Riva, Hipperson run Mustangs to comeback win over scrappy Toronto

By Andy Watson, with files from Andrew Simpson and Adele Gatto

Oct. 23: Western 35 Toronto 23

LONDON, Ont. - The Toronto Varsity Blues scored 17 first-half points to give the Western Mustangs a scare in a 35-23 Mustangs win in their final regular season game at TD Waterhouse Stadium on Saturday in front of 6,001 fans. Western now holds the single-season, modern-era OUA regular season attendance record with 34,185 fans in their four home games this season.

With the win, Western finishes the season at 7-1 and in second place in the league and will host an OUA semifinal on Saturday Nov. 6 at 4:30 p.m.

Ottawa, 54-11 winners over Guelph, also finishes at 7-1 but earns first place in the league by virtue of their 20-19 win over Western on Sept. 6 with head-to-head results used as the first tiebreaker in the standings.

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Nathan Riva ran for 144 yards, while Jerimy Hipperson added 132 yards and two touchdowns as Western scored 35 unanswered points starting late in the first half to earn the victory.
"In the second quarter, we started picking it up. We weren't playing with a sense of urgency in the first and we made quick changes and we got the game back. We had made mistakes," said Hipperson. "At half, coach Marshall did not say much, and he didn't have to because we knew what we had to do."
"We need to really work on the little things and we just need to play better disciplined football overall."
Western's defence held Toronto scoreless until the very late stages of the fourth quarter with many of Western's starters on the sidelines.
"We did a good job showing resiliency," said head coach Greg Marshall. "Everything that could go wrong did go wrong in that first half, we were fortunate that it was a regular season game."
"We can't play a half like that in the playoffs."
Adrian Kaiser led the Mustangs with 8.5 tackles including a tackle for a loss of one yard, while Zander Robinson had three tackles for losses of seven yards.
The defence had seven break-ups and one interception along with two sacks.
"We got upset about the fake kneel play before half and it just brought our attitude out in the second half, coach Gleason really fired us up at halftime," Kaiser said. "We need to eliminate the penalties in the playoffs, we have to play through it and stay focused on our game and shutting down offences."
The Blues stunned the Mustangs early on though, building a 17-0 lead and looking strong on offence and defence early on, making Western pay for turnovers.
Toronto scored their first touchdown on a reverse-option passing play, as Paul de Pass caught a pass from receiver Michael Prempeh for a 58-yard touchdown strike to lead 7-0 just under 10 minutes in.
Alex Pierzchalski, a graduate of South Secondary in London, Ont., scored on an eight-yard pass from Blues quarterback Andrew Gillis to extend the lead to 14-0. This touchdown was set up after Jonathan Wright's catch on a Gillis pass brought the ball inside the redzone.
Toronto led 14-0 after the first quarter, led by the senior Gillis who finished 25-43 passing for 282 yards and one touchdown and one interception.
In the second, the Blues added to their lead with 26-yard Andrew Lomasney field goal to go up 17-0, scoring after a controversial fumble call.
They would not score again until the final 47 seconds of the game.
After Toronto conceded a safety - linebacker Marcus Babic tackled Aaron Milton in the Toronto end-zone on a third-and-long punting situation - Western went on a five-play, 75-yard drive to get back into the game.
Riva set up a Hipperson touchdown with a monster 52-yard run, making up for an earlier fumble, and Hipperson drove it in for his 10th touchdown of the season from 11-yards out to make it 17-9 just before the halftime break.
In the third, Ian Noble showed his short-yardage skill, scoring on a one-yard carry to cap off another solid Western drive and bring Western within one point, trailing 17-16.
Lirim Hajrullahu tied a school record - most field goals in a season - booting a 39-yard field goal to make it 19-17, giving Western a lead they would not relinquish.
Andrew Thibaudeau, who was Western's best receiver with four catches for 83 yards and a touchdown, pulled in a 42-yard Donnie Marshall pass to extend the Western lead to 26-17. Marshall finished 15-for-23 passing for 218 yards and a touchdown.
The Blues turned over the ball on downs on the next series, failing to get a punt away after a bad snap, and Western led 26-17 after three quarters.
Early in the 4th quarter, Toronto's defence gave their team life again when they stopped Western deep in Toronto territory on a third-and-goal attempt from two yards out as Riva ran into a wall at the goal-line.
But David Lee took their remaining hope away with a powerful tackle to score a safety, as he sacked Gillis on ensuing Toronto possession and Western added to their lead to go up 28-17.
On the kickoff after the Western safety, the Mustangs nearly went up 35-17, but Thibaudeau's kick return touchdown was called back on a hold.
The Mustangs managed to put up points on the possession anyway, as Hipperson scored his second touchdown on the ground on the next series from three yards out, capping another great drive on 15 plays for 94 yards, lasting over six minutes.
Gillis scored on a one-yard run with 47 seconds remaining to pull the score to 35-23 after a failed two-point conversion.
Toronto finishes the season at 3-5 and out of the playoffs.
"Give Toronto credit, they threw everything at us, got big plays and trick plays," Marshall said. "Every penalty we could get called on us, we did. But we showed resiliency and overpowered them in the second half."
"We've got to play better than that and eliminate the mistakes going forward though," Marshall added. "The D has to play better than they did today, but if you had asked me, would I be happy with 7-1 and a playoff bye at the beginning of the year, then yes."
"We are a bit banged up and the week off will help us."
Western will now enjoy a bye week before hosting the OUA semifinal.
"The defence came out fired us up," Riva said. "We were playing too soft in the beginning we did not take a serious look at the game. But once our defence came back fired up, it fired us up."
He said the Mustangs will be ready for whomever they face in the post-season.
"We've just got to practice harder than we ever have before. Whoever it will be we'll be ready for them," Riva said. "I'm confident that we can go all the way."

Other OUA Scores
Ottawa 54 Guelph 11
Laurier 56 Windsor 16
Queen's 52 York 15

OUA Quarter-Finals
Oct. 30
Queen's at McMaster
Guelph at Laurier

OUA Semifinals
Nov. 6
Lower remaining seed of quarter-final winners at Ottawa, 1 p.m. (The Score)
Higher remaining seed of quarter-final winners at Western, 4:30 p.m. (The Score, CJBK, CHRW)

OUA Yates Cup
Nov. 13
Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed, 1 p.m. (The Score)

CIS Semifinals - Uteck Bowl
Nov. 20
Ontario Champion at Quebec Champion, TBA

CIS Vanier Cup
Nov. 27
CIS Semifinal winners at PEPS Stadium in Ste. Foy, Que. (hosted by Laval)