Western Outlasts Windsor 44-37 in Shootout at Alumni Stadium
The Western Mustangs opened their season with a 44-37 win over the Windsor Lancers on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium, surviving a back-and-forth shootout that saw the two teams combine for 81 points and eight lead changes.
Windsor came out fast behind quarterback Kareame Cotton, who threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns on the day. Cotton hit Colby Ginn for a 69-yard score just over three minutes into the game, and the Lancers led 14-6 after one quarter following a second touchdown strike to Nathan Smith with just over a minute left in the frame. Western had answered in between with a pair of Mateo Pasquini field goals, from 16 and 34 yards.
Windsor pushed the lead to 20-6 in the second quarter on two Alex Patrinos field goals, capping a pair of long, clock-eating drives. But Western closed the half strong, with quarterback Jerome Rancourt connecting with Jackson Taylor for an 18-yard touchdown to make it 20-13 at the break.
The third quarter was where the game turned into a track meet. Rancourt found Nik Shewchuk for a 27-yard score to tie it at 20, but Cotton answered almost immediately, hitting Jalyn Witcher in stride for an 83-yard touchdown, the longest play of the game, to put Windsor back on top 27-20.
Western responded with three unanswered scores to close out the quarter: a 20-yard touchdown run by Ethan Dolby, a 44-yard Pasquini field goal, and a 68-yard touchdown burst from Jack Kelly with 29 seconds left in the third, swinging the score to 37-27 in Western's favor.
Windsor trimmed the deficit to 37-30 on a Patrinos field goal early in the fourth quarter, but Rancourt's third touchdown pass of the day — a 4-yarder to Emmett Charles — pushed the Mustangs' lead back to 14 with under two minutes to play. Cotton got the Lancers within seven on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Matteo Trifon with 16 seconds remaining, but Windsor could get no closer, and Western held on for the win.
Rancourt finished 18-of-32 passing for 312 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, spreading the ball to eight different receivers. Taylor led all Western pass-catchers with eight receptions for 140 yards and a score. On the ground, Kelly's 151 yards on just six carries — including the long touchdown run — paced a Western rushing attack that outgained Windsor 278 yards to 138. Pasquini added three field goals and five extra points for 14 points on the day.
For Windsor, Cotton matched Rancourt's 18 completions on 33 attempts, finishing with 371 passing yards and four touchdowns without giving up a turnover through the air. Jalyn Witcher was his most explosive target, hauling in just two catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, while Trifon added five catches for 74 yards and a score. Patrinos was perfect on three field goal attempts and four extra points for Windsor.
Defensively, Western's front seven was active throughout, led by Rory Litt and Cyrus McGarrell, who each finished with 4.5 tackles. McGarrell, a Holy Names High School graduate and former Essex Raven, also broke up a pass in the win. Nathan Summers recorded Western's lone sack of the game. For Windsor, Harrison Daley led all tacklers with 4.5, and Sean Adams forced and recovered a fumble.
Western won the battle up front in total offense, 590 yards to 509, and held a narrow edge in time of possession despite Windsor's ball-control approach, which included an 11-play, 63-yard field goal drive in the second quarter. Windsor was flagged nine times for 124 yards, compared to eight penalties for 60 yards on Western, and lost two fumbles to Western's none.
With the win, Western improves to 1-0 on the season, while Windsor drops to 0-1. A crowd of 5,900 was on hand at Alumni Stadium.
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