Western Mustangs crowned Yates Cup champions, defeating rivals Laurier 75-32

The Western Mustangs are Yates Cup champions yet again, blowing out the Laurier Golden Hawks 75-32.

The Mustangs had vengeance on their mind after losing last year’s final to Laurier 43-40.

Star running back Alex Taylor didn’t play on Saturday, but third-year running back Cedric Joseph more than made up for that.

After getting on the board first with an early field goal, Joseph ran the ball in for a touchdown from the Laurier 12 to make it 10-0 Western. Western then conceded a late safety and a touchdown pass, cutting their lead 10-9.

Mike Sananes answered back with a 95-yard kickoff return to put Western up 17-9, but the Golden Hawks responded with a 74-yard TD pass to Brendan McCracken, making it 17-16 after one quarter. That was the last scoring play that the Golden Hawks saw until the third quarter though, as Western blew the game wide open in the second.

Cedric Joseph led the offence in the second, scoring his second touchdown of the day. The Golden Hawks were outmatched after the second, heading into halftime with Western leading 43-16.

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The bleeding didn’t stop once the third quarter began. Cedric Joseph ran for his third touchdown of the day, making it 51-16 for Western after a completed extra point.

Now 54-16 after a western field goal, Laurier showed some life, scoring on a short TD pass to Mario Villamizar, and then added two points to make it 54-24 for the Mustangs at the end of the third. Even with the big lead, Western wasn’t letting off the pedal, with quarterback Chris Merchant running it in himself to make it 61-24.

Yannick Harou ran two touchdowns late in the fourth, making it 75-24 Western.

Laurier managed to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the end, but that would be the end of it, with Western winning 75-32.

Joseph won Yates Cup MVP with three touchdowns on 250 rushing yards, while the combined 107 points set the new Yates Cup record for most points scored in a game, set previously by Western and Waterloo in 1998.

The new Yates Cup champions await to see if a controversial decision to cancel the Loney Bowl due to a player eligibility issue will be turned over. If not, the Atlantic University Sport will award the football conference championship to the Acadia Axemen, with the game taking place on Nov. 18.