The story of the 1974 Western Mustangs Football Team

By Curtis Rush, BA’76

curtis rush article

Western is up 19-15 against the University of Toronto Blues in the College Bowl (later renamed the Vanier Cup) with 40 seconds left

This year’s Homecoming will be significant for members of the 1974 Western Mustangs football team. It will be 50 years since they shocked the university football community with a 19-15 upset against the University of Toronto Blues in the College Bowl (later renamed the Vanier Cup).

There is nothing like a championship to bond teammates forever, but it will be a solemn event in many respects because of the people we’ve lost. I’d like to take a moment to remember the following individuals who contributed immeasurably to the 1974 team and Mustangs football:

  • Coach Darwin Semotiuk

  • Line coach Allen Ische

  • Linebacker Ian Bryans

  • Linebacker Cliff Summers

  • Running back Bill Rozalowsky

  • Defensive back Ken Heise

  • Equipment manager Clay Warner

  • Dr. JC (Jack) Kennedy

  • Faculty adviser Al Philbrick

  • Dr. Peter Fowler

  • Sportswriter Bob Gage

  • Coach Larry Haylor. Larry joined the team in 1975 but his influence was felt by many members of the 1974 team who went on to play for him.

The theme that stands out all these years later is how fortunate the 1974 Mustangs were to have found ourselves on that team in that specific moment of time. 

As the weeks went on and the injuries piled up, we began to form a bond as if to fight adversity itself. We were special together, not individually; although we didn’t realize it at the time. Of course, all winning teams, like the 1971 champions, and championship teams that followed were special. 

What was the secret sauce? 

Our coaches Frank Cosentino, Darwin Semotiuk, Reg Richter and Allen Ische had prepared us as well as any coach could. 

Here is that intangible factor that teams often struggle to find: we respected our coaches so much that we never wanted to disappoint them. That respect fed into a “never-say-die” attitude. Cosentino and the others had a philosophy that they were coaching people, not football players. The individual came first, then the student and athlete. 

Many coaches have that backwards.

The lineup

Cosentino’s scrappy bunch had no business winning it all in 1974. Not only was the lineup filled with rookies, the team had lost no fewer than seven starters to season-ending injuries.

Prior to and during the most important game of the year, the Mustangs lost their entire backfield: running backs Rick Scarborough, Rob Heartwell and Bud Wilson along with offensive lineman John Milne. These injuries resulted in a revolving door of lineup changes, with players moving out of position and some playing positions they had never played before.

The clash between the Mustangs and the previously unbeaten Blues was notable for its lack of offence. The defence, as it had all year, paid the bills. 

Semotiuk built this defence to shut down the vaunted running game of the Blues, while Cosentino and Allen devised a new blocking strategy to handle the blitzing schemes of the Blues. In the last game of the regular season, the Blues had crushed Western 28-6 at Varsity Stadium, and they had Mustangs quarterback Bill Robinson running for his life.

From the start no one knew what to expect. The 1973 team missed the playoffs and there was a huge question mark in terms of who was going to be the quarterback going into the new season.

Joe Fabiani, who had piloted the Mustangs to their first title in 1971, was gone. But in a seismic turn of events, the ‘Stangs got a blue-chip quarterback in Bill Robinson from the 1973 championship. He not only had an accurate arm, but Robinson possessed great leadership qualities, including poise and a winning attitude. Along with strong-armed backups Mike Fess and Ken Danylchuk, Robinson steered the Mustangs to their second Vanier Cup title.

Through the air, all-star Curt Rush led the league in receiving and was complemented by speedster Jay Parry along with imposing tight ends Dale Parkhouse and Craig Labbett. Meanwhile, all-star Rick Scarborough, Rob Heartwell, Bill Rozalowsky, Doug Wilkie, Bud Wilson gave the ‘Stangs a strong and versatile run game, while Brian Craig provided a strong leg as punter and Chris Skopelianos handled the kicking. Ross Macdonald was the long snapper.

The O-line featured Mike Evans and John Milne at tackle and Don Richardson and Tom Fumich at guard. Kevin Spink was the centre. Backups were Ross Macdonald, John Jacobsen and Glen Stortini, who personified the spirit on the team. Stortini was 40 pounds lighter than the next smallest lineman, but still willing to sacrifice at practice for the overall effort.

The defensive line was ferocious with all-Canadian Phil Monckton, all-star Paul Barchiesi, Marty Dixon, Doug Munro and Claude Riopelle, who was injured for most of the season. But Riopelle was a budding star, winning all-Canadian honours in 1976 and 1977 as he helped the Mustangs repeat as champions.

Linebackers were Cliff Summers, Jon Jewell, Ian Bryans (Vanier Cup MVP), Joe Blimkie, Joe Latham, Dunc MacKinlay and Bill McDonnell, who was an all-Canadian wrestler.

The defensive backfield had aggressive ball hawks and tacklers in all-star Chris Skopelianos, Jim Cimba, Don Bowman, Frank McKay, Terry Rotondo, Steve Ackroyd, Dimitry Kurilsky, Steve Kelman and Ken Heise.

The road to the Vanier Cup

The Mustangs carried a warrior mentality into every game.

After an exhibition loss to the University of Manitoba 28-14, the Mustangs tied Guelph 19-19 and then rolled up five straight wins, beating McMaster 29-8, Windsor 30-16, Waterloo 44-21, Laurier 24-22 and Windsor again, 40-7.The purple and white started to gel in the playoffs, beating the Guelph Gryphons 37-13 and the Laurier Golden Hawks 19-8. They went on to throttle the Saskatchewan Huskies 41-17 in the national semifinal despite trailing 17-7 in the second quarter.

They seemed destined at that point.

Against Saskatchewan, the Mustangs shut them out in the second half, with Mike Evans scoring a TD on a fumble recovery. In addition, all-Canadian defensive end Phil Monckton had an interception.Rookie Terry Davis wound up playing both ways when offensive lineman Tom Fumich broke his ankle. Cosentino put Davis in at guard, a position he hadn’t played since high school. He had four days to learn the plays before starting at right guard against Toronto. 

The fateful game

After losing their last regular season game to the Blues, the Mustangs remember how overly confident the Toronto players were heading into the College Bowl.

“Watching the warmups before the game, I was standing beside Mark Bragagnolo’s father,” said Mustang lineman Joe Murray, who sat out that game. “He told me that he had the champagne on ice, ready to celebrate. I didn’t let on that I was a Mustang.”

In the game, offensive lineman John Milne blew out his knee in the third quarter and Ross Macdonald came into the game to play centre while Kevin Spink shifted over to play right tackle. Steve Sioui, a linebacker, was called on to play offence even though he had not played a down of offence the entire season.

Not only were they banged up, but the offensive line gave away about 10 pounds a man to Toronto’s defensive front four.

In breaking down the film before the Vanier Cup, Western’s coaches made adjustments to withstand the Blues’ confusing blitzing schemes from their miserable defeat a month earlier. 

As rookie guard Don Richardson recalled, the Mustangs narrowed the splits on the offensive line to a foot and zone blocked, which made a huge difference.

The only offensive touchdown the Mustangs could generate in the Vanier Cup came on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Bill Robinson to Jay Parry. 

In the last few minutes of the game, several defensive players had to move to offence due to injuries. 

Said Doug Munro, normally a defensive tackle: “I went in during the second quarter at offensive guard for someone that got hurt. I played both offensive guard and defensive tackle for two or three quarters of that game. I stood next to Donnie Richardson in the huddle as he told me what to do on each play.”

Robinson was also drawing up plays on the field like he was in a school yard. Back-up quarterback Mike Fess went in as receiver to help explain the plays to the defensive players in the huddle. In the first half of the game, the ‘Stangs came at the Toronto centre hard and he finally coughed up a bad snap just before the half. Jim Cimba jumped on the ball for a TD. This turned the tide in Western’s favour as they took a 10-9 lead into the dressing room.

With the Mustangs holding onto a 19-15 lead late in the game and facing third-and-10, the Blues isolated defensive back Frank McKay versus Bragagnolo in an attempt to get a first down inside the Mustangs 40-yard line, but McKay knocked the pass to the ground and Robinson ran out the clock to preserve the victory.

Cosentino’s message to the players prior to the game was that each player might be involved in only one or two key plays which could change the outcome of the game. Years later, McKay still gets goosebumps thinking about Cosentino’s message.

An ongoing legacy

This second Vanier Cup title would be the last hurrah for Cosentino, who resigned weeks later and accepted a position as Chair and Director of Physical Education at York University. But under Semotiuk, the Mustangs repeated Vanier Cup titles in 1976 and 1977.

Of all the four championship teams in the 1970s, the 1974 squad was perhaps the most surprising. Certainly, they were in a class of their own.

Although those ‘Stangs had six Ontario all-stars (Curt Rush, Rick Scarborough, Tom Fumich, Phil Monckton, Paul Barchiesi and Chris Skopelianos), only two players were chosen for the all-Canadian team in Monckton and Robinson. 

In a curious twist, Robinson had not been named to the Ontario all-star squad earlier in the season. The coaches had selected Laurier QB Gord Taylor instead.

Perhaps this oversight was fitting because these Mustangs were a true Cinderella team that surpassed everyone’s expectations – right up to the end.