For the 26th time in the trophy's 100 year history the Western Mustangs are Yates Cup champions. And, as in most of the previous 25, the win didn't come easy. But early on it looked like it was to be a blow out.

After the first possession by each team the game looked like is was going to be a defensive struggle. Both teams, geared up to stop their opponents running game, were successful. The only difference was Western QB/punter Mike O'Brien who put his punt into the endzone for a single point. Nothing changed on Waterloo's second possession as they went 2 and out and were forced to punt again. Then things changed.

On Western's next possession quarterback Mike O'Brien launched a deep pass to Dan Disley for 47 yards. Two plays later Fabian Rayne carried for the touchdown.

Western got a break early on to help things out. On Waterloo's next series of downs they were forced to punt again. The Western punt returner fumbled and Waterloo recovered but the officials called no-yards giving the Mustangs possession and a first down. Western didn't waste the chance they were given. O'Brien launched another rocket, this time 42 yards to Jim Meldrum setting up another score.

After another Waterloo punt and another Western drive the score was 22-0 for the Mustangs seconds into the second quarter. It appeared that Waterloo was getting things going in the next drive when their runners started getting big holes and were gaining yards. But a messed up play action fake caused a fumble. Waterloo quarterback Ryan Wilkinson recovered but threw wildly resulting in an interception by Western's Alan Wilson. On the Mustangs next play Scott Crawley took the ball 87 yards for another western touchdown. The score was 29-0 and the rout was on. Or was it?

Waterloo scored on their next series after several good runs. Western then punted and a good Waterloo runback set up their second TD of the quarter. With the score now 29-14, Waterloo set up to kick off to Western. With a traditional kick-off formation nobody thought anything about it. But the kick was on-side and Waterloo recovered before the Mustangs really knew what was going on. They didn't waste their opportunity and ended up scoring another touchdown. The score know was 29-21 and it was game on.

But the first half wasn't over yet. Western got the ball back and, with a great combination of runs by Fabian Rayne and Scott Crawley and a good 22 yard pass to Ray Krumme, they were poised to score again. The problem was the game clock. There was only 9 seconds left. Rather than kick for three points the Mustangs decided to run a play. O'Brien took the snap and dropped back to pass. He looked one way, then the other, then back to the center. Nobody was open and time had run out on the clock. So O'Brien tucked the ball in an charged for the endzone. He was quoted in the London Free Press as saying, "Everything was covered, so I just took off." It worked. He ran 23 yards for the touchdown. At half time the score was 36-21.

In the second half the game pretty well settled down into a grinding running game. After Western was stopped on a third and inches try and a Waterloo punt the Mustangs stretched their lead to 39-21 on Jeff Proctor field goal. The two teams traded run-based touchdowns and the score was 46-28. Two more Waterloo scores with a booming O'Brien single in between rounded out the scoring. Western 47, Waterloo 41.

Here are the numbers. For Western Scott Crawley carried 20 times for 240 yards including and 87 yard romp for his only touchdown. Fabian Rayne ran for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns on 17 carries. The multi-purpose guy was Mike O'Brien who ran 6 times gaining 54 yards including a couple of key first downs and one touchdown. He punted 6 times averaging 54.6 yards. His longest was 65 yards and he had two singles. He completed 4 of 11 pass attempts of which three were big. A 47 yarder, a 42 yarder and one for 22 yards all lead to eventual touchdowns. Total offence for the Mustangs was 572 yards.

Waterloo collectively ran for 276 yards and gained 240 in the air for a total of 511 yards of offence.

Western now travels to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to play the Huskies in the Churchill Bowl. Tune in to TSN at 3 pm eastern time for all the action.

Notes

• Next week's Churchill Bowl game in Saskatoon will be a homecoming for Larry Haylor. He was raised in Prince Albert and played and coached at Saskatchewan prior to his days at Western.

• The mustangfootball.com player of the game this week agrees for once with the "official" selection. QB Mike O'Brien gets it for his great play making ability through the run, big passes and great punting. Co-winners this week include Mike Abou-Mechrek, Tim Bakker, Aaron Sussex, Mike Chuk and Paul Blenkhorn, the offensive line. Western gained 449 yards rushing. You can't do that without a great O-line punching the holes. They also gave Mike O'Brien lots of time to make the big passes without giving up a sac.