The McMaster Marauders football team opened their 2021 season in London, falling short to the Western Mustangs, 41-13, at TD Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Fourth-year quarterback Andreas Dueck went 20-for-28 for 220 yards and one touchdown in the action. Xander Tachinski got his season under way with six catches for 94 yards, while first-year receiver Jackson Cooling caught his first career touchdown for the Marauders, and was good for five catches for 54 yards on the day.

Third-year linebacker Eryk Bujalski led all players with eight total tackles, while secon­d-year defensive back Devonte Ballantyne had 7.5 tackles, and veteran Enoch Penney-Laryea burst in with one sack and five total tackles for the Maroon.

The Marauders put the pressure on early in the first quarter, with Mario Alyas picking off Mustangs quarterback Jackson White in the visiting team's 40 within the first minute of action.

But the Mustangs were quick to respond. It was a game of rushing for Western in the first-half who utilized their running backs, Keon Edwards and Trey Humes, early and often – the pair combined for a total of 356 rushing yards. After a series of rushes by Humes in the first quarter, White handed off to Edwards for the first touchdown of the game.

Plenty of stalemate ensued towards the end of the first quarter, and the Mustangs doubled their lead with another Edwards' touchdown to go up 14-0 three minutes into the second quarter.

Building up their own momentum, Dueck found Tachinski on two consecutive catches as the offense moved up the field for 26 total yards, before possession switched sides. But the ball wasn't in the Mustangs hands for long – with the play on Western's 30, Penney-Laryea charged in for a pivotal sack leading to a loss of 11 yards to the Mustangs 19-yard line.

With under two minutes left in the second quarter, Dueck was able to find first-year Cooling in the Mustang's end zone for a cool six-yard touchdown to put the Marauders on the board.
 

Adam Preocanin converted on the kick attempt to push the score to 14-7 in favour of the home team heading into half-time.

Dueck wasted no time to start the second-half, as he hit Chase Arseneau for an 11-yard catch sandwiched between a pair of handoffs to Daniel Bosett. He then connected with Liam Putt for a pair of catches, the latter a 34-yard deep catch to get the Marauders within 12-yards of Westerns end.

A pair of sacks and incompletions led to a Preocanin 15-yard field goal that brought the Marauders within four of their opponents. Preocanin and Mustangs Kicker Brian Garrity exchanged a field goal each as the two sides went into the final frame with Western narrowly up 17-13.
 

But the Mustangs opened the fourth quarter with a Keon Edwards touchdown – his game-high third touchdown of the match – and continued the pressure from there to close out the game with three unanswered touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth.

With the loss, the Marauders open their season 0-1 and will have a bye-week in week two before they'll be able to even out their record. That opportunity will come in week 3 against the Waterloo Warriors in front of a home crowd at Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 2^nd.