(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) A 33-23 win over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies was enough for the Acadia Axemen to clinch first place in the AUS football standings.
The win by 10 points gave the Axemen the highly sought berth and hosting of the AUS Subway Loney Bowl – the conference championship game on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Axemen took a commanding 23-0 halftime lead on points scored in the second quarter.
A team safety at 12:05 of the second frame was followed by a Eugene McMinns three-yard touchdown reception that capped off a three-play, 27-yard drive initiated by a Johnny King fumble and recovery by senior defensive lineman Gabriel Bagnell.
Gaining good field possession on a pair of stalled Huskie drives, the Axemen launched a six-play, 48-yard drive that was wrapped up by Cordell Hastings' eighth touchdown of the season, pushing the Acadia lead to 17-0.
On the next drive, a completed pass from Huskies' pivot Kaleb Scott to Rick LeMoignan was quickly coughed up for the second fumble recovery of the game by the Axemen.
Spotted on the Acadia 42-yard line, Cody Cluett and the offence went to work, converting the turnover to seven more points on a one-yard rush by Cluett. Cluett's touchdown would be the last points scored in the opening half, giving Acadia a 23-0 lead.
The Huskies quickly went to work on gaining some ground, when backup quarterback Cameron Valardo stepped into a long pass to Archelaus Jack for a 72-yard touchdown reception.
Valardo, named the Saint Mary's player of the game, rushed for a six-yard touchdown that capped off a five-play, 30-yard drive, closing the deficit to 23-15 after a two point convert scored by Johnny King reception.
Just under a minute remaining in the third frame, Jaden White-Frayne posted his sixth league-leading interception and added a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Comfortably ahead 30-15 heading into the final quarter, the Axemen were unable to add their fourth touchdown of the day from the three-yard line and settled for a 11-yard field goal.
Saint Mary's quickly replied with an interception touchdown of their own. Antoine Lyte-Myers raced 36 yards after intercepting a Cluett pass. Johnny King was good on the two-yard reception for a two-point convert.
Trailing 33-23, the Huskies put together an eight-play, 76-yard drive that was stifled by a forced fumble by Brandon Johnson, his third of the day. While the fumble was recovered by Saint Mary's, the ball was turned over on downs.
The Axemen held onto their 33-23 lead to finish the game. With the win, the Axemen have officially clinched first place in the AUS standings and the hosting rights to the Subway AUS Loney Bowl.
The Axemen edged Saint Mary's in total offence with 442, compared to the Huskies' 371.
Valardo completed 11 of 28 pass attempts for 208 yards, while starting Huskies pivot Kaleb Scott was five for 16 for 74 yards. Cody Cluett threw for 209 yards in the air with 15 of 23 passes completed.
Dale Wright was the force on the ground again, added 157 yards to his 1,030-yard season total on 161 rushes. Scott and Valardo had a combined 78 yards on the ground.
Caleb Ryder stood out on the receiving end for the Axemen with 104 yards on three receptions. Touchdowns came from Hastings and McMinns who posted 17 and six yards respectively.
Once again, the Axemen dominated the possession clock with 38 minutes handling the ball, while the Huskies had 22 minutes.
The Axemen will now have three weeks off, including a bye-week in the final week of regular season play, as well as a semi-final playoffs round bye. Acadia will host the Subway AUS Loney Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. They will face the winner of the semi-final matchup between the second and third place AUS teams.
The host and participants of the semi-final matchup will be determined by the outcomes of the two games left in regular season play.
Both the AUS semifinal and the Subway AUS Loney Bowl will be webcast live at AUStv.ca and televised on Bell Aliant's TV1 community channel on Fibe TV (channel 1).
Source: Acadia Athletics Communications