Western Mustangs quarterback Evan Hillock threw for four touchdowns in his hometown of Hamilton to lead his team to a 61-26 victory over the McMaster Marauders on Saturday.
Hillock’s big day put a dent in McMaster’s homecoming celebrations. So did the day that Mustangs running back Keanu Yazbeck had.
Yazbeck’s dents were saved for the Marauder defence as he ran for 142 yards on the day.
Western put up 577 total yards of offence. The Mustangs in second place in the OUA standings with a record of 5-1.
St. Thomas, Ont., native Ethan Dolby ran for one touchdown and caught another.
Yazbeck, Mohsen Jamal and Seth Robertson all had receiving TDs as well.
Jerome Rancourt accounted for the other offensive touchdown by the Mustangs.
The defence chipped in on the scoring as well and they did it early.
With the Marauders deep in Western territory, Max Nixon got in on McMaster quarterback Keagan Hall and laid a hit on him that forced a pass right into the hands of Ryan Barthelson for an interception. Barthelson ran the ball back 85 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just past the halfway mark of the first quarter.
Western sacked Hall three times as well.
Mustangs kicker Brian Garrity was perfect on the day as he went 4-for-4 on field goals and 7-for-7 on extra points.
Hillock finished the game 17-for-21 for 259 yards.
Also Saturday, Laurier Golden Hawks quarterback Taylor Elgersma, a Londoner, stayed perfect with a decisive 51-21 victory over Queen’s.
The Windsor Lancers suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Guelph Gryphons.
The Mustangs will play a second consecutive road game in Toronto against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m., to begin Thanksgiving weekend.
Following that, Western will return home for its final regular-season game on Oct. 19 at Western Alumni stadium against Windsor, another OUA powerhouse. Kickoff will be 1 p.m.