It took four sets of overtime, but the Acadia Axemen eventually prevailed and defeated the Mount Allison Mounties 22-14 to win the AUS Semi-Final on Saturday, Nov. 6 in front of 3,251 fans at Mount Allison’s MacAulay Field. With the win Acadia moves on to the AUS championship game against Saint Mary’s on Saturday, November 13th. Wet weather and muddy field conditions left both teams painted in a similar shade of brown and struggling to move the ball offensively.
After a scoreless opening quarter, Mount Allison struck first when QB Jake Hotchkiss found Adam Molnar in the corner of the end zone. The 25-yard touchdown pass put the Mounties ahead 7-0. Acadia responded before the end of the first half when Kyle Graves found A.J. Durling on a 12-yard touchdown pass with three minutes to play.
Mount Allison took the lead again in the 3rd quarter when John Szilagyi nailed a 33-yard field goal to make the score 10-7. Mount Allison stretched their lead to five by forcing Acadia to take a safety at 8:36 of the 3rd quarter. With the score 12-7, Mount Allison forced another Acadia safety three minutes into the 3rd quarter, bringing the score to 14-7. Mount Allison held this lead until Graves once again found Durling in the end zone, this time from 18 yards out with 3:55 to play.
Mount Allison moved the ball into Acadia territory late in the game, needing only a single point to take the lead. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, the Mounties elected to punt, but kicker John Szilagyi’s punt went out of bounds just short of the Acadia goal line, keeping the Mounties off the board.
In overtime, both teams had chances to put points on the board but neither team could produce enough offence to take the lead. As per AUS playoff rules, possessions start on the opposition 35- yard line at the start of each series. In the fourth round of overtime, Acadia’s used a fake field goal on 3rd down to keep their drive alive. Moments later Acadia scored to take a 20-14 lead. Acadia was also successful on their two-point convert attempt, giving them a 22-14 lead. The Mounties would have one more chance to score, but it was to no avail as Hotckiss’s third-down pass attempt fell to the ground, the Mounties’ season came to an end.
Playing a home playoff game for the first time in 12 years, the Mounties were led offensively by Matt Pickett who ran for 62 yards on 17 carries and Adam Molnar who grabbed six catches for 74 yards. Hotchkiss was 14 for 32 for 143 yards and one touchdown.
Acadia’s QB Kyle Graves was 22 for 44 for 229 yards while the game’s top receiver was Scott Kelly who made 10 catches for 112 yards. Defensively Axeman Tom Labenski was tops with 11 solo tackles, while Mounties Luke Ekoh and Ben Halpern had seven and six solos respectively.
The Acadia Axemen now move on to play the Saint Mary’s Huskies in the AUS Championship game on Saturday, November 13th in Halifax.
Source: Mount Allison
| Acadia 22 |
Mount Allison 14 |
| Mount Allison () | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| Acadia () | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 22 |
| Sackville NB | MacAulay |
| 2 | 14:16 | Mount Allison – A. Molnar 25 yd pass from J. Hotchkiss. (J. Szilagyi kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 38 yards in 0:45. |
0 – 7 |
| 2 | 04:40 | Acadia – A. Durling 12 yd pass from K. Graves. (M. Squires kick is good). Drive: 6 plays, 84 yards in 2:25. |
7 – 7 |
| 3 | 09:25 | Mount Allison – J. Szilagyi 33 yd field goal. | 7 – 10 |
| 3 | 06:24 | Mount Allison – Team safety | 7 – 12 |
| 4 | 11:51 | Mount Allison – Team safety | 7 – 14 |
| 4 | 03:55 | Acadia – A. Durling 18 yd pass from K. Graves. (M. Archibald kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 24 yards in 0:56. |
14 – 14 |
| 5 | 15:00 | Acadia – S. Kelly 12 yd pass from K. Graves. (2pt conversion pass by S. Kelly is good). Drive: 8 plays, 0 yards in 0:00. |
22 – 14 |
| 16 | FIRST DOWNS | 15 |
| 12 2 2 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
8 3 4 |
| 50% (3 of 6) | THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 6) |
| 0% (0 of 0) | FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 0) |
| 252 | TOTAL NET YARDS | 201 |
| 70 3.6 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
67 3.0 |
| 234 | NET YARDS PASSING | 143 |
| 23-46 5.1 1 for 4 1 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked:Number-Yards Had intercepted |
14-32 4.5 3 for 6 3 |
| 18 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 58 |
| 24 0.8 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
35 1.7 |
| 10 for 218 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 14 for 414 |
| 21.8 | Average | 29.6 |
| 154 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 159 |
| 7 for 70 2 for 53 3 for 31 |
Punt Returns:No-Yards Kickof Returns:No-Yards Int. Returns:No-Yards |
2 for 34 7 for 119 1 for 6 |
| 7 for 100 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 6 for 55 |
| 3-2 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 5-1 |
| 40:50 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 33:20 |
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| 1 | N. Coley | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 6 | C. Wade | – | – | 1 | – | – | ||||||
| 9 | S. Fleiszer | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 10 | G. Richardson | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | 3-31 | ||||
| 17 | M. Miller | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | 2-12 | – | – | ||||
| 18 | H. Johnson | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 20 | L. Fallwell | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 1-6 | – | – | ||||
| 23 | H. Morales | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 24 | M. Rostance | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 25 | J. Laycock | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 27 | E. McNally | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 42 | A. Frazer | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | 1-8 | – | – | ||||
| 45 | T. Labenski | 11 | 1 | 12 | – | – | – | – | 2 | |||
| 49 | J. Thomas | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | 1-4 | – | – | ||||
| 52 | J. Wilson | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1-3 | 3-5 | – | – | ||||
| TM | TEAM | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1-0 | – | |||
| TOTALS | 44 | 2 | 46 | 3-6 | 8-35 | 2 | 1-0 | 3-31 | 2 | |||
| 1 | B. Daye | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 8 | C. Exeter | 4 | 0 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 14 | J. Snider | – | – | – | 1-6 | 1 | ||||||
| 20 | M. Kenny | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | 1-1 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 21 | L. Ekoh | 7 | 0 | 7 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 22 | N. Zavarella | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 26 | S. Murray | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 32 | T. Nadolny | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 34 | M. Fullerton | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 1-3 | – | – | ||||
| 35 | D. Robinson | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 36 | M. Thomson | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1-4 | 1-4 | – | – | ||||
| 37 | B. Halpern | 6 | 0 | 6 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 40 | J. Richard | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 44 | R. Downe | 4 | 0 | 4 | – | 1-4 | – | – | ||||
| 45 | D. Taylor | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 46 | A. Antwi | 4 | 0 | 4 | – | 1-4 | 1 | – | – | 1 | ||
| 81 | J. King | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 97 | T. Pritchard | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| TM | TEAM | – | – | 1-0 | – | |||||||
| TOTALS | 43 | 0 | 43 | 1-4 | 5-16 | 1 | 1-0 | 1-6 | 5 |
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