(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The CIS No. 10-ranked Acadia Axemen clinched first place in the AUS football conference with a convincing 47-26 win over the visiting StFX X-Men.
The win came on Homecoming weekend in Wolfville in front of 2,546 and the Axemen improve to 5-1 with two games remaining the regular season.
Rookie running back Thomas Troop (Alliston, Ont.) posted a game high 178 yards rushing, most of which game in the first half including his longest of 26 yards. Troop had one touchdown scored on a 10 yard run that capped a three-play, 26-yard drive early in the second quarter.
Acadia first year receiver, James Fioroni (Guelph, Ont.) scored the first of six Acadia touchdowns on an 18-yard reception at 3:17 of the first quarter.
The X-Men replied quickly on the ensuing kickoff when Randy Roseway (Ottawa, Ont.) returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for the major to tie the game at seven. Just over four minutes later, senior pivot Kyle Graves (Barrie, Ont.) wrapped up a 10-play, 90-yard drive with a one-yard dive to give back the lead to the Axemen.
Deep in their end and against the wind in the first quarter, StFX gave up a safety on third down to give Acadia a 16-7 lead.
Closing the first quarter, the Axemen engineered a 63-yard drive that concluded with a 16-yard touchdown reception by receiver Taylor Renaud (Winnipeg, Man.) to give Acadia a 23-7 lead. Renaud led the game in receiving with four receptions for 70 yards and leads the AUS in reception yards with 652, an average of 108 yards per game.
Troop's 10-yard touchdown, early in the second quarter, gave Acadia a commanding 30-7 lead. The X-Men generated their first offensive movement with a 34-yard drive that resulted in a 42-yard Jeremy Ford (Halifax, N.S.) field goal.
At the eight minute mark of the second quarter, StFX drove the ball 68 yards on a five-play sequence to give the X-Men their first offensive touchdown when Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, Ont.) dove for the 1 yard major, closing the gap to 30-17.
Acadia was quick to respond, with Taylor Renaud scoring his second major of the day on an 18-yard reception from Graves wrapping up Acadia's longest drive of the day of 80 yards against a stiff wind from the northwest.
Thomas Blight (Moncton, N.B.) added a 25-yard field goal late in the second quarter to give Acadia a commanding 40-17 lead heading into the locker room at the end of the half.
A third quarter StFX safety narrowed the lead by two, but a juggled missed field goal by the X-Men was fumbled and recovered by Acadia's Brett Haenni (Barrie, Ont.) to increase the Axemen lead to 47-19.
StFX's Jordan Catterall (Oakville, Ont.) pulled in a 61-yard reception at 12:41 of the final frame to wrap up the day's scoring, giving Acadia a 47-26 win.
Head Coach Jeff Cummins was pleased with some play of the team on Homecoming weekend.
"I am very happy to play well for the Homecoming crowd, especially on offense. We can definitely get better on special teams and the big plays we gave up on defense have to stop. But at the end of the day we are 5-1 and have secured the conference championship game for here at Raymond field".
Acadia's Kyle Graves was 20-for-33 on the day for 260 yards passing and three touchdowns. The Axemen ran up 301 net yards rushing with Troop leading the way with 178 yards and senior fullback Brett Haenni adding 69 yards.
All-Canadian receiver Mike Squires pulled in six catches for 70 yards, while teammates Taylor Renaud and James Fioroni added 72 and 67 yards respectively.
X-Men pivot Tivon Cook (Barrie, Ont.) was 15-of-28 with three interceptions for 78 yards, while Clay Masikewich (Calgary, Alta.), who replaced Cook late in the game, was six for ten for 101 yards that included Catterall's 61-yard touchdown reception.
The Axemen, with the win, will host the 2012 Subway AUS Loney Bowl championship game in Wolfville on November 10th, while the Saint Mary's Huskies, StFX and the Mount Allison Mounties will battle for the second and third place positions.
All three teams are tied with a 2-3 record.
Source: Acadia Sports Information