The Western Mustangs lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Guelph Gryphons, suffering their earliest exit in over 20 years.
Quarterfinals in the OUA tournament went down in history, with Guelph beating Western 18-17. The Gryphons won off of a rouge, which is a Canadian football rule surrounding the kick.
(Credit: westernmustangs.ca)
The rouge awards a point to the kicking team if:
- A missed field-goal attempt goes out of the back of the endzone,
- If a punt rolls out of the sides or back of the end zone without a returner touching the ball,
- If a returner fails to take the kick out of the endzone.
The rule is a controversial one in Canadian football, with agreements and disagreements for both sides.
Some people think the rule is good, adding variety and making Canadian football unique to other leagues.
Others believe teams should not be awarded points for failing their attempts.
The Canadian Football League announced they will be changing their rouge rules for 2027.
These changes remove the rouge requirements completely, with an exception of the returner not carrying the ball out the end zone.
The changes to the rouge would not have affected the Western-Guelph game, as the returner ran out of bounds escaping defenders.
Western had a successful season overall, only suffering one regular season loss. They went undefeated going into the last game, losing to Laurier in a blow out. Ending with a single loss, they couldn’t swing the momentum in their favour.
Mustang’s running back Ethan Dolby had an impressive season, having 1263 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He led the league in both stats, being a major contributor for the team.
In the next round of the OUA playoffs, Guelph takes on Laurier, and Queen’s and Windsor. Both games are Saturday at 1 p.m.
