The Western Mustangs shone under the lights at TD Stadium on Labour Day with a 40-23 victory over the Queen’s Gaels.
The win gave Western a 2-0 start to the 2019 OUA regular season and it also stretched their regular season winning streak to 25 games. The Mustangs’ last loss came on Sept. 16, 2016 in Ottawa against the Carleton Ravens.
Western has not lost a regular season home game since a loss to McMaster on Oct. 4, 2014.
The game against the Gaels marked the return of former Mustang offensive coordinator Steve Snyder who joined the Western coaching staff in January of 2017 and was a part of back-to-back visits to the Vanier Cup and a national title. Snyder took over head coaching duties at Queen’s last December.
The Mustangs built a 34-10 lead by the end of the first half on three touchdowns orchestrated by fifth year quarterback. The Calgary native threw TD passes to Trey Humes and Malik Besseghieur and then ran a ball in from four yards out with just three seconds to go in the second quarter.
Western’s defence limited the Gaels to 3.1 yards per play and even accounted for some of the scoring. Bleska Kambamba picked off a James Keenan pass and ran it back 20-yards for a touchdown.
Marc Liegghio was steady once again as he hit field goals from 35 and 45 yards. Liegghio also stayed perfect on extra points in 2019. The fourth-year criminology major from King’s University College accounted for all of the Western scoring in the second half of the game.
Mustang head coach elected to allow back-up quarterback Kevin John to get some playing time under centre in the fourth quarter.
Western will head back on the road in Week 3 of the OUA season when they take on the McMaster Marauders on Saturday September 7 in Hamilton. McMaster has also started the season 2-0 after wins over Guelph and Ottawa.
The Marauders defence has had an electric start to the year. They lead the OUA in sacks with ten and have also picked off eight passes. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium.
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