Western Mustangs open season with 78-7 win over York Lions
Tori and Phat Matt have woken uap Windsor-Essex every weekday since 2021. We sat them down — with coffee, obviously — to talk chemistry, chaos, and the town they can't stop talking about.
The Western Mustangs won a game to remember in Michael Faulds head coaching debut.
Western scored ten touchdowns in a 78-7 drubbing of the York Lions on Sunday, Sept. 6 at Western Alumni Stadium.
Jerome Rancourt is hoping to end his OUA football career the way it began.
In his hometown.
As a champion.
Rancourt had 246 passing yards against York in the first half alone.
Overall the fifth-year QB was 24 of 28 for 339 yards, two passing touchdowns and three rushing TDs.
The hulking, mobile QB from Quebec City, Que., was in his rookie year with the Mustangs when they captured their most recent Vanier Cup championship on an icy field in Laval.
The U Sports title game will be back in La Belle Province in 2026.
Rancourt scored Western’s first two touchdowns with his legs and then showed off his football IQ and his arm before the halfway mark of the second quarter as York jumped offside and Rancourt aired out a rope to Emmett Charles for 54 yards.
Two plays later Rancourt found Nik Charles in the end zone on a 13-yard out route which ballooned the Mustangs lead to 24-0.
Jack Kelly ran in his first of two touchdowns on the night from three yards out with 2:43 to go in the second quarter. Kelly scored from three yards out in the third quarter as well.
Kelly is now wearing number four.
Kelly wore 13 last season but that number was taken out of the list of availables for Western in honour of outgoing head coach Greg Marshall.
The number three returned to the list of available numbers. Marshall had removed it in honour of Michael Faulds after Faulds ended his OUA career.
First-year defensive back Cyrus McGarrell is wearing Faulds old number.
Rancourt found Dasani McIntosh with 12 seconds remaining in the opening half and the Mustangs to a 38-0 lead into the locker room
York came out firing in the third quarter and marched down the field using the arm of quarterback Maurice Sauja to record the Lions first points of the game on a seven yard pass to Jayden Shallow.
The Mustangs didn’t surrender much after that and kept on adding on offence.
Former London Beefeater Geoffrey Clubine took his first OUA carry 28 yards for a touchdown after a Thomson Silcox interception.
Ben Casselman came in at quarterback for Western and threw his first career touchdown pass to Ben Shewchuk in the fourth quarter on a 74-yard catch and run that saw Shewchuk use his speed to pull away.
On Western’s next possession Casselman side-armed a screen pass to Brennen Keba and he took it 75 yards to the end zone for his first career TD.
The Mustang defence limited York to just one touchdown and contained Lions quarterback Marice Sauja again and again. Sauja left the game in the third quarter after being shaken up on a play.
Silcox, Nathan Summers and Owen Jackson recorded interceptions for Western.