AUS champion Axemen sweep Week 10 football player of the week honours

November 15, 2011 (HALIFAX, N.S.) – Quarterback Kyle Graves, defensive lineman Jake Thomas and place kicker Ryan Begin, all of the Loney Bowl champion Acadia Axemen, have been named the AUS football players of the week for the period ending November 13th, 2011.

Offensive Player of the Week
Kyle Graves
Quarterback
Acadia University
6’3″, 220 lbs.
Barrie, Ont.

Quarterback Kyle Graves of the CIS No. 9-ranked Acadia Axemen is the Atlantic University Sport football offensive player of the week for the period ending November 13th, 2011. Graves, a fourth-year player from Barrie, Ont., was awarded the Don Loney memorial trophy as the most valuable player of the 2011 Subway AUS Loney Bowl this past weekend. Kyle, named the AUS most outstanding player earlier in the week, scored three rushing touchdowns in a 39-20 victory over the Saint Mary’s Huskies at Raymond Field in Wolfville, N.S.

Graves finished with 78 yards on 10 carries and completed 12-of-16 passes for 170 yards in the win. With the victory, the Axemen (7-1, 1-0 playoffs) advance to the Uteck Bowl this Friday night in Moncton, N.B., to face the CIS No. 4-ranked McMaster Marauders.

Defensive Player of the Week
Jake Thomas
Defensive Lineman
Acadia University
6’2″, 275 lbs.
Douglas, N.B.

Acadia defensive lineman Jake Thomas is the Atlantic University Sport football defensive player of the week. Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound fourth-year player from Douglas, N.B., had a team-high 6.0 tackles, two of which were for a loss and added a sack in Saturday’s 39-20 Loney Bowl win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

Jake, who was named the 2011 AUS lineman of the year, tied for the CIS lead with 16 tackles for a loss in the regular season and finished third in the nation with nine quarterback sacks.

Special Teams Player of the Week
Ryan Begin
Acadia University
5’10”, 205 lbs.
Orleans, Ont.

Place kicker Ryan Begin of the Acadia Axemen is the Atlantic University Sport football special teams player of the week. Begin, a first-year student from Orleans, Ont., accounted for 15 of Acadia’s 39 points in the Axemen’s 39-20 win over Saint Mary’s this past weekend in the Subway AUS Loney Bowl.

Ryan was successful on three-of-four field goal attempts, added four PAT’s and a pair of rouge’s in the victory. Begin was good from 12, 40 and 17 yards respectively, and also averaged 49.6 yards on five kickoffs. Ryan finished second in AUS scoring this season with 56 points, including nine field goals.