Home » Sports » Football » Galloping Mustangs punch ticket to Yates

Galloping Mustangs punch ticket to Yates

November 8, 2011
By Ryan Stern

It does not take nine Yates Cup appearances in his last nine Ontario University Athletics seasons to know that Greg Marshall is one hell of a coach.

Leading his Mustangs—ranked third in the nation—versus an upstart Windsor squad, Marshall knew what it took to bring the Mustangs to their fifth straight Yates Cup appearance.

Despite the absence of starting quarterback Donnie Marshall who was still recovering from an ankle sprain suffered over a month ago versus the York Lions, the game never seemed in question. In a strange game of ups and downs that featured six Mustangs turnovers, the more experienced team emerged from the madness with a 33-27 victory and a birth in the Yates Cup. Having been their first game in two weeks the Mustangs returned many of their stalwart players including freshman sensation Tyler Varga and offensive line cornerstone Matt Norman.

“To be honest with you [the break] affected my play positively. I got the week off to try and get my body as healthy as possible. I just rested up and tried to be fresh for this game. I think I had my legs under me today,” Varga said.

Varga’s week off was certainly on display as he broke the 100-yard rushing barrier in the first quarter and finished with 209 yards and two touchdowns.

Though the game never seemed within the Lancers’ reach, the turning point of the game came as the second quarter wound down. With the score at 19-13 in favour of the Mustangs, the Lancers drove down the field and lined up for a 45 yard field goal. In an attempt to fool the Mustangs, Windsor kicker Dan Cerino performed an onside kick. The move backfired as Mustangs long snapper Sean Blake scooped up the ball and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.

“I thought that we did some good things today. We put the ball on the ground a few more times than we wanted to, we need to take care of it but that happens. We caught a break on that fake field goal. Give Windsor credit, they did a good job out there,” Greg Marshall, Mustangs coach, said.

The largest challenge for the Mustangs coming into this game was to contain Lancers quarterback Austin Kennedy. The OUA’s second leading passer was successful on the day passing for 374 yards and two touchdowns along with 139 yards on the ground, but it was turnovers at key moments in the game that proved costly. Simon Bahru picked off Kennedy in the first half halting a Lancers drive in its tracks, while Beau Landry came up with a key interception late in the second half to stymie another Lancers comeback attempt.

“It is always a challenge. We played against [Justin Dunk] a couple of years ago over in Guelph and it was the same type of thing. We just had to make sure we keep our contain and keep him in the box. We want to make him throw and make a play on the ball in the air,” Luke Reda, Mustangs linebacker,  said.

The Lancers fell behind 10-0 early in the first quarter and it seemed as though they were playing catch up all game. Having outperformed their own expectations this season under interim coach Jore D’Amore, the inexperienced Lancers will look to build off of this semifinal appearance in hopes of taking the next step in the future.

“Our goal this season was to be in every single game. Their were points in this game where, we thought it might get away from us, but they did not quit—that is credit to them. This is a sad moment but they are right there and they know it and felt it being only a couple plays away from being in the Yates Cup,” D’Amore said.

Digging deep into his bag of tricks, coach Marshall pulled out two half back passes from Varga while constantly switching between Ian Noble and Ben Rossong under centre to keep the Lancers off balance.

“I told the guys today, we are using everything we got, we are emptying [the playbook]. I knew they would be coming up hard on the run and they would be coming up harder if they thought Tyler was going to get the toss. Whatever it takes, coach Marshall said of the halfback pass attempt in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs will welcome the McMaster Marauders to TD Waterhouse Stadium next Saturday for the 104th edition of the Yates Cup. The Mustangs are the only blemish on the Marauders’ otherwise perfect season having lost 48-21 back on September 10. Unlike this Saturday’s game in which Donnie Marshall was listed as the third quarterback for emergency purposes only, Donnie is expected to play next Saturday.

“I’m not going to say absolutely for sure, but if [Donnie] looks this good, maybe a little bit better, then he will play. We will take it a day at a time and see how it goes,” coach Marshall said.

Follow the Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.