LONDON, Ont. – It certainly was not an offensive showcase but the
Western Mustangs gritted out a 15-8 win over the Guelph Gryphons
Saturday afternoon at Alumni stadium. This is the second year in a row
that Western has spoiled Guelph’s Homecoming game on national
television.
With the win the Mustangs move to 4-1 on the year. This is their third
victory over a nationally ranked team. They now have won 15 of the
past 16 games against the Guelph Gryphons.
In a game featuring strong, swirling winds and the occasional rain it
was the Mustangs ground game that was the difference. Jerimy Hipperson
(St. Catherines, Ont.) was named Player of the Game by The Score as he
rushed 20 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Donnie Marshall
(London, Ont.) had 13 carries for 116 yards and was 9 completions for
116 yards and an interception through the air.
Western’s defence played well limiting Guelph running back Nick
Fitzgibbon (Puslinch, Ont.) to 87 yards rushing. They were able to get
constant pressure on Gryphon pivot Chris Rossetti (Mississauga, Ont.)
and sacked him seven times on the day. Defensive lineman Zander
Robinson (Vancouver, B.C.) led the way with 12.5 tackles and 2.5 sacks
but no sack was bigger than linebacker Adrian Kaiser’s (London, Ont.)
two late in the fourth quarter.
“We saw some holes in their offensive line and brought the pressure in
the second half,” Kaiser said. “We made adjustments at half and
contained Fitzgibbon and were able to get into the backfield to
Rossetti.”
While Western was able to get the win, it was not the victory that
head coach Greg Marshall was looking for.
“It was good to get the win, but we’ve got to play better,” Marshall
stated. “We knew it was going to be a defensive battle and we hurt
ourselves by taking points off the board with the interception in the
end zone and the penalty taking us out of field goal range.”
The Western Mustangs were able to silence the loud crowd in the first
quarter by rushing the ball. Jerimy Hipperson had a run of 23 yards
and then capped the drive off with a 10-yard touchdown run to make it
7-0 in favour of Western with 4:32 left in the first quarter.
The wind played a factor in the second quarter as Guelph was able to
move the ball with the wind at its back. The Mustangs still managed a
nice drive into the red zone but Donnie Marshall’s pass was picked off
by Guelph safety Jordan Duncan in the end zone. Guelph’s fan used this
momentum and the wind and engineered a 52 yard drive off seven plays.
The drive culminated with a Jedd Gardner touchdown run on a fake field
goal play from the four-yard line. This made it 7-7 with 4:13 left in
the half. James Savoie added a rouge with 34 seconds left in the half
to give Guelph a 8-7 advantage going into the break.
Western and Guelph could not muster any points in the third quarter as
the rain picked up a bit. The quarter was all about field position as
it featured no sustained offensive drives on either sides and six
punts in the quarter.
The Mustangs were finally able to put together a quick scoring drive
late in the fourth quarter. Donnie Marshall found a wide open Nick
Trevail for a 20 yard reception. Hipperson then hit the hole hard and
rushed 27 yards for his second touchdown of the game. Ian Noble was in
for the two-point conversion but his pass went off Nick Trevail’s
hands and kept the score at 13-8 with 4:25 left. Guelph then conceded
a safety with 2:09 remaining to make it 15-8 for Western. The Mustangs
were able to rush for a number of first downs to ice the victory.
Western will host Queen’s on Saturday, Oct. 2 for their Homecoming
game. This game will be at TD Waterhouse Stadium at 1 p.m. The game
will be broadcast nationally on The Score Television Network.
By Andrew Simpson
| Western 15 |
Guelph 8 |
| Guelph (3-1) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Western (4-1) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Guelph, Ontario | Alumni Stadium |
| 1 | 04:32 | Western – J Hipperson 10 yd run. (L Hajrullahu kick is good). Drive: 6 plays, 60 yards in 2:55. |
7 – 0 |
| 2 | 04:13 | Guelph – J Gardner 4 yd run. (J Tropea kick is good). Drive: 7 plays, 52 yards in 2:48. |
7 – 7 |
| 2 | 00:34 | Guelph – | 7 – 8 |
| 4 | 04:27 | Western – J Hipperson 27 yd run. (2pt conversion pass by I Noble failed). Drive: 2 plays, 57 yards in 0:34. |
13 – 8 |
| 4 | 02:09 | Western – Team safety | 15 – 8 |
| 23 | FIRST DOWNS | 18 |
| 6 15 2 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
8 5 5 |
| 67% (2 of 3) | THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY | 67% (2 of 3) |
| 0% (0 of 0) | FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 0) |
| 398 | TOTAL NET YARDS | 286 |
| 61 6.5 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
54 5.3 |
| 104 | NET YARDS PASSING | 159 |
| 10-18 5.8 5 for 36 1 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked:Number-Yards Had intercepted |
12-22 7.2 7 for 43 0 |
| 294 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 127 |
| 43 6.8 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
32 4.0 |
| 10 for 367 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 12 for 428 |
| 36.7 | Average | 35.7 |
| 103 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 91 |
| 11 for 45 2 for 58 0 for 0 |
Punt Returns:No-Yards Kickof Returns:No-Yards Int. Returns:No-Yards |
9 for 36 3 for 55 1 for 0 |
| 4 for 63 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 12 for 103 |
| 2-1 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 1-0 |
| 31:33 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 28:27 |
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| 1 | B Marshall | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 2 | H Mutobola | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 5 | B Landry | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 8 | M Spence | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 13 | J Kosec | 4 | 3 | 7 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 15 | C Butler | 5 | 2 | 7 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 18 | K Eansor | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 25 | S Blake | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 29 | M Hegarty | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 31 | K Campbell | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 33 | J Surla | 3 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 35 | D Lee | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1-5 | 2-11 | 1 | – | – | |||
| 37 | J Symianick | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 42 | R Hennessey | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 48 | M Babic | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 49 | J Fasano | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1-11 | 1-12 | – | – | ||||
| 51 | M Van praet | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1-1 | 2-6 | – | – | ||||
| 56 | A Kaiser | 5 | 6 | 11 | 1-10 | 2-16 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 70 | L Hajrullahu | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 97 | Z Robinson | 9 | 7 | 16 | 2-16 | 2-17 | – | – | ||||
| TM | Team | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| TOTALS | 44 | 36 | 80 | 7-43 | 9-62 | 1 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 1 | M Durigon | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 2 | J Duncan | 4 | 3 | 7 | – | – | – | 1-0 | ||||
| 5 | N Fitzgibbon | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 15 | J Reinhart | 0 | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 18 | J Baines | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1-6 | 2-7 | – | – | ||||
| 20 | T Palmer | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 22 | J Savoie | 5 | 8 | 13 | – | 0-1 | – | – | ||||
| 23 | Z Androschuk | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 24 | S Howard | 4 | 0 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 31 | M Rossetti | 3 | 7 | 10 | – | 0-1 | – | – | ||||
| 33 | S Lagace | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 53 | A Dunk | 5 | 8 | 13 | 1-22 | 1-22 | 1 | 1-0 | – | |||
| 55 | M Millar | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 57 | B Cook | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 61 | M Richardson | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 68 | A Parle | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 90 | G Macdonald | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | 2-8 | – | – | ||||
| 91 | S Eggleton | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 93 | K Seilis | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 97 | C Thorn | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2-8 | 2-8 | – | – | ||||
| TOTALS | 45 | 42 | 87 | 5-36 | 7-47 | 1 | 1-0 | 1-0 |
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