CIS PRESEASON (AUS): X-Men, SMU win

ANTIGONISH, N.S  – After falling behind 11-0 in the first quarter, the StFX X-Men rallied for a 29-14 victory over the Mount Allison Mounties in AUS pre-season football action at Oland Stadium in Antigonish.

Both teams played with expanded rosters in the contest..

It was a tale of two quarters in the opening half, with the visiting Mounties jumping to a 7-0 advantage on a three-yard Chris Reid touchdown run and a Ryan Lambert extra point.

On the ensuing kick-off, Lambert booted the ball through the end zone for a single point to extend the Mount Allison lead to 8-0.

Lambert made it 11-0 with a 41-yard field goal.

The X-Men had two turnovers in the opening quarter, including a Tivon Cookinterception and a failed third-down-and-one attempt at mid-field with Mount Allison defensive back Kwame Adjei stopping running back Ashton Dickson before he gained the required yardage.

Dante Djan, who took over for Cook at quarterback, used his legs and arm to help the X-Men get on the scoreboard in the second quarter. He scrambled for a couple of first downs and completed five out of six pass attempts, including a 12-yard touchdown strike to Keon Hughes.

With the point after by Jeremy Ford, the X-Men cut the Mountie lead to 11-7.

In the final seconds of the first half, X-Men freshman Jonathan Heidebrecht trimmed the deficit to 11-10 with a field goal.

Early in the second half, Heidebrecht gave StFX its first lead (13-11) with his second field goal of the game. The X-Men capitalized on a fumble recovery by defensive lineman Zeandre Regis.

After the next X-Men series, Ford recovered his own punt, giving his team excellent field position. On the resulting drive, Heidebrecht could not connect on his third field goal try. On the miss, Mount Allison returner Idahosa Yorke dashed 75 yards to the X-Men 40-yard line. Cook, who was the holder on the field goal attempt, saved a touchdown by nudging Yorke out of bounds along the sideline.

The Mounties did take advantage of the prime field position, coming away with a Lambert field goal to regain the lead at 14-13.

The X-Men took the lead for good, at 15-14, when the Mounties conceded a safety. A high snap on a punt attempt sailed over the head of Kyle MacLean, who tracked it down at the back of the end zone, before kicking it out of play.

Sean Mellor, the fourth QB who played for StFX, engineered a scoring drive, which included two catches from wide receiver Christian Ridley. From inside the one-yard line, running back Albert Banahene scored the touchdown. With an extra point from Keiran Burnham, the X-Men led 22-14.

The X-Men wrapped up the scoring in the fourth quarter on electrifying 68-yard run from freshman wide receiver Dejuan Martin, who took a hand-off from Mellor and blazed untouched to the end zone.
Another Burnham conversion made it 29-14.

The AUS regular season kicks-off next weekend, beginning Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m., when the Mounties visit Halifax to face the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

The X-Men will face the host Acadia Axemen Saturday, Sept. 12 in Wolfville. Game time is 2 p.m.

Source: Krista McKenna, StFX X-Men Sports Information

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen football team hosted the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies in the second of two exhibition games this weekend in AUS football. The Huskies against the Axemen game followed a 29-14 by the StFX X-Men over the reining AUS champion Mount Allison in last night’s first game of the exhibition weekend.

Not until the end of the third quarter did the scoreboard change from a 0-0 tie, as the Huskies scored the first of two second half touchdowns. Fourth year running back Jacob Gesse gave Saint Mary’s a 7-0 lead with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter. Gesse ended a 6 play, 65 yrd drive that took two and a half minutes off the clock with a four yard dive into the end zone.

Saint Mary’s took a 14-0 lead when fifth year running back Ryan Zawacki punched into the end zone on a one yard dive capping off a drive of 10 plays that included 70 yards of rushing by Zawacki.

The Axemen added points from a two point safety conceded by the Huskies and on a missed field goal by Axemen rookie kicker David Langley 43 yards out.

The Axemen outgained the Huskies in the air 218-137 yards but Saint Mary’s accumulated 252 yards on the ground, 204 of which came in the second half. Nearly even with first downs, the Huskies held the edge with 17 over Acadia’s 16. Acadia had a net of 57 yards on the ground.

With both teams with exhibition roster numbers reaching over 77, shining moments came from several veteran players. Huskie Ryan Zawacki rushed for 89 net yards on 12 carries, while teammate Jacob Gesse had nine carries for 78 yards. Trevor Erdmann threw for 89 yards on 9 completions from 13 attempts for the Huskies. Leading the receiving corp was D’shawn Miller who had 62 yards on three receptions.

Acadia’s Thompson Richards, who finished last season as the starting quarterback was three for seven for 65 yards, while five additional quarterbacks got playing time for the Axemen. In receiving, newcomer Eugene MacMinnis pulled down four receptions for 66 yards. Brian Jones, last year’s AUS MVP, had one reception for five yards. Senior Sabastian Robinson grabbed two catches for 43 yards.

The Axemen open the regular season next Saturday afternoon on Acadia’s Raymond Field against the StFX X-Men. The last time both teams met was in the AUS Semi-Finals where the X-Men grabbed a win off of 10 unanswered points in the closing 2 minutes of the game to grab a 18-17 win. The incumbent champions, Mount Allison Mounties, travel to Halifax to meet the Saint Mary’s Huskies on Friday night in the opening weekend of the AUS regular season.

Source: Eric Cederberg, Acadia Athletics