LONDON, Ont. – Saturday afternoon at Western Alumni Stadium in London, the No. 6-nationally ranked Guelph Gryphon football team suffered a 33-12 loss to the No. 2-nationally ranked Western Mustangs in OUA semifinal action. The Gryphons trailed 14-9 at halftime before the host Mustangs were able to outscore Guelph 19-3 in the second half to book a spot in the 113th Yates Cup, with Western now off to Kingston to face the Queen's Gaels for the OUA title next week.
"I'm very proud of the way we played today," said Gryphons head coach
Ryan Sheahan, who in his two seasons as head coach at U of G has twice led the Gryphons to the OUA semifinals.
"Our defence kept us in it and we had some chances, but unfortunately, when you don't convert against good teams it always ends up costing you in the end."
Saturday's matchup marked the second head-to-head meeting of the season for the Gryphons and Mustangs, with Guelph winning in a thriller 23-21 back on September 25 in what was Guelph's season-opener. This time around, however, it was the Mustangs who were able to come away with the win, with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Western running back Keon Edwards helping the Mustangs take a five-point lead into the locker room at half. The only other touchdown on the day came in the 3rd quarter, when Western quarterback Evan Hillock connected with Justin Nickson on a 19-yard score to extend the Western lead to 21-9. The Gryphons were kept out of the endzone on the day, with all 12 points coming from standout kicker,
Eric Stranz. The Ayr, Ontario native ended his impressive 2021 season with four more field goals on the day, going 4-of-5 with a long of 47-yards.
The Gryphon defence, which was dominant throughout the 2021 season, once again impressed on Saturday, limiting the potent Western rushing attack to just 183 yards on the day (72 yards below Western's season average of 255 rushing yards per game).
Western running back Keon Edwards, who was the leading rusher in the country this season at 139.7 yards per game, finished the day with a modest 72 yards rushing on 17 carries, while Western's other star running back Trey Humes (OUA's 4th-leading rusher this season at 73.8 yards per game) finished with 73 yards on 14 carries.
The Gryphons also gave Mustangs rookie quarterback Evan Hillock all he could handle, with the first-year man out of Hamilton finishing the day 13-21, 173 yards and an interception, with Gryphon safety
Ben Lack recording the lone interception in the game. Offensively, the Gryphons were able to take care of the ball with zero turnovers on the day, with Gryphons rookie QB
Shawn Lal going 16-23 for 103 yards and 0 interceptions while spreading the ball around to six different receivers. Lal was forced to leave the game early in the 4th quarter due to injury, putting an end to promising first season of OUA football for the Abbotsford, BC native. On the ground, it was another BC native helping lead the way for the Gryphons, with Jeremy Kankalongo (Maple Ridge, BC) finishing the day with 60 yards on 15 carries against a stout Western defensive front.
"We are a young group that is going to come back from this and learn from our experiences," added U of G head coach
Ryan Sheahan. "Big game experience is something that you just can't buy. And the fact that we played in some big ones and hung in there is something that is going to help us down the road. This was a resilient group in 2021 and I'm especially proud of our seniors and the way they battled all year long."
The OUA football season will crown a champion next Saturday (November 20) when the Western Mustangs travel to Kingston to face the Queen's Gaels in the 113th Yates Cup. The Queen's Gaels booked a spot in the OUA title game thanks to a 32-15 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Saturday's other semifinal matchup. Next week's Yates Cup will be broadcast on CHCH TV with kickoff set for 1pm at Richardson Stadium.
