LONDON – The run is over. The Guelph Gryphons football team's season ended on the same field where the program won its most recent Yates Cup in 2015. The No. 8-ranked Gryphons were in a hole early and never climbed out, losing 66-12 to the No. 2 Western Mustangs in an OUA Semi-final at TD Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
Guelph won six of its last seven games but the momentum built over the past two months came to a halt against the juggernaut Mustangs, who narrowly beat the Gryphons 41-34 in overtime back in week 2. Western rode a 28-point explosion in the second quarter, with 20 more in the third, to run away from their OUA rival.
 
Points were at a premium for the Gryphons. Defensive back Nicholas Parisotto had Guelph's only touchdown with an incredible fumble return in the first quarter. Gabriel Ferraro made a field goal from 26 yards out in the second quarter, and the team would add a safety early in the third.  

The Gryphons simply couldn't get it going on offence. Quarterbacks James Roberts and Theodore Landers combined for just 74 yards passing, and with Guelph trailing big early after Western's offensive outburst, the running game, led by fifth-year back Johnny Augustine, never had a chance to get established. Landers led all Gryphon rushers with 34 yards, while Augustine had 31 in his final game for the U of G.

Western made several big plays with quarterback Chris Merchant behind centre. The First Team OUA All-star completed 13 of 17 pass attempts for 268 yards and two touchdowns (one on the ground an done through  the air) before giving way to backup Kevin John. Mustangs' running back Cedric Joseph, the OUA rushing touchdown leader with 10 in the regular season, finished drives off with three short scores. Joseph added his fourth touchdown from 45 yards out, finishing the day with 10 carries for 69 yards.
 
The Mustangs had 488 yards of total offence compared to just 77 for Guelph.
 
The Gryphons had a nightmare start when a missed Marc Liegghio field goal was fumbled coming out of the end zone, allowing the Mustangs to recover on the Guelph one yard line. Joseph punched it in from there for an early 7-0 lead.
 
Western added the first of their three conceded first-half safeties for a 9-0 lead and then threatened again when a Guelph pass interference call brought the ball near the goal line again. The Gryphons got a temporary reprieve with their biggest play of the game. Parisotto recovered a Merchant fumble and ran it all the way back for an electrifying 105-yard touchdown to make it 9-7. It seemed like a big swing in points at the time but Western's outburst negated the impact of the play.
 
The Gryphons' defence did a fantastic job in the opening quarter, holding the explosive Western offence to just 65 total yards. But Guelph couldn't keep it up in the second quarter. Western went on to score 21 straight points from two more safeties and two more short Joseph touchdown runs for a 30-7 lead. Ferraro temporarily stopped the bleeding with a 26-yard field goal but Western came right back and with a 27-yard touchdown connection between Merchant and Harry McMaster, which put the hosts up 37-10 at the half.

They would added 20 more in the third quarter to secure a berth in next week's Yates Cup. 

Guelph finishes the 2017 season 6-4.