Mustangs ready to tackle Queen’s — on the road — in Yates Cup

They’re similar in style. They’re ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the country. Only one will become provincial champs Saturday. The Mustangs hope their league-leading offense will carry the day.

Quarterback Evan Hillock, who earned All-Rookie honours this year, will lead the Mustangs into the Yates Cup Saturday in Kingston. (Photo: Brandon VandeCaveye/Western Mustangs).

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It’s the game that many university football fans were waiting – and perhaps hoping – for. 

The perennial powerhouse Western Mustangs (7-1), most recently ranked No. 2 in the country, doing battle against the undefeated Queen’s Gaels (8-0), No. 3 in U Sport’s Week 9 rankings.

Well, the fans will get what they want this weekend.

Western will travel to Kingston to face the Gaels Saturday at Richardson Stadium in the 113th Yates Cup to decide this year’s OUA champion. And it should be a dandy. Both teams dominated their respective divisions this year, and both are talented on either side of the ball.

But what to expect? With an East and West division split in this year’s pandemic-condensed return-to-football season, Western and Queen’s didn’t face each other during the OUA’s six-game regular season. In fact, the two schools haven’t seen each other since before COVID-19 was part of our regular vocabulary. That contest was a Week 2 matchup during the 2019 season (Western won that Sept. 2 game in London, 40-23).

The unfamiliarity between the teams will certainly be a hot topic of discussion leading up to Saturday’s provincial championship game.

“Yeah, I think that makes a little bit of difference – both ways,” said Greg Marshall, Western’s head coach. “The other thing is, we didn’t play against teams they played against.”

The same is true for Queen’s, save for a 14-8 win over the Guelph Gryphons back on Oct. 8, the team Western beat 33-12 in last weekend’s OUA semi-final. Gauging an opponent’s outcome against similar teams certainly helps in preparing to play against a team. These squads didn’t have that this year.

“It’s going to be a little trickier,” said Marshall of the incomplete scouting report – for both sides. “I think at the beginning of the game, we’ll be feeling each other out a little bit.”

What will certainly be on display early, though, are the offensive weapons each team relied on to earn a spot in the OUA final.

For the host Gaels, that means running back Rasheed Tucker, quarterback James Keenan, and a mix of receivers. Tucker finished second in the league in total rushing yards (696), yards per game (116) and touchdowns (8) during the regular season, while Keenan was a respectable fifth in QB rating (136.5) with over 1,000 yards passing and six touchdowns.

And the Mustangs? Certainly Keon Edwards, who led the league on the ground, rushing for 837 total yards (and a whopping 139.5 yards per game) with nine touchdowns. Quarterback Evan Hillock’s arm will also be on display. After taking over starting duties after Week 2, the rookie posted the league’s best QB rating (175.7) while throwing for six regular season touchdowns. He earned All-Rookie honours earlier this week.

Keon Edwards led the OUA in most rushing categories during the 2021 regular season. (Photo: Brandon VandeCaveye/Western Mustangs).

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On paper, the matchup appears to be the OUA’s best offense versus its best defense (Western scored a league-best 266 points and Queen’s allowed a league-lowest 44 points during their respective six regular season games).

But that assessment is too simplistic, says Marshall, who believes both teams have shown they can excel on both sides of the ball – and in familiar ways.

“I think they’re very similar (to us). They run a lot of similar plays that we run, they use a fullback like we do … It’s two evenly-matched teams,” said Marshall. “Queen’s plays a solid, well-coached defense, but their offense is also talented. I think it’s going to be a really good matchup.”

The Gaels’ defense, which allowed just three touchdowns during the regular season, gave a bit more in their two playoff games, a 41-14 quarterfinal win over Carleton and a 32-15 semi-final win over Ottawa last weekend. But they also put up more points on offense.

The Mustangs, meanwhile, made easy work of Waterloo, 51-24, in their quarterfinal matchup, and then took down Guelph, 33-12, in the semi, which was a rematch of Western’s lone loss of the season, a 23-21 decision that came on the road against the Gryphons in Week 2.

Western won’t have the luxury of playing at home this weekend, where they’ve been virtually unbeatable over the last four-plus years (the lone loss during that time coming against the McMaster Marauders in the 2019 Yates Cup). Instead, they’ll have to travel to Kingston and play in a road environment many teams do not enjoy.

In fact, dating back to 2007, when Marshall began his tenure as head coach of the Mustangs, the team is just 4-5 against Queen’s on the road. However, they’ve won their last three trips there, including, most recently, a 26-23 win in 2018 when Western fell just short of claiming back-to-back Vanier Cup titles.

Marshall isn’t giving any credence to the notion that it’s more difficult to play in Kingston than elsewhere. Or that it will require any different preparation.

“No, I don’t think it’s going to change anything. Traveling is traveling. We haven’t done it in awhile, but I really don’t think crowd noise or anything like that is going to impact the game,” he said. “It’s a good surface, good stadium, good facility … we’ll be fine.”

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MUSTANGS’ TOP TALENT HONOURED

Ahead of Saturday's Yates Cup, Western’s quarterback, Evan Hillock, was named OUA Rookie of the Year, while Deionte Knight earned Lineman of the Year honours. Meanwhile, a league-best 12 Mustangs were named OUA All-Stars for the 2021 season, including …

First Team:
RB Keon Edwards
WR Savaughn Magnaye-Jones
C Elliot Beamer
T Zack Fry
G Phil Grohovac
DT Malcolm Hinds
DE Deionte Knight
FS Daniel Valente

Second Team:
T Erik Andersen
SAM Zach Lindley
CB Kojo Odoom
K Brian Garrity