Thanks to some stellar play from a trio of star quarterbacks, Team West held on for a 16-1 victory over Team East in the 2024 USports East-West bowl from Warrior Field in Waterloo.
The West pivots were led by Manitoba's Jackson Tachinski, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. Reigning OUA MVP Taylor Elgersma of Laurier added 91 yards on 7 of 9 passes, while McMaster signal-caller Keegan Hall threw for 69 yards.
Saskatchewan's Rhett Vavra hauled in the only touchdown of the afternoon, connecting with fellow Canada West star Tachinski on a 22-yard major in the second quarter. Vavra led all receivers with 6 catches for 94 yards, while St. F.X.'s Ben Harrington led Team East with 5 catches and 73 yards.
Team West also dominated the defensive side of the ball, forcing five turnovers. All-Canadian defensive back Jackson Findlay from Western grabbed a pair of interceptions.
Team East's defence was just as stout, led by Montreal's Jeremiah Ojo. The Vanier Cup Champion and All-Canadian was a menace all afternoon, with two sacks and three tackles for a loss. Carleton linebacker Xavier Malone led all players with 5 solo tackles and 7 total tackles, and Acadia's Riley Comeau added an interception for Team East.
Game recap
Elgersma and Team West came out firing, as they marched the ball down the field for an opening-drive field goal from Western's Brian Garrity. Laval pivot Arnaud Desjardins responded with a 47-yard bomb to his Rouge Et Or teammate Édouard Arsenault to set Team East up for a response, but Windsor's Muftah Ageli came up with a strip-sack on the next play to keep the East off the scoreboard.
In the second quarter, Tachinski came in the game and kept the West offense humming. After a highlight-reel 47-yard catch by Toronto receiver Jake Oseen, Tachinski hit Vavra for the major to extend the West lead to 10-0.
On the next drive, Findlay picked off AUS MVP Silas Fagnan, and Tachinski led another drive that resulted in a 17-yard Garrity field goal. Concordia kicker Eric Maximuik missed a 34-yard bid as the first half came to a close, but it went out of the back of the end zone to cut the West advantage to 13-1 at the half.
After Garrity added three more points early in the third, defense became the story of the day. Team East came up with a huge third-down stop deep in their own territory, keyed by USports stand-up defensive player of the year Harold Miessan and his Montreal teammate Ojo.
The West was up to the defensive challenge themselves, though, as they came up with turnovers on three consecutive Team East drives in the fourth quarter. First, it was hometown defensive back Anesu Latmore (Ottawa, ON/) of the Waterloo Warriors forcing a fumble that was recovered by McMaster's Drake Bodi. Then, Chopper Hippe of Regina picked off Fagnan, before Findlay grabbed his second pick of the game ok the next Team East possession to salt the game away.
Team West finished with 418 yards of total offense, as they avenged a shutout loss to Team East in 2023. Team West also won the ball control battle with a whopping 35:43 of possession.
