For a football team like the Mustangs, the real season does not begin until the playoffs. The mustangs have been 8-0 for the past three regular seasons, they have won the last two yates cups and even won the Vanier cup as recently as 2017.

For the mustangs their season began last Saturday, in the OUA semi-finals when the up and coming Waterloo Warriors came to visit. The mustangs won 30-24 to advance to the Yates cup.

It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon.  It was rainy, it was cold,  in other words it was the perfect weather for football. The Waterloo Warriors finished 4-4 for the second season in a row. Last week they beat the Ottawa Gee Gee’s 44-21 in the OUA quarter finals to advance to this game. Their season can be summed up by prolific offence, and mediocre defence. Their offence has been led by the two headed monster combination of their quarterback, reigning OUA MVP Tre Ford and league leading running back Dion Pellerin.

The Mustangs finished 8-0 for the third straight time, but it was an unusual 8-0. Normally they dominate the competition, but this year there were several close calls for Greg Marshall and the gang. Including a slim 45-42 victory over the Warriors earlier in the year.

The game started of slow, the only points in the first quarter was a 30-yard field goal by Mustangs kicker Marc Liegghio. The second quarter was a little more interesting, with Marc Liegghio adding two field goals from 33 and 36 yards out, and the warriors getting on the board with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tre Ford to Gordon Lam. Uncharacteristically Mustangs quarterback Chris Merchant had a very shaky first half. The Mustangs offence stalled plenty of times, not getting to the red zone once, and Chris also threw two should be interceptions that were luckily dropped by Warriors defenders.

The second half, both teams turned up the urgency. The Warriors opened the half with a touchdown pass from Tre Ford to Rushon Dagleman. The Mustangs responded with a 39-yard field goal by Marc Liegghio, then on a 6-play 50-yard touchdown drive on their very next possession which was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Mustangs running back Tre Humes.

The Warriors kicked a field goal at the end of the quarter to bring the score to 19-17 in favour of the Mustangs going into the fourth Quarter. With such a close game, both teams were looking for someone to step up late, and this came in the form of rookie Mustangs defensive back Kojo Odoom. Kojo who did not have an interception all year, had two on the day, including a 65-yard pic six, that all but iced the game. Kojo, who was named Radio Western player of the game  and had this to say about his pick-six  after the game “I knew they were going there cuz I seen him looking over their pre-snap, I just didn’t know if he was coming in or out, he sat there, he made his break, and once I got my hands on the ball, it was to the crib” .

The Warriors added one more touchdown in the final minutes of the game, but it was too little too late, as the Mustangs won 30-24. The Mustangs next game is next Saturday, November 9nth, where they will be hosting the McMaster Marauders in the Yates cup.