THE CANADIAN PRESS
LONDON, Ont. — The McMaster Marauders shocked the University of Western Ontario Mustangs with a 24-point second-half outburst to win the 104th Yates Cup 41-19 on Saturday.
McMaster quarterback Kyle Quinlan hit his stride both passing and running to give his Marauders almost total control of the game after a tentative start in the first half.
The Marauders will now face Acadia Axeman next Friday in Moncton, N.B., for the Uteck Bowl and a berth in the Vanier Cup final for Canada’s university football championship.
Setting up drives with his own deceptive running, Quinlan passed for two touchdowns to Michael DiCroce and one each to Robert Babic of Oakville, Ont., and Bradley Fochesato of Windsor, Ont. Teddy Peters added a 15-yard field goal for McMaster before an estimated 8,500 fans.
Tyler Varga of Kitchener, Ont., had another highlight-reel game for Western as the 18-year-old bulled for extended yardage and scored eight points — a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Brian Marshall, brother of Western quarterback Donnie, took passes from his brother for Western’s other touchdown and two-point convert.
Their father Greg, would have won his fourth Yates Cup with Western. He had already won four times as coach of McMaster in the early 2000s.
McMaster held a 10-3 lead at halftime off a seven-yard touchdown run by Toronto’s Christopher Pezzetta and a 29-yard field by Peters, a native of Mississauga, Ont.
The Mustangs’ points came when McMaster’s Marshall Ferguson of Kingston, Ont., conceded a safety and a single off a wide 29-yard field goal attempt by Western’s Lirim Hajrullahu of St. Catharines, Ont.
Western defeated Mac 48-21 in Week 2 of the regular season, when Varga carried 25 times for 149 yards and four touchdowns.
The Mustangs had a 13-game home winning streak going into the game dating back to 2009, when they lost to Mac 42-35.
The Yates Cup is the oldest football trophy in existence, going back 104 years. It surpasses the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup and the Little Brown Jug for longevity. Western edged Ottawa 26-25 for the Yates Cup last fall.