Gryphon head coach Stu Lang was elated after the game and talked about the confidence this win gives his team.
“This feels great, the whole thing we are trying to accomplish is to become an elite football team that is successful all the time and in order to get there we have to experience games like today. We built a tremendous amount of character in the guys today. If we’re ever in another last second close game again, we know we have pulled out the win before and we can do it again.”
Today’s win secures the Gryphons a home playoff game, an advantage the Gryphons have not enjoyed since 2008.
“It feels fantastic to know we’ll get to host a playoff game in front of our fans. This is one of our goals on the way to the Yates Cup. But we now have Queens at home next and we’re just looking to take it one game at a time.”
Leading the offence in front of a thanksgiving crowd of 945, Jazz Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) completed 20 attempts of 31 for 219 yards and three majors on the day. Rob Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont) added another 134 yards to the effort in 21 carries.
Complimenting the offensive success on defence was John Rush (Niagara Falls, Ont) and Brian Dunjko (Aurora, Ont) with 9.5 and eight tackles apiece. Both players, along with Zach Androschuk (Sarnia, Ont) and Jarryd Baines (Ottawa, Ont) recorded individual interceptions on the day.
Rob Farquharson would start things off for the Gryphons by moving the chains on two consecutive 15 yard rushes to put the Gryphons within striking distance. A pass to Dillon Dimitroff (Burlington, Ont.) brought the Gryphons into the Mustang redzone where a deep pass from Jazz Lindsey to brother Saxon Lindsey (Markham, Ont.) capped off an impressive 74 yard drive with Guelph’s first trip to the endzone. Tropea would tack on the extra point to put Guelph up 7-0 early on. Guelph came up with the ball on the ensuing kick to put the ball back in Lindsey’s hands on the 30 yard line. Despite the strong momentum in Guelph’s favour, the drive stalled at the 15 yard line to set Tropea up for a 22-field goal to put Guelph up 10-0.
Starting in place of Donnie Marshall (London, Ont) who suffered an injury last week in Western’s game against McMaster was rookie quarterback Blake Huggins (London, Ont). On his debut appearance, things didn’t go exactly as planned with his first pass being intercepted by John Rush who was able to get into the Western red-zone to give Lindsey an opportunity to extend the lead. Less than a minute later, Lindsey did just that by connecting deep with Michael Fortino for a 14-yard touchdown. Tropea’s point after attempt was good to extend the lead 17-0.
The dominant Gryphon defence proved to be relentless with a second interception, this time from Western’s second-string quarterback, Will Finch (Burlington, Ont). This time Lindsey would found Carl Trivieri wide open in the end zone to jump to 23-0.
Following two strong runs by CIS leading rusher, Garrett Sanvido (Vancouver, B.C.), the Western offence finally showed signs of life by opening an impressive drive to get within scoring distance. Will Finch would take it in himself on a 1-yard QB sneak to put Western on the board. Lirim Hajrullahu added the extra point to bring the game to within 16 to end the quarter.
Western recovered possession only to find themselves drop to a second and long situation. Gryphon pass rushing forced Will Finch to look deep into double coverage only to give Brian Dunjko his second pick on the season. Dunjko was able to bring it back to the Western 20 yard line to put Guelph in excellent scoring position.
Gryphon quarterback Luke Nangle (London, Ont). then entered the game and was able to connect with Jake Reinhart (Guelph, Ont) on his only pass of the day to put Guelph up 30-7 with Tropea’s successful conversion.
Once again Western found some momentum through the rushing game as Will Finch and Brian Marshall (London, Ont) brought the Mustangs into scoring position. Electing to switch to the air attack, Will Finch put it up only to have Jarryd Baines come down with the ball in the dying minutes of the half. Guelph was able to march down the field where Tropea hit an impressive 41-yard field goal to put Guelph up 33-7 going into the half.
Despite the explosive first half for the Gryphons, momentum quickly vanished as Guelph found themselves at the mercy of the Western offence as the Mustangs went on an uncontested 29 point scoring spree to take the lead with a 36-33 score with 11 minutes left in the game. Garrett Sanvido was able to rake in three rushing touchdowns while Blake Huggins found Matt Uren (London, Ont) for the only passing touchdown for the Mustangs. Lirim Hajrullahu converted all three conversion attempts while adding another rouge point to the board.
Forced to punt the ball away with eight minutes left on the clock, Western looked to their defence to maintain the lead. Yet an impressive return by A’dre Fraser (Halifax, N.S.) combined with a Western face-mask put the Gryphons in excellent field position. A minute later the drive would be stalled by the Mustang defence, but Tropea would continue his perfect streak by hitting a 32-yard field goal to tie the game at 36.
The ensuing Western drive was stopped dead less than a minute later with an Androschuk interception to put the ball back in Lindsey’s capable hands. On the next play, a fantastic acrobatic effort by Saxon Lindsey put the Gryphons back in field goal range. With just over four minutes left on the clock, Tropea hit his game-day high with a 42-yard field goal to regain the Gryphon lead.
The Mustangs came back strong with a deep pass to Matt Uren to set them up inside Guelph territory. The next play found Garrett Sanvido tacking on four yards to bring up a second and six situation for the Mustangs. Placing their faith again in Sanvido’s hands, the Mustangs would be disappointed as a huge play by defensive captain Mike Millar (Port Colborne, Ont) stopped the Mustang drive in its tracks. Lirim Hajrullahu would come out on the field to hit the game tying field goal from 32 yards.
With just over two minutes left on the clock, Lindsey rallied his offence to march down the field with passes to Trivieri and Farquharson to bring them close to midfield. Guiliano Tropea once again found himself in scoring position, as he lined up for an easy 27-yard field goal attempt which was successful.
The Gryphons look to continue their dominance next week against the Queen’s Gaels team at Alumni Stadium.
Western sports info
After losing a hard-fought game against the top ranked McMaster Marauders last weekend the Western Mustangs traveled to Guelph looking to rebound against the eighth-ranked Gryphons. Despite an incredible comeback attempt in the second half the Gryphons edged out the Mustangs on a last-minute field goal, taking a 42-39 victory. It was a tale of two halfs for the Mustangs as after a disastrous start that saw them fall behind 23-0 within the first nine minutes, Western looked like an entirely different team in the second half. The Mustangs scored 29 unanswered points to storm back and take the lead early in the fourth quarter before eventually falling to the Gryphons. With starting quarterback Donnie Marshall out due to injury, the running game was key and Garret Sanvido showed why he’s leading the CIS in rushing, running for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. Sanvdio now remains atop the CIS leaderboard with 905 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 150.8 yards per game.
Defensively the Mustangs were led by Daryl Waud with 8.5 tackles. Other members of Western’s front seven got into the action, with Dylan Ainsworth and Beau Landry both recording 6.5 tackles, while Brent Wheeler added 4.5 tackles. The Gryphons started out strong, scoring on their first drive on a 17-yard pass from Jazz Lindsey to his brother Saxon Lindsey less than three minutes into the game. Guelph reached into their bag of tricks on the ensuing kickoff and used the wind to their advantage, kicking the ball high into the air where it eventually was recovered by the Gryphons in Mustangs territory. Guiliano Tropea would use the strong field position to hit his first of five field goals on the day, this one from 22-yards, to put the Gryphons up 10-0 within the first five minutes.
The Mustangs then received their first drive of the game and one of the biggest questions of the week was answered as Will Finch was behind centre for the purple and white. Unfortunately for Finch and the Mustangs his first pass was intercepted by John Rush, leading to another Jazz Lindsey passing TD. Just over two minutes later Lindsey would record his third passing TD, this time connecting with Carl Trivieri on a six yard pass to give the Gryphons a 23-0 lead just over halfway through the first quarter.
Finch would then lead the Mustangs on a five play, 73 yard drive concluding in a QB dive from the goal line to put Western on the board late in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Mustangs the turnovers would continue in the second quarter, with two interceptions, one leading to a Guelph touchdown to make it 30-7 Gryphons early in the second quarter. The Gryphons would add another field goal as time expired to head into the half with a 33-7 lead.
As the second half began it was clear that a different Mustangs team took the field, as they found the end zone on their first drive of the half, scoring on a nine yard run by Garret Sanvido.
After some stout defensive play by the Mustangs front seven, first-year quarterback Blake Huggins, who replaced Finch late in the second quarter, lead Western on a 10-play 80-yard drive that ended with Huggins finding Matt Uren in the end zone for the first TD pass of his CIS career. Lirim Hajrullahu followed up the TD and convert with a booming kick into the Guelph end zone, adding a single point to make it 33-22 for the Gryphons late in the third quarter.
After an exchange of possessions with to finish out the third, the fourth quarter began and that was when Garret Sanvido took over. On the Mustangs first drive of the final quarter, Sanvido gained 51 of Western’s 61 yards, with the other 10 coming from a holding call on Guelph. He finished things off with a phenomenal 18-yard touchdown run to pull the Mustangs within four points.
Western prevented the Gryphons from getting anything going on the following drive, and Alex Maj capped things off by recovering a fumble well inside Guelph territory on the 10-yard line to put the Mustangs in excellent scoring location.
The Mustangs wouldn’t waste any time trying to capitalize, as Garret Sanvido ran it in from ten yards out for his third TD on the day giving Western it’s first lead of the day, 36-33. The final 11 minutes of the game saw both teams trade possessions with neither side able to hit the end zone. Guelph tied things up with just over seven minutes remaining on a Tropea field goal, and he’d add another three minutes later to put the Gryphons up by six late in the game.
Hajrullahu would add a field goal for Western to tie the game with just under two minutes remaining, capping a seven play 50-yard drive. Jazz Lindsey would then start what would end up as his final drive of the day, marching the Gryphons 55 yards on seven plays, to allow Tropea to add another field goal with 18 seconds left, making it a 42-39 final. Next up for the Mustangs is their final home game of the regular season next Saturday against the Laurier Golden Hawks. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
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