CFL.ca Staff
LONDON, Ont. — The Western Mustangs will once again be competitive, relying on a blend of depth at all positions and another strong recruiting class. Despite the loss of 2009 Hec Crighton nominee and CIS career and single-season passing yards leader Michael Faulds at quarterback, Western returns Donnie Marshall, last year’s backup, at the pivot spot and welcomes Wilfrid Laurier transfer Ian Noble. Recruit Ben Rossong is also expected to add depth along with returner Marco Isakov.
Western is deep at running back, led by 2009 CIS all-purpose touchdown leader Nathan Riva (15 TDs), who will have support from a talented offensive line headlined by guard Matthew Norman, tackle Josh Buttrill and centre Greg Willson. Kenny Eansor, John Leckie, Ben Roberts, Jerimy Hipperson and Dan Duff all provide depth in the backfield, while rookie lineman Joe Circelli and Mike Norman will also compete for playing time. Receivers Zach Bull, Mike Hegarty, Nick Pasic and Nick Trevail lead a talented receiving corps, while recruits Bryce Lawrence and Brian Marshall will add depth.
On defence, the strength will be at linebacker, led by the Fab Four of John Surla, the 2009 OUA President’s Trophy winner for top defensive player, Argos draft pick Conor Elliott, Adrian Kaiser and Jason Kosec, along with a number of talented sophomores and juniors. Tackle Mike Van Praet returns from injury to anchor a talented defensive line which includes David Lee, Scott Fournier and Zander Robinson. Craig Butler leads the secondary which adds another year of maturity and experience with Aaron Handsor, Mike Spence, Jamie Symianick. Harold Mutobola is also back from injury to add depth in the backfield.
On special teams, the kicker combo of Darryl Wheeler and Lirim Hajrullahu will provide a balance of strong punting and placekicking. Punt returner Butler averaged eight yards a return on 43 attempts in 2009, while kick returners Handsor, Eansor and Roberts will also return.
Western outscored its opponents 147-34 in third quarters in 2009 and will look to wear teams down again in 2010. The Mustangs arguably have the toughest opening six weeks, playing perennial powerhouses Wilfrid Laurier, Ottawa and McMaster in the first three weeks, while playing Guelph and Queen’s before the Thanksgiving bye week.
Head coach Greg Marshall on the the schedule: “It will be a very hard start to the season. We have a difficult schedule. If we’re 2-2 after the opening four weeks, I think I’ll be happy. The fortunate thing for us this year is that six of the nine teams make the playoffs. But we need to remember, a poor record will affect our ability to host a home playoff game. Ideally, we’d like to be playing the playoffs at home.”
Head Coach Greg Marshall on speed of Nathan Riva and Donnie Marshall: “Nathan is the fastest player on our team and I think he is capable of having another very strong year. He will be our feature back and will open things up for us, but we also have a number of other strong backs… Donnie’s foot speed changes things up for us on how we’re going to run our offence. And Donnie is faster than last year. He’s our next fastest guy, probably, after Nathan. It creates opportunities and opens up the field by creating gaps on defence, widening defences. They are not able to close down or pinch everyone up against us.”
Head Coach Greg Marshall on the defensive and offensive lines: “Our best overall competition in camp may be at defensive line… I thought our defensive line would be our Achilles heel last year. It’s a strong point this year. We’re deep at both offensive line and defensive line. We’re deep overall. It adds the ability to open up options to move some players around.”
Head Coach Greg Marshall on linebackers: “We are strongest at linebacker. We have the best versatility there. And it’s not just John Surla, Conor Elliott, Jason Kosec and Adrian Kaiser. Look at those guys who were freshmen last year (Marcus Babic, Jarod McCrory, Pawel Kruba). They were all good last year, they all got decent playing time and now they’re another year experienced and have had another year in the gym. It shows the depth of our recruiting.”
2009 in review:
2009 regular season record: 6-2
2009 regular season standings: T-2nd OUA (placed fourth due to tiebreaking rule)
2009 playoff record: 2-1
2009 playoff finish: Lost 43-39 to Queen’s in Yates Cup (OUA Final)
Head Coach – Greg Marshall
Number of seasons as head coach with team (including 2010): 4
Number of seasons as head coach in CIS (including 2010): 11
Career regular season record with team: 17-7
Career regular season record in CIS: 59-19-2
Career overall record with team (reg. season & playoffs only): 25-10
Career overall record in CIS (reg. season & playoffs only): 78-28-2
OFFENCE
Key returning players:
Running back Nathan Riva, a junior from La Salle, Ont., returns for his junior season after rushing 98 times for 622 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2009. He also had 25 receptions for 401 yards and five touchdowns. His 15 all-purpose touchdowns led the CIS in 2009. Guard Matthew Norman anchors the offensive line, while Western’s top three receivers from 2009 return in Nick Trevail (49 for 920 yards), Nick Pasic (43 for 621 yards) and Zach Bull (41 for 631 yards). Donnie Marshall takes over at quarterback with Marco Isakov, Ben Rossong and Wilfrid Laurier transfer Ian Noble providing capable depth.
Key recruits (or newcomers: transfers):
Quarterback Ben Rossong of Sackville, N.S., is part of the long-term succession plan of the Mustangs at quarterback, while Ian Noble transfers from Wilfrid Laurier. Three top London, Ont., recruits are offensive lineman Joe Circelli (CCH Crusaders) and receivers Brian Marshall (Mother Teresa Spartans, son of Greg, brother to Donnie, nephew of Blake) and Bryce Lawrence (CCH Crusaders).
Key losses:
CIS single-season passing leader and career passing leader Michael Faulds graduates and is now the offensive coordinator with the York Lions. Receivers Jesse Bellamy and Josh Svec and offensive linemen Zach Pollari and Andy Rady all graduated.
DEFENCE
Key returning players:
Linebackers John Surla, Conor Elliott (Toronto Argonauts draft pick), Jason Kosec (Edmonton Eskimos draft pick) and Adrian Kaiser anchor the defence, while safety Craig Butler will lead the secondary and return kicks. Mike Van Praet anchors the defensive line from the tackle spot. Surla and Elliott are both long snappers and special teams specialists.
Key recruits (or newcomers: transfers):
Linebacker John Moynahan of Windsor, Ont. (Holy Names Knights and Essex Ravens) is the top freshman recruit, while Nick Shuster of West Vancouver, B.C., transfers from the Simon Fraser Clan at defensive back.
Key losses:
Chris Greaves graduated and is now playing offensive line with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Cornerback Josh Foster also graduated.
-With files from the University of Western Ontario Mustangs
