Western Mustangs dominate at Waterloo to stay undefeated this season

Western Mustang quarterback Chris Merchant threw six touchdown passes in Western’s 67-7 trouncing of the Waterloo Warriors.

The Mustangs are now 4-0 on the season and have not lost a game since November 12, 2016, when the Laurier Golden Hawks staged a comeback for the ages in the fourth quarter of the 109th Yates Cup at Western.

The Mustangs didn’t give the Waterloo fans in attendance at Warrior Stadium on Saturday a whole lot to be happy about right from the start. Less than eight minutes into the game they led 17-0, and by the end of the first quarter they had already put up over 200 yards of offence.

Merchant finished with a stat line most QBs can only dream about, going 20-of-24 for 348 yards with six TDs and no interceptions.

Brett Ellerman and Cole Majoros each hauled in three of those touchdown passes. Merchant spread the ball around to eight different receivers during the afternoon.

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The Mustang ground game was spread out even more. While Western did not have a 100-yard rusher on the day, four players gained at least 40 yards, and Cedric Joseph ran for his sixth touchdown of the season, which ranks him first in the OUA league.

Marc Liegghio kicked two more field goals for Western and missed on one other attempt, which was Liegghio’s first missed kick of the year. He still leads the OUA in field goal percentage and overall points with 60.

Defensively, Andrew Thurston had two sacks and linebacker Michael Moore recorded an interception.

The Mustangs remain the only undefeated team in the OUA and are in first place in the standings. Both Western and Carleton are on four-game winning streaks. Carleton picked up a convincing win over the U of T Varsity Blues. The Mustangs edged the Ravens in overtime in the very first week of the season.

The Ottawa U Gee-Gees won for the third time in a row on Saturday, toppling York. McMaster edged Laurier 21-20 and Queen’s got by Guelph 33-32.

Western will go to Queen’s on Saturday, Sept. 29, before returning to TD Stadium for a 7 p.m. game under the lights on Oct. 4.