Gaels know Mustangs stand in their way of a Yates Cup championship

Steve Snyder was named winner of the David "Tuffy" Knight Award as OUA Football Coach of the Year on Thursday.

There are some things that Gaels football head coach Steve Snyder does not want to hear in the team's locker room.

Two of them are outside noise and the words "defending champs".

During Thursday's media availability at Richardson Stadium ahead of Saturday's Yates Cup title game at home against the Western Mustangs, Snyder reiterated something he said before the start of the season when regarding the Gaels as the defending Yates Cup champions.

The Mustangs defeated Windsor in the other semifinal game last week in London. Their head coach, Mike Faulds, called the Lancers "the hungriest team in USPORTS" as a part of his motivation prior to the game.

That may be considered bulletin board material but Snyder says they don't pay attention to that.

Snyder and the rest of the Gaels have their sights set on the Mustangs and quarterback Ben Casselman. Casselman completed 12 of 23 pass attempts for 345 yards and two touchdowns plus 104 yards on the ground in Western's 44-33 win over Windsor.

Snyder says he is one of the more mobile quarterback in the OUA and will pose a challenge to his defense.

The Gaels defeated the Mustangs 41-30 in Week Six of the regular season in London back on Oct 3.

Snyder says Western has improved since that game.

Earlier in the day, Snyder was named the David "Tuffy" Knight Award winner as OUA Football Coach of the Year. This is the second time Snyder has received the honour having previously won it in 2021.

Gaels quarterback Alex Vreeken says it will be great playing for the Yates Cup at home this time around after going on the road last year.

Vreeken says he isn't too worried about how the Mustangs offense will do insisting that his team controls their own destiny.

The winner will advance and host the Mitchell Bowl next Saturday the 21st. Game time at Richardson Stadium is 1 pm.

Story by Ken Hashizume