The Windsor Lancers were one quarter away from pulling off an upset over top ranked Western but fell short losing 21-10. "We had 'em." said Lancers head coach J-P Circelli. "There was a lot of opportunities. Missed a couple of kicks. Couple of turnovers. Dropped ball in the end zone. They come back and they're able to put the dagger in. That's what good teams do so the fact we're fighting and kicking right at the end, it's nice but it doesn't win us the game."
Through three quarters Windsor led 10-8 in front of a sellout crowd of over 6,500 but the Mustangs stayed poised and broke through in the final frame. Quarterback Evan Hillock hit Seth Robertson with a 30-yard pass to give Western a 15-10 lead and they never looked back. Brian Garrity hit a pair of 48 yard field goals to close out the scoring for the Mustangs who improved to 6-0.
"We're kinda losing in the first half but we got that mentality to stick through it. Our defence really showed out. Only gave up three points then the special teams touchdown so it was very impressive by them." said running back Ethan Dolby.
The loss drops the Lancers to 5-1 heading into their bye week. Their next game is at Laurier (5-0) October 14th. "We knew coming in this was going to be a dog fight from the beginning." said Lancers running back Christopher John who had 74 yards on 12 carries. "Offence, we did the best we could. It's a matter of the boys doing their job. I feel like our o-line is probably one of the best o-line in the league and some things didn't go our way. That's how it goes. Part of the learning curve."
The Lancers will finish with their best record since 2014. In that time span Western has only lost four regular season games. "I think the difference is they've been in those spots so many times. They're calm. They're collected." said Circelli. "Backs against the wall they find a way to get it done. That's what the great teams do so we've gotta make sure that when we have a team on the ropes we gotta bury them and I don't think it's a nerves thing. I think it's just gonna take some time and experience. We haven't been in a lot of big games and we better mature and grow up pretty quickly if we wanna hang around."
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