The Western Mustangs may have saved the best for last, as they will travel to steel town this Saturday to close out their regular season against the McMaster Marauders.
The Mustangs are a perfect 7-0 and are coming off a 63-19 against Ottawa, a win that impressed head coach Greg Marshall.
“I thought it was maybe our best team game we’ve played,” said Marshall after the win.
The win was impressive enough to move the Mustangs to number two on the national rankings behind the Calgary Dinos.
With both teams boasting top passing games, the game was predicted to be a battle of the air attacks, but the running game stole the show.
The Mustangs rushed for 538 yards and scored 9 rushing touchdown en route to the victory. Running back Alex Taylor rushed 19 times for 195 yards and scored two touchdowns. Fellow back Yannick Harou had 13 touches for 140 yards and scored four touchdowns.
However, despite these eye-popping statistics, Marshall was most impressed with the Mustangs defense, calling it their “best defensive game of the year.”
The Mustangs secondary limited the country’s number three passing attack to only 202 yards. Defensive back led the team with 6.5 tackles. Defensive end Ricky Osei-Kusi also recorded his CIS leading seventh sack.
Also of particular note, Marshall will be looking for his 100th CIS win against his former team. Marshall coached McMaster for six years between 1997 and 2003.
McMaster is a perennial powerhouse in Canadian University football, having appeared in three of the last four Vanier Cups, winning one and only losing last year’s on a last second field goal block by Montreal. McMaster is 6-1 and the game will no doubt be the biggest test the Mustangs have faced thus far in the season.
Quarterback Asher Hasting is the centerpiece of their team. In a 30-21 victory against Laurier, he threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown for 29 touchdowns this season, one off of a CIS record set by legendary St. Mary’s pivot Chris Flynn in 1989.
Danny Vandervoort is his favourite target, hauling in 10 touchdowns so far this season, a McMaster single season record.
The game is set for 1 p.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton.
Source: Western Mustangs Sports Information
Dillon Campbell will suit up for his final regular season games with the Hawks on Saturday (Photo Credit: Trevor Mahoney)
Laurier faces Gaels with playoffs on the line
Golden Hawks need victory over Queen’s on their Homecoming weekend to reach postseason
Game Date/Time: Saturday, October 24, 2015 – 1 p.m.
Game Location: Richardson Stadium, Kingston
Live Webcast/Stats: OUA.tv
Audiocast: None
Tickets: Tickets are sold out for Saturday’s game
THE SKINNY
Needing a victory in their final game of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (3-4) will look for their fourth win of the season on Saturday when they head to Kingston to take on the Queen’s Gaels (5-2) on their Homecoming weekend.
NEED TO KNOW
– Saturday’s matchup between the Hawks and Gaels marks the fifth time the teams have played at Richardson Stadium in the last four years
– the last meeting between the two teams saw Queen’ s earn a 40-34 overtime victory over the purple and gold at their Homecoming back in 2013
– the Hawks enter the final week of the season after losing a close contest to the nationally-ranked McMaster Marauders 30-21 a week ago
– the Gaels are winners of their last three games entering their final game of the regular season
– Saturday’s game marks the final home game at the current version of Richardson Stadium for the Gaels
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Hawks and Gaels meet for just the 19th time in their respective histories. Queen’s leads the all-time series with 11 wins in 18 games and have won the last five meetings with the Golden Hawks. Laurier’s last victory against the Gaels was a 44-23 decision back in 2010 while the Hawks last victory in Kingston came back in 2007.
MEET THE TEAMS
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (3-4)
It’s been an up-and-down season for the purple and gold thro ugh their first seven games of the year. They’ve experienced the highs of impressive wins over Ottawa and Waterloo, their cross-town rivals, and the lows of defeats at the hands of Windsor and Guelph, both games which they had the opportunity to win. However, the Hawks can erase all those lows with a victory in their final game of the year which will send Laurier through to the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Laurier has had great success when they establish the run and that will be something they look to do once againon Saturday. Dillon Campbell of Whitby, Ont., who is playing in his final regular season game with the purple and gold, is the key to that success as Laurier has won all three of their games this season when he rushes for over 100 yards. Campbell also has the opportunity to make Laurier history, once again, as he needs just 22 yards to become the first running back in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season twice in his career.
However, for the run game to be efficient, Laurier is going to need a great day from quarterback Eric Morelli of Burlington, Ont., and his receiving core. While no one should expect Morelli to throw for six touchdowns every game, like he did earlier this season against Ottawa, the second year pivot, who is expected to make his fifth career start on Saturday, will need to manage the football and mix up the offence to keep Queen’s off balance.
On defence, the key for defensive coordinator Ron VanMoerkerke and his squad will be limiting the big-play capability of the Gaels. In the last two weeks, Queen’s has had two passing touchdowns of over 100 yards, something that the purple and gold need to contain as they will want to limit the cheers of the sold out crowd in Kingston.
Queen’s Gaels (5-2)
After missing the playoffs a year ago, the Queen’s Gaels have put together a solid season that has them returning to the postseason in 2015. Thanks to impressive victories over Carleton and Guelph, both playoff teams this year, the Gaels have the opportunity to clinch a home playoff game with a victory on Saturday.
The Gaels have had success this season thanks to a balanced offensive attack that sees them ranked fourth in the conference in rushing yards per game, just behind the Hawks who are third, and fifth in Ontario in passing yards per game. The keys to their offensive attack are running back Jesse Andrews of Arnprior, Ont., and quarterback Nate Hobbs of Mississauga, Ont. Andrews, whose status is questionable for Saturday after missing the last two weeks with injury, is leading the league in rushing yards per game at 147.6 while Hobbs, in his first season under centre for the Gaels, has thrown for 1,979 yards and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 13:5.
Defensively, Queen’s has had their struggles this year as they rank last in the league in passing yards allo wed per game at over 316 while their rushing defence ranks seventh out of 11 teams. However, two players to keep an eye on include Jason Shamatutu of Port Coquitlam, B.C., and Mike Moore of Mississauga, Ont., who rank seventh and tenth in the league in tackles this season.
Source: Jamie Howieson, Wilfird Laurier Golden Hawks Sports Information
University of Windsor Lancers vs. University of Ottawa Gee-Gees during OUA football action at Gee-Gees Field in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 19 September, 2015. Photo by Richard A. Whittaker. (http://richardawhittaker.ca)
Playoff spot at stake for Ottawa in final home game of the season
The Gee-Gees will take to the field on Saturday for the final home game of the season against the Toronto Varsity Blues. Though it will be the final time they play at Gee-Gees Field this year, it may not be the last game of the season.
If Ottawa defeats the Varsity Blues and the Laurier Golden Hawks fall to the Queen’s Gaels, Ottawa would then earn the final OUA playoff spot. They will have to do it against a Toronto team that ranks sixth in the country in rushing yards. However, the Varsity Blues allow an average of 452.4 yards, and score 21.4 points per game while allowing 25.6. This bodes well for an Ottawa offence which averages 36.4 points per game.
Gee-Gees quarterback Derek Wendel wasn’t made aware of the full tie-breaking procedures until recently and knows he can only worry about the game in which he will play. “A couple guys tried to explain to me how it worked, but I honestly didn’t pay too much attention. I was just trying to focus on what we were doing this week. It seems like there’s an infinite amount of scenarios that could happen so we’re trying to focus on beating Toronto and getting a shot at it.”
Wendel is happy to still be able to compete for a playoff spot. However, he echoes some of the sentiments shared by his head coach, Jamie Barresi saying that not fully controlling the team’s playoff fate is “tough now but we had opportunities throughout the season and it was up to us then.”
Despite the numbers showing a high-powered offence, a major issue has been plaguing the unit in recent weeks; dropped passes. For Wendel, the issue can easily be remedied by sticking to the game plan. “Getting the ball at the proper time to make it easier for those guys is really all you can do. As long as we can keep our running game going steady now, I think it could help the passing game.”
The game will be broadcast on OUA.tv and tickets are available online.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees Sports Information
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