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Lancers and Mustangs clash for spot in Yates

November 4, 2011
By Ryan Stern

When the going gets tough, the tough get going and now that the Ontario University Athletics playoffs are underway for the Mustangs, it’s time to get going.

Having earned themselves a first place seeding in the OUA regular season, the Mustangs were afforded a bye week to heal up, but now that the entire season’s work is on the line it is now or never. Having faced every team in the OUA but one, it seemed destined that the Mustangs would be meeting the Windsor Lancers on the road to their defence of the Yates Cup.

Coming off of an uninspiring, yet meaningless game against the Queen’s Gaels to end their season, the Mustangs were pleased to have clinched first place early so that they could have a significant rest period to heal the bumps and bruises of the season.

“We are going to get better when we get players back but you have to play. Whatever players we were able to dress we did. Injuries are a part of the game and we had our fair share of them but that’s not an excuse,” Greg Marshall, Mustangs head coach, said.

Having started the season riding strong offensive performances, the Mustangs cooled down significantly towards the end of the season. The slumping offence was largely due to an injury suffered by starting quarterback Donnie Marshall. Having not played since homecoming, one of the game’s most prominent storylines revolves around the questionable status of the Mustangs signal caller.

“Donnie has been practicing, we haven’t made a decision on what he is going to do nor will we let anyone know our decision what we are going to do prior to the game,” coach Marshall said. “We are going to continue to practice [Donnie Marshall, Ian Noble, and Ben Rossong] with split reps. We are optimistic but we will kind of wait and see.”

Having taken the majority of the snaps in Donnie’s absence, Rossong is taking a team first attitude as the Mustangs season turns to do-or-die mode.

“He is our leader and if he is ready to go then I am there to back him up and if not then I will be ready to lead the team if needed like the last month,” Rossong said.

The Lancers come into the game riding a two game winning streak after revenging an early season defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Gee-Gees with a 50-33 offensive explosion in the OUA quarterfinals. Led by the OUA’s second leading passer Austin Kennedy, the Lancers have averaged 315 yards per game in the air, while their 153 yard per game average on the ground is barely half of the Mustangs per game ground output.

“We have yet to play Windsor this year but we know they are a good team with a good offence. We are going to need our offence to come together this game and put up points to take some of the stress off our defence,” Brian Marshall, Mustangs receiver, said.

The Mustangs will welcome the Lancers to the comfy confines of TD Waterhouse Stadium, which should only add to the Mustangs advantages. Coach Marshall is glad that the Mustangs will be sleeping in their own beds. As he discussed the advantage that the Mustangs have by staying at home, he recalled the 2009 Yates Cup in which the Mustangs lost to Queen’s due to a decided home field advantage for the Gaels.

“We were driving late in the game and Mike [Faulds] was in and okay then we got an offside penalty because we couldn’t hear the snap count and our two inside receivers went offside then we are first and 15,” coach Marshall reminisced. “That led us to change the play and Mike had to roll out and he twisted his knee and it gave out on him and the rest is history.”

Looking for a similar outcome to last year’s playoff run, the Lancers should be prepared for a healthy dose of the Mustangs ground game with the three-headed monster of Tyler Varga, Nathan Riva and Garret Sanvido to carry the load regardless of Donnie’s status.

For both of these teams, this is the reason they play the game. On Saturday, in front of hoards of fans from both teams, expect to see these men lay their bodies on the line in the name of school pride

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