The first-place Acadia Axemen cruised to a 41-14 win over the StFX X-Men in AUS football play Saturday afternoon at Oland Stadium in Antigonish.
BOX SCORE
BOX SCORE
St FX sports info
On the opening possession of the game, the X-Men marched to the Axemen three-yard line, when quarterback Clay Masikewich threw an interception to Axemen linebacker Drew Morris, who returned the pass 106 yards for a touchdown. With the Thomas Blight conversion, the visitors led 7-0.
At 8:54 of the first quarter, Blight tacked on a 40-yard field goal (10-0). The Axemen rounded out the scoring in the opening 15 minutes on a conceded safety by the X-Men, extending their lead to 12-0.
At 13:19 of the second quarter, Jeremy Ford put the X-Men on the scoreboard with a rouge off a missed field goal (12-1). Less than three minutes later, Axemen quarterback Kyle Graves completed a seven play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
The blue and white cut the lead to 19-8 on a Donald Tabor 10-yard touchdown catch, his first in the CIS, from Clay Masikewich, followed by a Ford conversion.
On a second field goal from Blight, the Axemen took at 22-8 lead at halftime.
The Axemen outscored the X-Men 12-0 in the third quarter to put the game away, including another safety and the third field goal from Blight. Their touchdown came on a 15-yard return by linebacker Braeden Guy, who scoop up a Masikewich fumbled snap.
In the fourth quarter, the Axemen scored a rouge off a missed field goal, while the teams also traded touchdowns.
Mike Squires caught a six-yard TD from Graves to extend the X-Men deficit to 41-8. The blue and white wrapped up the scoring on a 77-yard pass-and-catch from back-up Tivon Cook to wide receiver Randy Roseway.
Cook was 9-for-13 with 171 yards in relief of Masikewich, who completed 14 out of 24 pass attempts for 189 yards.
The top receiver for the blue and white was Roseway with nine catches for 158 yards, while Jordan Catterall broke the century mark with 111 yards on six receptions. Ashton Dickson led the rushing attack with 54 yards on 12 carries.
For the Axemen, Graves was 21-for-33 with one touchdown and one interception. Taylor Renaud, Subway player of the game, and Mike Squires made eight catches apiece for 112 and 94 yards, respectively. Brett Haenni led the Acadia rushing attack with 57 yards on nine carries.
The Axemen outgained the X-Men 422 to 377 in total offense.
On the defensive side, X-Men player of the game Demetrius Ferguson led the team with 7.5 tackles, while linebacker Brett Hubbeard chipped in seven. Sanmi Adereti collected one sack, 2.5 tackles and two pass deflections. One of those tips of a Graves’ pass led to an interception by lineman Nate Annan. Annan, who returned to the line-up from injury, added 3.5 tackles.
For the Axemen, Brett Backman led the team with six tackles, while Cameron Wade and Jesse St. James recorded sacks. A re-match between the two teams will take place Saturday, Oct. 13, when the Axemen (4-1) host the X-Men (1-4) at Raymond Field in Wolfville. The next X-Men home game is Saturday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m., when the Mount Allison Mounties visit Oland Stadium.
Acadia Sports Info
The CIS #10 ranked Acadia Axemen improve to 4-1 with a 41-14 win over the StFX X-Men. The victory puts the Axemen in a commanding lead in AUS standings with 8 points, while the second place Saint Mary’s Huskies trail with 4 points and a 2-3 record.
Second year Axeman linebacker Drew Morris put Acadia on the scoreboard first with a 106 yard interception return early in the first quarter.
A Thomas Blight 40 yard field goal and team safety in the first frame pushed the Axemen out to an early 12-0 lead.
A Thomas Blight 40 yard field goal and team safety in the first frame pushed the Axemen out to an early 12-0 lead.
StFX picked up their first points on a Jeremy Ford rouge in the opening two minutes of the second quarter.
2011 AUS Most Valuable Player Kyle Graves capped off a 75 yard drive on a 1 yard dive to give Acadia’s first of three majors on the day to extend the lead to 19-1.
The X-Men responded three minutes later with a 10 yard pass from Clay Masikewich to Donald Tabor to pull StFX back into the picture at 19-8.
A second of three field goals kicked by Blight concluded the first half scoring with Acadia heading into the locker room with a 22-8 lead.
Blight added his third, a 36 yard kick, to give Acadia a 25-8. A team safety and Brayden Guy 15 yard fumble recovery for Acadia’s second last major gave the Axemen a commanding and insurmountable 34-8 lead in the closing of the third quarter.
A Thomas Blight rouge and a Mike Squires touchdown reception that concluded a 56 year drive stretched the lead to 41-8.
Randy Roseway’s unconverted 77 yard touchdown reception with just over two minutes remaining in the game, gave the X-Men a positive on a day of negatives.
Acadia’s Taylor Renaud led the Axemen receiving corp with 112 yards on eight receptions while teammate Mike Squires had 8 catches for 94 yards. Senior pivot Kyle Graves was 21 for 33 for 252 yards in passing, one interception, 1 sakc and one touchdown.
X-Man Randy Roseway topped the receivers charts with 158 yards, the longest of 77 yards. Two quarterbacks shared downs including Clay Masikewich who was 14 for 24 for 189 yards and Tivon Cook who completed 9 of 12 passes for 171 yards. Both quarterbacks tossed a touchdown pass.
Axemen head coach Jeff Cummins hopes in due time his team will play to their potential. “Its nice to be 4-1 going into Thanksgiving weekend, the Turkey tastes better! We need to be more efficient in the score zone and cannot turn the ball over. But its great when your defense can score 18 pts for you!”
With the 41-14 win, Acadia will prepare to meet StFX again next weekend in Wolfville for the Axemen’s second last home game of the year and Acadia’s Homecoming weekend.
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