THE CANADIAN PRESS
LONDON, Ont. – To hear others talk, you’d think next week’s Vanier Cup is a matter of University of Western Ontario’s lambs to the Laval University lions.
You won’t hear Western Mustangs players or coaches talk that way after getting past the Saint Mary’s University Huskies in the second part of a Canadian university football doubleheader on Sunday.
The No. 3 Mustangs beat the Huskies 28-12 in the Mitchell Bowl to advance to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football final.
Earlier Sunday, No. 1-ranked Laval manhandled the University of Calgary 59-10 in Quebec City.
“I saw all I needed to of their game,” Western coach Greg Marshall said. “When we were there in August for a combined practice session and exhibition game, we talked about not making it to the last Vanier Cup and how neat it would be if we met in the Vanier this year. And now we are.”
Western outscored Saint Mary’s 25-12 in the first half and went on to add a field goal in the second as the back-to-back Ontario champions got Marshall his first Vanier appearance in six tries. He previously suffered four losses with McMaster and one with Western.
“This is the only team that matters and this is the group that is going to the Vanier,” he said. “We practised with (Laval) and played against them. We are aware of them and will be going over films and looking for the tiny weaknesses we can use. It’s one game. We aren’t afraid of anything. We’ll show up”.
When the two teams met last August, Laval won 37-9.
Chief architect of Sunday’s win was veteran quarterback Michael Faulds, a Toledo University transfer. Faulds outshone Saint Mary’s rookie Jack Creighton, completing 18-of-31 passes for 258 yards. Creighton was 13-of-32 for 212 yards.
Critical to the victory was Western’s ball-hawking defence against a premiere running game. In the end, the Huskies amassed 231 yards on 28 rushes.
Saint Mary’s coach Steve Sumarah didn’t like his club’s field position.
“We were playing a long field for much of the game,” he said. “On defence, Western was dominant. Overall, mistakes hurt us”.
Two Western interceptions led to touchdowns.
Craig Butler, the player of the game, stepped in front of a Creighton pass in the final minute of the opening half and returned it 55 yards for a TD. That followed an interception by teammate Adrian Kaiser that was returned to the two-yard line, from where John Leckie plunged over.
Dan Duff scored on a nine-yard run and Darryl Wheeler kicked field goals from 34 and 17 yards out to complete Western’s scoring.
Carl Hardwick scored on a 65-yard pass and run for the lone Saint Mary’s touchdown. Justin Palardy’s 26-yard field goal and a safety accounted for the rest of the Huskies’ scoring.
