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Mustangs stage return to Yates Cup
With the win, the Mustangs advance to the 102nd Yates Cup at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont. on Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. Queen's defeated McMaster 32-6 in the other semifinal. Riva (LaSalle, Ont.) set the OUA single-game record for rushing attempts with 42 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter for Western. "If feels nice to win this one in Laurier's stadium," Riva said. "They have a great team, a great crowd. It's a tough place to play. It's really satisfying; they gave us a tough time." It was Western's fourth straight win over Laurier, and the second consecutive year they have ended Laurier's season. It took a 17-0 third quarter run to score the deciding points - both on Riva's touchdown runs for 22 and 55 yards. "We knew what we needed to do. We just seem to be a second-half team,' Riva said. "We knew we had to turn it up a notch, and we did." Riva accomplished all his success against a Laurier defence that, previous to this game, was ranked 2nd in the OUA in rush defence. Riva now has 18 touchdowns on the season, with three coming in two playoff games. "He ran hard, he took a lot of shots, probably three times as many hits as he had rushes," Marshall said. "He deserves credit, he played a great game." Riva's performance moves him to No. 3 in all-time single-game rushing yards - behind Randy McAuley (285 yards) and Greg Marshall's 316 yards on Nov. 7, 1981, also against Laurier in a playoff game. "But he didn't break my record," Marshall joked. Western amassed 547 yards of total offence and held the Golden Hawks to 252 yards. "Our offence did a really good job today," Marshall said. "But our defence played outstanding today.... and John Surla, when it seemed like Laurier was about to make a big play, he (Surla) was there making a tackle, breaking it up. He played a great football game." The Mustangs, outscored Laurier 17-0 in the third quarter, controlled the time-of-possession battle, holding the pigskin for over 36 minutes in the game. The game started inauspiciously for Western when their first possession ended quickly. Two penalties backed the Mustangs up to their two-yard line, and they conceded a safety two plays later. Wilfrid Laurier led 2-0. Both teams traded punts before Riva began to catch fire. Midway through the first quarter he already had 91 yards on 14 carries. He led the Western offence to the Laurier nine-yard line where the drive stalled and kicker Darryl Wheeler scored the Mustangs their first points of the game. After more Riva rushing, Wheeler would add another field goal with 1:59 left in the second quarter. Western led 6-2. Laurier's two-minute offence proved incredibly effective and a screen pass to receiver Alex Anthony brought the Golden Hawks all the way to the Western 32-yard line. Rookie Laurier quarterback Evan Pawliuk (Kingston, Ont.) then threw his first touchdown pass of the game to receiver Josh Bishop (Mississauga, Ont.) and gave Laurier the lead at the half, 9-6. At that point, Western was almost doubling Laurier's total yardage, 277 to 151, but was losing because of the Mustangs' inability to score in the red-zone and struggle on third-down gambles. But the third quarter has been the most productive for the Western offence all season, and this game proved to be no exception. On their first drive of the half, Riva ran untouched to the end zone on a 22-yard rush with 11:24 to play in the third quarter. Wheeler's extra point was good and Western went ahead 13-9. Riva added another 55-yard touchdown run late in the third to put Laurier away for good. Western next travels to Richardson Stadium on November 14th the face the Queen's Golden Gaels for the 2009 Yates Cup. Riva, who has been a monster rushing for over 170 yards in both playoff games, is pumped up already for the chance for Western to win a third straight OUA title. "It's a great time to play football in November and to compete for another Yates, it's sweet.," Riva said. "It's going to be a battle. Queen's is the best team in the OUA for a reason." |
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