West wins 2024 East-West Bowl, 16-1

WATERLOO, ONT – Brian Garrity of the Western Mustangs kicked three field goals and Saskatchewan's Rhett Vavra hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass as the West defeated the East 16-1 in the 20th annual East-West Bowl, played in damp, 13C conditions before 500 at Warrior Field in Waterloo, Saturday. 
 
Organized by the Canadian University Football Coaches Association, the East-West Bowl showcases – for the most part – players who will be eligible for the following year's CFL draft. The East side is comprised primarily of student-athletes representing schools from the AUS and RSEQ conferences, as well as Carleton, Ottawa, Queen's, and York. The West contingent is primarily made up of players from Canada West and the remaining OUA universities.

Garrity, a native of London, Ont., who finished with 10 points, had the only scoring play of the opening quarter, a 23-yard field-goal at 5:57. He added a 17-yard effort at 9:50 of the second stanza to give the West a 13-0 lead and rounded out the scoring in the final stanza with a 27-yarder at 4:26
 
Vavra's TD, was the result of a 22-yard pass from Manitoba quarterback Jackson Tachinski to put the West ahead 10-0 at 3:38 of the second frame.
 
Tachinski, whose troops racked up 24 first downs and 418 yards of net offence, completed 11 of 15 pass attempts for 152 yards and one interception (Riley Comeau). He also rushed for a team-leading 37 yards on four carries. Pivots Taylor Elgersma (7/9, 91 yds) of Laurier and Keegan Hall (6/11, 69 yds yds) from McMaster also saw duty.
 
The East, which had 16 first downs and 278 yards of net offence, scored its lone point on the last play before halftime when Concordia's Erik Maximuik was credited with a rouge on a missed 35-yard field-goal attempt. The native of Regina, Sask., was 0-for-2, while averaging 40 yards on six punts and 60 yards on one kickoff.
 
StFX's Silas Fagnan, who started at quarterback for the East, completed 13 of 21 for 111 yards but threw three interceptions. Two of them were picked off by Western defensive back Jackson Findlay, while the other was by Regina's Chopper Hippe. Fagnan also rushed four times for a team-leading 33 yards.
 
Other quarterbacks to play for the East were Laval's Arnaud Desjardins (6/9, 110 yds) and Carleton's Kaseem Ferdinand (1/2, 32 yds).
 
Defensively, Carleton linebacker Xavier Malone led the East with a game-high five solo tackles and four assisted.

With files from Earl Zukerman, McGill Athletics