Western Mustangs win in Ottawa for second straight week
The Western Mustangs overcame a stout start by the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Oct. 17 to win their second straight road game in Canada’s capital, 37-20.
Western took down Carleton a week ago in the first of back-to-back trips to Ottawa. It’s a year when the schedule is as much of a test as some of the teams the Mustangs are facing.
The Mustangs’ bye week came in the first week of the season.
The Gee-Gees scored a touchdown on their first drive, and Ottawa quarterback Josh Janssen found open receivers early. Western adjusted on defence, though, and took over the game on offence.
Ben Casselman was making his second straight start at QB for Western.
The second-year quarterback found first-year receiver Emmett Charles on a 54-yard play for the first of Charles’s three touchdowns on the day. It tied the game 7-7 and got Western rolling.
In all, Charles caught four passes for 129 yards, three of them for TDs.
Jerome Rancourt was a factor in the short-yardage game. A 75-yard Mustangs drive ended with Rancourt pushing across the goal line from a yard out to put Western ahead 16-7 early in the second quarter.
Casselman also scored a rushing touchdown and finished the day 14-for-15 for 242 yards and three TD passes.
Mustangs running back Ethan Dolby added 80 yards on 12 carries, and Jack Kelly ran the ball seven times for 35 yards.
Janssen went 15-for-27 for 201 yards and a touchdown. Western’s Rory Litt sacked him once.
Western’s defence held Ottawa to 48 yards on the ground and 249 yards of total offence.
The Mustangs did not attempt a field goal in the game. Kicker Mateo Pasquini was 5-for-5 on extra points.
The Queen’s Gaels and McMaster Marauders also won. That leaves Western, Queen’s and McMaster tied atop the OUA standings at 6-1 heading into the final week of the season.
The Marauders and Gaels will face each other, while the Mustangs return home to play head coach Michael Faulds’s former team, the Laurier Golden Hawks, on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. at Western Alumni Stadium.