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ON THE SIDELINES: The Mustangs sacked Aboud four times in the first half and forced a pair of turnovers on downs. It wasn’t enough . . . Western kicker Brian Garrity missed a 33-yard field goal early in the third quarter that would have given the Mustangs their first lead of the game . . . Everyone will remember the final sequence, but Robertson made an outstanding effort to prevent a potential Guelph interception with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter . . . Trey Thompson was supposed to just handle punt duties until veteran kicker Ben Lane was forced to step away from the team. “We put him in a tough spot,” Surya said. “It’s been a hard part for us to hit field goals and that’s why you see some of the way we play offence.” . . . Surya was part of Michael Faulds’ staff during Laurier’s historic comeback win over Western in the 2016 Yates Cup. Now, he has a comeback win of his own on the same field . . . The Mustangs suffered a rare double fumble when Brayden Misseri tried to get something going. The normally sure-handed receiver lost the ball on a punt return and it popped right into the arms of teammate Luca Farinaccio, who also promptly fumbled to give the Gryphons outstanding field position. They couldn’t cash on it . . . Hillock, in his final university game, completed just 5-of-7 passes for 55 yards in the first half, but came out slinging in the third quarter . . . The Western pivot was the Vanier Cup MVP in 2021, lost national semifinals in 2022 and ’23, lost to Laurier in the Yates Cup last year and now has a first-round loss. That’s the whole university experience in five years . . . Who will run the Western offence next year? Much depends on if Jerome Rancourt, expected to be picked in the next CFL draft, is back. “Jerome has one more year,” Marshall said. “He’s in a combined engineering-business degree (and) has one full year of school. Even if he does get drafted, I think he’ll come back and finish his degree. The plan would be Jerome has to compete with Ben (Casselman). Right now, we can win with Jerome.” . . . Will Marshall be back in charge of Western? He admits this loss hurt. “I’ll take some time to evaluate,” he said.
