First-place London Jr. Mustangs hope to finish turnaround with title run

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It’s been a remarkable turnaround.

The London Jr. Mustangs U18 ‘AAA’ football team ended up fifth place and in the consolation round of the playoffs last year. Now, they are top spot in the Ontario Summer Football League, have home field advantage through the post-season and open their championship quest against the Cumberland Panthers on Saturday (5 p.m.) at Western Alumni Stadium.

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“We have a pretty young team (for the varsity level),” head coach Greg Willson said, “so to clinch first and to do so in a commanding way is a testament to how far we’ve come this season.”

The Jr. Stangs (7-1) lost a squeaker 13-10 in Essex last month. But they rebounded with four straight wins, including a regular-season ending 28-1 victory in Hamilton against the previously unbeaten Jr. Ticats.

That triumph pulled them ahead of the Steel City for most points scored in the West Division (219) and fewest allowed in the league (56). Hamilton was missing a handful of starters with Ontario’s Football Canada Cup team, but so was London.

In fact, Jr. Mustangs starting quarterback DJ Fonti was hurt last year trying out for the provincial team, so this is his first season in the current London system.

“It was a big learning curve and he came on very well,” Willson said. “We also start three Grade 11 offensive linemen and another in Grade 12 who had never played o-line in a significant way until this year. They’re physically gifted and we’re teaching concepts similar to what you learn at university.

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“It takes some time for young offensive linemen to understand and work together. They have been one of our deciding factors.”

The group up front – which includes centre Brady DeBruyne, Lucas Wong, Marven Han, Carson McKie, Dylan Fahner and Orion Antone-John – started to see in the Essex loss that they could be successful running the ball against a powerful opponent.

“Since then, it’s clicked,” Willson said. “The best game was Kingston (a 34-4 win three weeks ago). Those guys were paving the road for our running backs.”

South’s Kanye Nethersole is the veteran ball-carrier with Lucas’ Cam Bourdeau, Owen Lawrence of St. Joe’s and Francis Hinnah, Jr., of Banting supporting him. Fonti’s greatest trait is reading off the run game to find a veteran group of receivers.

None of it would be possible without a stout group of stoppers led by defensive co-ordinator Gary Haldenby.

“Our defence has been absolutely incredible all year,” Willson said. “Those early games we won when we were slow offensively, we were carried by defence and special teams.”

South’s Andre Thompson, a terrific quarterback, has been a nightmare for the opposition at defensive end.

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“He’s such a disruptor, it’s hard to take him away from the defence,” Willson said. “No one can run outside of him. On a zone read, teams usually leave the defensive end and if he commits to the run, then you pull it. Andre is so athletic, he can sit in the middle and wait for you to make your choice – then stop it.

“We’ve got Thomson Silcox and Chase Smith in the backfield and they’re fantastic.”

The Jr. Mustangs aren’t looking past Cumberland but a win gets them a semifinal at home with either Essex or Kingston. There could be a rematch with the Ravens, the team Willson played with growing up.

“There could be a chance for redemption,” he said. “Late in that loss, we caught a deep pass close to field goal range. The receiver who made the catch had been injured before and didn’t wait the three requisite plays before returning. So we got a flag on that, had to come back and (couldn’t quite do it).
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens if we do play again. We’re quite a different team now.”

They can prove it by winning out the rest of the way. The championship game is slated for Aug. 3 in Waterloo.

rpyette@postmedia.com

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