Down, but not out: Western Mustangs pull out season-opening win in Ottawa

Good teams never like to believe they are out of the games they are playing.

Down 20-3 at halftime, on the road in their 2018 season opener, the Western Mustang football team needed all of the extra they could muster and they managed to find it and come all the way back to beat the Carleton Ravens 26-23 in overtime.

Western put up 20 straight second half points and a brick wall of a defence to push ahead 23-20 with 4:46 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs did what they could to grind down the clock on two separate possessions, but holding penalties, dogging the team a great deal, dragged Western back three times and they were forced to punt twice.

With under 20 seconds remaining, Ravens quarterback Michael Arruda completed a pass to Phil Iloka that went for 53 yards and got Carleton in position for a 50-yard field goal from Mike Domagala. With a single second left, the third-year junior put it through the uprights to send the game into overtime.

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Western was given the first possession of OT, and while their offence was stopped, kicker Marc Liegghio was not. Liegghio nailed a 36-yarder to complete a perfect 4-for-4 day in field goal attempts and put the winning points on the board.

The Mustang defence held as the Ravens attempted to get at least a field goal on their possession, only to have Western’s Bleska Kambamba intercept Arruda at the five yard line.

The victory gives Western a 1-0 start and stretches their winning streak to 13 games going back to the start of last year. The Mustangs have also won 15 straight games in the regular season, dating back to 2016.

One of the biggest hurdles for Western to overcome was self-made, having been penalized 13 times for 120 yards. Eight of those penalties were for holding and fell to some new faces on the offensive line as they struggled to protect quarterback Chris Merchant.

Merchant was 19 of 26 for 212 yards and a touchdown. Running back Cedric Joseph rushed for 101 yards on 20 carries. Alex Taylor added 35 yards on the ground, 26 more on four receptions and returned punts and kickoffs as well.

Adjustments made at halftime helped Western to better pick up the Ravens’ blitz. Merchant was sacked three times in the first half and was not sacked a single time in the second half.

Halftime adjustments also made a difference on defence. Western limited Carleton to just three points over the final 30 minutes of the game and just 30 yards of offence, before the final play that got them into field goal range at the end of the fourth quarter.

Mustang receiver Harry McMaster nearly made the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, only to have a broken thumb derail his chances of turning pro this year. Back in London and healthy, McMaster hauled in the lone Mustang touchdown on the day and led Western with 72 yards receiving on five catches.

The Mustangs have a bye week in Week 2 of the season, and will then host the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, September 8 at TD Stadium.