Mounties break Saint Mary’s curse with huge road win

For 16 years the Mount Allison Mounties have gone to Huskies Stadium in Halifax in the hopes of beating Saint Mary’s and for 16 years, they have come up short. That all changed tonight, when the Mounties twice overcame deficits of 7 points or more to stun the hometown Huskies 27-24. The win is the 2nd straight for the Mounties, who defeated StFX 42-13 at home last weekend.

BOXSCORE

Saint Mary’s built an 11-1 lead to start the game. After the teams exchanged rouges early on, Chase Kodejs kicked a 22 yard field goal and Saint Mary’s followed up shortly after with a 2 yard touchdown run by Jacob Gesse. From there, the Mounties settled in and answered back with 2 touchdowns of their own to grab a 15-11 halftime lead.

On the Mounties first possession after the Saint Mary’s touchdown, the garnet and gold used 7 plays to march 77 yards for a touchdown of their own. The AUS’s leading rusher Jordan Botel scored his league-leading 5th rushing touchdown of the season from 2 yards out. Botel finished with a season high164 yards on 32 carries. The AUS has now had six 100 yard rushing games and four of them have come from Botel.

After some good work by the Mounties defense forcing repeated punts by Saint Mary’s, punt returner Michael Bohan grabbed a Kodejs punt at midfield and returned it to the Saint Mary’s 37 yard line. On the very next play the Mounties used a flee flicker that saw quarterback Brandon Leyh hit Troy Trentham and then Trentham passed to a wide open Josh Blanchard for a 37 yard touchdown. This left the score 15-11 for the Mounties at halftime.

It only took Saint Mary’s 3 minutes to strike in the 3rd quarter as Jack Creighton found Matthew Magee in the end zone from 14 yards out. SMU then stretched their lead to 20-15 when they forced a safety 1 minute later. With 3 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter the Saint Mary’s defense forced another safety, bringing the score to 22-15. But just as it looking like things were slipping away, sophomore Michael Bohan once again came up big for the Mounties, this time with a 74 yard punt return to the Saint Mary’s 11 yard line. Bohan finished with 126 punt return yards and 5 tackles. The Mounties were able to turn Bohan’s return into a Kyle McLean field goal from 14 yards to grab some momentum and start their way back with the score moving to 22-18.

After a quick two and out by Saint Mary’s the Mounties took over on their own 53 yard line and on the first play from scrimmage, Leyh hit Troy Trentham for a long range strike, completing a 57 yard scoring play and giving the Mounties a 25-22 lead. From there, the Mounties defense shut the door, refusing to let Saint Mary’s generate any more offense. After Kyle McLean pinned the Saint Mary’s offense on the 1 yard line with a brilliant punt, the Mounties defense forced a safety, picking up 2 critical points as the lead grew to 27-22 with 5 minutes to play. Late interceptions by Kwame Adjei and Devonte Sampson sealed the deal for the Mounties. Kyle McLean ran through his own end zone as time expired to run out the game and secure the 27-24 victory for the Mounties.

Brandon Leyh finished the night 10-16 for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. Fourth year receiver Troy Trentham led the Mounties with 5 catches for 74 yards and 1 touchdown, while Josh Blanchard had a touchdown catch for a 2nd straight week. Defensively the Mounties were led by Halifax native Jacob LeBlanc who had 10.5 tackles and 2 sacks while Te Nguyen had 7.5 tackles and 1 sack.

The Mounties will finish the regular season 2-0 against Saint Mary’s and remain the only AUS team who has beaten the Huskies this year. The Mounties, now 3-4, finish the regular season at home against Acadia on Saturday, October 26th (2PM) with a game that will have huge playoff implications. With a win, the Mounties will clinch their 2nd straight playoff berth and their 3rd in the past 4 years.

Source:  Mount Allison Mounties Sports Information

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HALIFAX, N.S. The Mount Allison Mounties defeated the Saint Mary’s Huskies 27-24 in Atlantic University Sport football action on Friday night at Huskies Stadium.

Subway Player of the Game Jacob Leblanc made nine tackles including two sacks to lead the Mounties (3-4) to their second straight win and their first victory at the Stadium since 1997.

The Huskies (4-3) lost to Mount Allison for the second time this season despite outgaining the Mounties 360 yards to 276 on offence. Two interceptions late in the fourth quarter and two big plays by Mount Allison sealed the Huskies fate.

Troy Trentham connected with Josh Blanchard for a 37 yard touchdown off a trick play and later caught a 57 yard touchdown pass from Quarterback Brandon Leyh to propel the Mounties to the critical win in the hunt for the AUS playoffs.

Trentham finished with five receptions for 74 yards while AUS leading rusher Jordan Botel racked up 165 yards on 32 carries. Leyh completed 10 of 16 passes for 147 yards to round out the Mounties attack.

On offense, Melvin Abankwah led Saint Mary’s with 104 yards on six receptions and Dave Sabourin gained 47 yards on just eight carries. Jon Langa made nine tackles to pace the Huskies defensively.

Saint Mary’s led 15-11 at halftime in front of 900 fans in what could be the last football game ever played at Huskies Stadium. The historic venue is scheduled for demolition after the fall sports conclude.

The Mounties will head back to Sackville to prepare for visiting Acadia while the Huskies will travel to Antigonish to play the X-Men on the season’s final weekend.

Both games will have huge playoff implications and can be seen via webcast on AUStv.ca.

Photo Credit:  Joe Chrvala

Source:   Saint Mary’s Huskies Sports Information