(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies used a 21-4 opening first quarter and defeated the Acadia Axemen 31-8 Saturday afternoon in AUS pre-season football action.
Acadia jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a Brandon Jennings' (St. Albert, Alta.) 32-yard field goal.
Saint Mary's answered back with a four-play, 69-yard drive capped off with a two-yard touchdown plunge from running back Derek Pisani (Newmarket, Ont.) for a 7-3 lead.
Acadia muffed the ensuing kickoff and Saint Mary's pounced on the football, taking over at the Axemen 14-yard line.
That's when Huskies' quarterback Brock Berglund (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) wasted no time in introducing himself to the Halifax crowd and the score sheet, hitting receiver D'Shawn Miller (Brampton, Ont.) on a 14-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone for a 14-3 cushion.
Acadia scored a single on Jennings' rouge, trimming Saint Mary's lead to 14-4 with 3:05 left in the quarter.
Saint Mary's continued their scoring streak in the second quarter on a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown from linebacker Brad Herbst (Ottawa, Ont.) and built a 14-4 lead.
The Huskies increased the gap with a 33-yard touchdown toss from Trevor Erdmann (Ardrossan, Alta.) to Rick LeMoignan (Edmonton, Alta.) ending the half up 28-4.
The kicking game took over in the second half with both teams trading field goals before an Acadia rouge saw the final score reach 31-8 for Saint Mary's.
Brian Hope (Coquitlam, B.C.) handled the kicking responsibilities for the Huskies.
Saint Mary's opens the 2016 AUS regular season on the road in Wolfville on Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. versus Acadia and returns home on Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. versus the Mounties.
Source: Dominic Nolasco for Saint Mary's Sports Communications