yates Cup in three years, winning the OUA title in their last appearance in 2013. They will be hosting Guelph, the collision course that many fans of OUA football saw coming all year long. But if Finch is not able to go, Bone is not lacking for playoff experience. He started Western’s semi-final game against Guelph last year, and despite the loss, he is looking forward to taking on the challenge.

“We lost down on their turf so it’s going to be nice to have this one for the Yates Cup at Western,” said Bone. “Obviously it’s going to be fun and I know we’re going to get after it this week and have a good game plan. “

The 108th Yates Cup kicks off at 1 p.m. at TD Stadium on Saturday, November 14.

Source: Tony Von Ritcher, Western Mustangs Sports Information

Guelph, ON – For the third time in the last four years, the Guelph Gryphons will be heading to the Yates Cup. On Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium, the Gryphons booked a spot in the Yates Cup with a 33-21 victory over the visiting Carleton Ravens in an OUA semi-final showdown. U of G running back Johnny Augustine stole the show, rushing for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns on 35 carries. The Gryphons will travel to London next Saturday (November 14) to face the Western Mustangs. Western advanced to the Yates Cup with a 32-18 win over Laurier in their OUA semi-final matchup.

You do not have to go back far to find the last time the Gryphons and Ravens met up as they also clashed just two weeks ago in what was the OUA regular season finale for both teams. In that game, which Guelph won 44-12, the Ravens were unable to score a single offensive touchdown after a dominating performance from the Gryphon defence. On Saturday at Alumni Stadium, that same Gryphon ‘D’ was once again impressive, and put together a nearly perfect opening half of football. Keyword, “nearly.” The Ravens, who struggled to sustain anything significant offensively throughout most of the first half, were able to come up with one big play through the air to grab an early lead. On Carleton’s second offensive possession of the game, Ravens QB Jesse Mills would pump fake on a receiver screen to get the Gryphon defenders to bite, before airing it out for a wide open Wilson Birch for a 69-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, but the Ravens held an early 6-3 lead. It would prove to be one of the few mistakes the Gryphon defence would make all day.

The first half was close on the scoreboard, but not on the stats sheet. At halftime, the Gryphons had outgained Carleton 317 to 176 in total offensive yards. Guelph had 141 yards rushing, Carleton had 50. The Gryphons had run a total of 48 offensive plays, the Ravens offence had been on the field for just 26. In the first half alone, Gryphons running back Johnny Augustine was already over the century mark, rushing for 108 yards on 16 carries. In contrast, Carleton’s star running back Jahvari Bennett, who was 5th in the CIS during the season with 1,008 rushing yards, was held to a modest 3.6 yards per carry (13 carries, 48 yards). Despite the lopsided stats, the Gryphons went into the locker room at the half leading just 12-9 on the strength of four Gabriel Ferraro field goals (22, 20, 30 & 18-yards respectively). The Gryphons certainly moved the ball early on, but struggled in the red zone and were repeatedly forced to settle for field goals. From Carleton’s perspective, “settling for field goals” is something that is easier said than done. They can thank to U of G linebacker John Rush for that. Rush wasn’t settling for anyting.

Leading the way defensively for the Gryphons, as he has all season, was fifth year middle linebacker John Rush. In the 3rd quarter, Rush would chase down Carleton’s speedy backup QB Jesse St. John for one of Guelph’s three sacks on the day. That sack meant that the Ravens had to send out their field goal unit. Their ensuing field goal attempt would be blocked. Guess who? Rush was able to get a hand on the Mike Domagala kick, helping the Gryphons maintain their 12-9 lead. While the Ravens offensive woes continued, the Gryphons red zone woes were about to come to an end.

Although Johnny Augustine was undoubtedly the best player on the field on Saturday, the single-biggest run of the game actually belonged to his backup, Brandon Gordon. With around 11 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, Gordon would rip off a 51-yard scamper down to the Carleton 5-yard line. Two plays later, Gordon would punch it in from 2-yards out to give Guelph a 19-9 lead. The seven points from that touchdown would prove to be the only points scored in the 3rd quarter from either team, as the Gryphons took a 10-point to the final quarter.

.t

The Ravens had the wind at their backs for the 4th quarter and were able to get back into the game with a conceded saftety from the Gryphons and a field goal of their own. That meant that the Ravens deficit was trimmed from 10 down to just five as Guelph’s lead was now cut to 19-14. But if Carleton was going to pull off the upset on Saturday at Alumni Stadium, they would need to find a way to stop Gryphons running back Johnny Augustine. And Augustine, in a word, looked unstoppable. The third year back out of Welland finished the game with 35 carries, 245 yards and two touchdowns. Both of those TDs came in the 4th quarter, the first of which capped off a 10 play, 60-yard drive to put Guelph up 26-14 with around six minutes remaining. Augustine’s second TD of the game would come with two minutes remaining. This time, the drive summary was much shorter. In fact, it was one play. Thanks to some great work up front from the Gryphon offensive line, Augustine was able to take the handoff from James Roberts and go right up the middle of the field, untouched, for a 33-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach. For Augustine, the 35 carries and 247 yards rushing are both career-highs. Carleton would tack on a touchdown in the final minute, but the outcome was never in doubt as the Gryphons would go on to the 33-21 victory.

Gryphons QB James Roberts finished the day 17-of-31 for 208 yards. Carleton running back Jahvari Bennett finished the day with a season-low 2.7 yards per carry (18 rush attempts for just 48 yards). Gryphons return specialist Ryan Nieuwesteeg had another outstanding game, finishing with 10 punt returns for 162 yards and a long of 35. With a strong wind blowing into Alumni Stadium, Nieuwesteeg’s returns were crucial in helping the Gryphons win the field position battle throughout the game.

With the win, the Gryphons advance to the 108th Yates Cup. Awaiting the Gryphons in the Yates is the No. 2-nationally ranked Western Mustangs. These two teams did not face each other during the regular season, but will square off next Saturday (November 14) with a trip to the national semi-finals on the line. The winner of the Yates Cup will have the opportunity to host a national semi-final on their own campus, as the winner of the OUA is set to play host to the winner of the RSEQ (Quebec conference) in the 2015 Mitchell Bowl (Saturday, Nov. 21).

The Gryphons last won a Yates Cup in 1996. Saturday’s game versus Western will be televised live on CHCH and can also be seen live online at OUA.tv.

Source: Andy Baechler, Guelph Gryphons Sports Information

Laurier Golden Hawks vs. Western Mustangs at London, Ontario 11/7/2015 at 1:00 PM
Laurier 18	Western 32