The Western Mustang football team is off to a 3-0 start in 2017.
Western defeated the McMaster Marauders 29-14 in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon in a game that featured a tale of two quarterbacks for Western.
Chris Merchant started the game and played the entire first half, but after Merchant threw two late first half interceptions, Stevenson Bone replaced him to begin the third quarter.
Merchant went 11-19 for 189 yards and a touchdown to go along with the two picks.
Bone was a tidy 9-15 for 73 yards and one interception.
Despite Merchant taking over under centre as last season wore along, Western has always acknowledged that they have two very capable QBs.
Offensive scores were fairly tough to come by in the game as both defences did a good job of being able to bend, but not break.
Western’s defensive did the only scoring in the first quarter, courtesy of a safety.
Merchant combined with Alex Taylor on a 44-yard catch and run, just two and a half minutes into the second quarter to put the Mustangs up by nine.
With the game in the second quarter and the scoreboard still showing just a nine on one side, Fraser Sopik blocked a McMaster punt, grabbed the ball and ran it in from four yards out of the end zone to push Western’s lead to 16-0.
McMaster’s defence picked off two passes on successive Western drives near the end of the half and the second interception coupled with a pass interference penalty to put the Marauders on the 1-yard line and roll out a red carpet for their first score of the game which Jordan Lyons picked up on a run up the middle.
The start of the second half saw the Mustangs get three of those points back as Bone lined up under centre and led Western on an impressive 11-play, 75-yard drive that set kicker Mark Liegghio up from the 27-yard line. He made the kick and the Mustangs were up 19-7.
After the defences held the rest of the way in the third quarter, Mac tightened things to within a touchdown, making the score 19-14 on a 33-yard run by Jackson White.
Bone and the Western offence answered right back, going 68 yards in seven plays. Cedric Joseph banged in his third touchdown in three games to give the Mustangs some breathing room up by 12.
Merchant returned at quarterback for Western in the fourth quarter, which saw running backs, Joseph and Alex Taylor kill a whole lot of clock on the ground.
Liegghio produced the final points of the game with a 26-yard field goal with 50 seconds left on the clock.
The loss dropped Mac to 1-1. The Marauders had the unenviable first-week bye this year.
The clog atop the OUA standings is still very much alive after both Ottawa and Waterloo won on Saturday.
With Western, they make up three teams at 3-0.
The Gee Gees knocked off York 26-17, while the Warriors got by U of T, 28-23. In the OUA blowout of the week, the Guelph Gryphons hammered winless Windsor 82-10. The Gryphons scored 10 touchdowns in the game.
Windsor is where the Mustangs are headed next. They take on the Lancers on the road on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 1 p.m.
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