Western Mustangs lose first conference game since 2021 – to London-raised QB

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WATERLOO – That wasn’t anywhere close to good enough.

The Western football team fumbled and bumbled their way through an awful first half before ultimately taking it on the chin 43-28 against fellow heavyweight Wilfrid Laurier before 2,943 Saturday at University Stadium.

Kiss good-bye their national No. 1 ranking, the shot at a third straight perfect Ontario university conference run and – most likely – first place and a chance to play the Yates Cup championship game at home for an eighth time in nine seasons.

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“We dug ourselves a hole,” said Western head coach Greg Marshall, whose squad trailed 17-2 at the break. “We took penalties. We take the snap over the head. We fumble (and) busted some coverages. I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ What else can go wrong? I said to them at halftime at least we can’t make that many mistakes (in the second half).

“You’re not going to make that many mistakes, put ourselves in that situation and beat a good team like Laurier.”

The defeat ended Western’s incredible 30-game conference win streak, including playoffs, dating back to a 23-21 loss at Guelph Sept. 25, 2021. The Mustangs certainly deserved this one.

Western veteran running back Keanu Yazbeck fumbled away the first carry, leading to an early deficit. Normally reliable centre Alex Berwick had some trouble with the snaps and the majority of quarterback Evan Hillock’s completions and yards happened late while trying to play catch-up.

Laurier was better in the air and on the ground.

“Keep running the football,” Marshall said of what went awry. “Break off a chunk play and we’ll put ourselves in a good situation. It’s a learning situation for everyone – not just our players but our coaches, too. We haven’t been in many of these games the past 5-6 years.

“It’s how we respond (and) commit to getting better. We knew we weren’t just going to come in here, roll in and push them around. Hopefully, we get a chance to play them again.”

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STRIPES FACTOR: Marshall was coy about two early calls against Western that loomed large when looking at the final score.

Seth Robertson had a touchdown catch overturned and a successful shot down the field to Brayden Misseri was flagged for offensive pass interference.

“My eyes aren’t that good,” the Mustangs coach said with a grin. “I need a bigger screen than the little ones we have (at the field). I’ll look at it.”

Robertson saw the side judge signal for a touchdown, but the official already in the end zone waved it off.

“The ref that’s right there is probably the one that should make the call,” the receiver said. “He called touchdown. The other guy comes over and overturns it. It is what it is and we have to play through that. We can’t control that kind of thing.

“We’ll watch the film, see what we have to fix. They obviously had a good game plan and executed well. We have to execute better in that first half. We made some corrections, scored some touchdowns and hopefully, we can have a better showing next time.”

Misseri reached back to pull in a ball that was a tad under-thrown by Hillock on the costly interference call. The referee told him he had his hand on the defender’s helmet.

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“I don’t know how that’s possible when I’m going up with two hands trying to catch the ball,” he said. “I can’t control it. I saw a video and in my opinion – pardon my language – there was no way in hell that was ever a pass interference. Ever in my lifetime.”

IMPORTANT TRIUMPH: Taylor Elgersma was the OUA’s top player last year and this performance puts him in the driver’s seat for that honour again. He completed 24-of-29 passes for 385 yards, threw two touchdowns and ran in a pair.

The 6-foot-6 London Oakridge grad has been dreaming of a win like this since he arrived on campus.

“This is only one,” the fourth-year pivot said. “We know we’re going to have to play these guys again in the playoffs if we want to get this thing done. We’re going to celebrate. It’s been a long time. We know this is only the start.”

The Golden Hawks (3-0) lost to Western (3-1) twice in the Forest City last year. Right now, they are in the driver’s seat for home-field advantage through the playoffs.

“We’ve got to finish out the season the right way and try and get that (first-place) bye,” Elgersma said. “Our university has put a lot of money into us and gave us their vote of trust by upgrading all the facilities. It would be pretty cool to reward them with a Yates Cup on our new field.”

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ON THE SIDELINES: The Mustangs have hit the regular-season bye and will have two weeks to stew about this loss before facing Queen’s. “We have to clean up the mistakes and not have those mental ones come back and bite us in the ass,” Berwick, the centre, said. . . . Western’s massive right guard Sebastian Sibbald injured his knee early. The 6-foot-7, 380-pounder was on crutches the rest of the game. “It doesn’t look good,” Marshall said. “Based on what I saw and his reaction on the field, yeah, it’s a big loss. He’s a big part of our offensive line.” . . . O-lineman Keegan O’Neil, who was hurt against Montreal last fall, is expected to return in the second half of the season. “We’ll ease him in eventually,” Marshall said. “We’ve got to patch up. The kids went in. (Back-up centre) Simon Smith is a good player (so) we have some depth there. We’ll be OK.” . . . The Mustangs played one man short because cornerback Kojo Odoom hurt his surgically repaired knee in warmup. “We already signed off on the game-day roster,” Marshall said. “He’s going to have an MRI on it and see what’s going on.” . . . Marshall thought Hillock’s quarterbacking was “pretty good,” although “everybody needs to get better and needs to improve.” . . . The only points Western scored in the first half came from a safety conceded by the Hawks. Kicker Brian Garrity also missed a long field-goal try.

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rpyette@postmedia.com

OUA FOOTBALL

Golden Hawks 43, Mustangs 28
Wilfrid Laurier touchdowns: Taylor Elgersma (2), Ethan Jordan (2), Tayshaun Jackson
Western touchdowns: Dasani McIntosh (2), Jerome Rancourt, Seth Robertson
Next: The Mustangs head to the bye week before facing Queen’s Saturday, Sept. 28, 1 p.m. at Western Alumni Stadium.

Game Summary

Saturday at University Stadium (Waterloo)

Golden Hawks 43, Mustangs 28

First quarter
WLU – TD Elgersma run 1 (Hodge kick) 5:10
WLU – TD Jordan pass 72 from Elgersma (Hodge kick) 7:09

Second quarter
WLU FG Hodge 18 8:42
WES – Safety 10:38

Third quarter
WLU – TD Jordan pass 23 from Elgersma (Hodge kick) 4:09
WES – TD Robertson pass 37 from Hillock (Garrity kick) 6:48
WLU – TD Jackson run 19 (Hodge kick) 10:43
WES – TD Rancourt run 3 (Garrity kick) 14:52

Fourth quarter
WLU – TD Elgersma run 1 (Hodge kick) 5:04
WLU – Safety 7:27
WES – TD McIntosh pass 7 from Hillock (two-point convert failed) 10:52
WLU – FG Hodge 24 13:56
WES – TD McIntosh pass 79 from Hillock (two-point convert failed) 14:15

Wes 0 2 14 12–28
Wlu 14 3 14 12–43

Individual stats

Rushing: Wes – Edwards 13-80, Yazbeck 6-35. Wlu – Nelmes 16-96, Jackson 4-33, TD. Receiving: Wes – McIntosh 3-105, 2 TD, Robertson 4-74, TD. Wlu – Jordan 5-133, Thorne 9-105. Passing: Wes – Hillock 18-31, 322, 3 TD, 1 Int. Wlu – Elgersma 24-29, 385, 2, 0.

ATT – 2,943.

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