LONDON, Ont. — “We just got beat badly.”
Five of only a few subtle words that managed to leave Wilfrid Laurier head coach Gary Jeffries’ mouth Saturday afternoon after the final seconds counted down to the men’s football team’s fourth loss of the season.
“We got beat in all phases. That’s pretty discouraging,” he said following a winded affair that saw the Western Mustangs demolish the Golden Hawks 56-3.
The Hawks only offence came — for the second game in a row — from second-year kicker Ronnie Pfeffer, who kicked a field goal from 31 yards out less than a minute into the match.
After that, it was all Mustangs.
Two touchdowns and a field goal capped off the first quarter action. Mustangs’ wide receiver Brian Marshall gained 124 yards in two plays to put the home team ahead while Lirim Hajrullahu kicked a 37-yard field goal for a 17-3 lead.
The rest of the game was all Western, with Hajrullahu tallying three more field goals and two rouges for singles before the end of 60 minutes.
Marshall would find the endzone two more times during the game, off an 11-yard pass and a 20-yard pass from quarterback Will Finch.
Finch and running back Garret Sanvido — who eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing on the season Saturday afternoon — would round out the scoring, both with 1-yard rushes.
“They just have so many weapons, everyone on the field that you focus on one area and you may be last in another and that’s what maybe happened today,” linebacker Drew Galpin said following the game.
Despite the loss, Laurier’s playoff hopes remained lit, as the University of Toronto was handed a sour loss by the York Lions Saturday afternoon. The loss pushes Toronto at 2-5, while Laurier drops to 3-4.
If Toronto loses to Queen’s Saturday afternoon, Laurier would remain ahead of them in the standings for the sixth and final spot.
Saturday also solidified the top four spots in the Ontario University Athletics’ (OUA) standings, with McMaster defeating Windsor, Guelph defeating Queen’s and Western defeating Laurier. This means Mac will occupy the top spot, Guelph will grab the second first round bye and Queen’s and Western will finish third and fourth respectively.
Laurier will travel to McMaster next week to battle the defending Vanier Cup champions in their final regular season match.
