London, ON – The OUA champion Western Mustangs defeated the STFX X-Men 61-6 in the U SPORTS Mitchell Bowl national semifinal game Saturday afternoon.

X-Men head coach Gary Waterman noted after the game that he first wanted to recognize the good season they had up to that point and that is "obviously didn't end the way we wanted to but I was so proud of the guys for all the things they've overcome this season and coming off a COVID year as well."

"We were predicted to finish near the bottom of our conference but we got better each game and had some exciting games for our fans and ended up finishing our regular season and playoffs undefeated."

Reflecting on the Mitchell Bowl game Coach Waterman noted, "It's tough when you lose not to think about the loss but you need to look back and acknowledge the journey you went through to get here. We are disappointed with the result but proud of the work we put in all year."

The Mustangs put up 51 points in the opening half as they exploded for a safety and seven touchdowns.

The X-Men struggled early in the game on offence, failing to complete a first down in the opening quarter.

The Mustangs, on the other hand, were able to capitalize on good field possession and after an initial missed field goal went up 2-0 as X conceded a safety.

Trey Humes then scored their first major of the game on a 22-yard touchdown run at the seven minute mark.

The home team followed up with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Evan Hillock to Griffin Campbell, and Humes scored his second touchdown on a 29-yard run to give the Mustangs a 23-0 lead with a minute and a half left in the first quarter.

The Mustangs defense was strong in the opening frame with two sacks on X-Men quarterback Silas Fagnan.

The Mustangs continued their offensive attack in the second quarter as Keon Edwards scored on an eight yard rush a minute and a half in, then Humes followed up with a 10-yard TD run at 8:20 as Western increased their lead to 37-0.

An intercepted Fagnan pass by Mustangs defensive back Daniel Valente helped lead to their sixth touchdown of the afternoon as Edouard Wanadi scored on a three-yard run on the ensuing drive.

Wanadi followed up with a 32-yard touchdown rush for his second major of the game to give the Mustangs a commanding 51-0 lead.

The X-Men got on the board with 1:26 left in the half as Max Capriotti booted a long 47-yard field goal.

The 51-3 Western halftime lead was reflective of their 35-411 total offensive plays to STFX's 27-57 in the opening half.

The only scoring in the third quarter saw the Mustangs score off a 32-yard field goal by Brian Garrity.

X-Men kicker Capriotti kicked his second field goal of the game, this time from 42 yards out at 8:46 of the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs responded as Wanadi scored his third touchdown of the game on a 14-yard run with 4:55 left in the game to make it 61-6 in favour of Western, the score that held up until the end of the game.

Western finished with a total offense of 59-611 compared to STFX with 53-210.

Mustangs quarterback Evan Hillock was 8-10 with 114 total passing yards and Wanadi was the top rusher with 26 carries for 238 yards.

STFX's Malcolm Bussey was held to 12 carries for 67 yards. Silas Fagnan was 16-33 for 142 passing yards.

On the defensive side of the ball captain Ben VonMuehldorfer lead the X-Men with 10 tackles, including seven solo tackles. The game marked the final one for the fifth year X-Men linebacker.

The X-Men do have a fairly young team with the majority of athletes still with years of eligibility left to play. When asked what the team can take away from the game Coach Waterman noted, "You get a taste of this and see what that feels like and what it takes to compete at the next level."

"For the young guys in particular who've never been here I think it can motivate them and be used as fuel over the course of the off-season and training and to work on all the thing they need to get themselves back to this point and that's what our goals will be moving forward."

The game marked the fourth appearance for STFX in a U SPORTS national semifinal bowl game in the past six seasons. They lost 63-0 to Laval in Quebec City in 2018, lost 50-24 to Calgary (in Calgary) in 2016, and lost 36-9 to UBC at home in 2015.

The AUS conference continues their drought on the national stage as no AUS team has won a national semifinal since Saint Mary's in 2007.

With the win, the Mustangs move on to the U SPORTS Vanier Cup next weekend in Quebec City against the Uteck Bowl winner, either Montreal or Saskatchewan.

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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information