By: Dwayne Tingley
Veteran receiver Nathan Walker admits there have been struggles for the Bishop's Gaiters, but there are also benefits that have emerged from the difficult times.
The Gaiters won just one of their first 16 games in the AUS football conference and they were frequently overmatched.
Times have changed dramatically, and the Gaiters have qualified for the conference playoffs for the first time. After a second-place finish with a 4-4 record, the Gaiters will host the third-place Mount Allison Mounties (3-5) in a semifinal game on Saturday in Lennoxville, Que. Game time is 2 p.m. E.D.T. at Coulter Field.
"It's a very exciting time for our team and our campus," said Walker, a fifth-year sports studies major.
"It's been a long time since there has been this much excitement about our football team," he continued. "I know there has been a lot of hardship, but for guys like me who have been around for four or five years, the hard times brought us closer together. We've struggled, but we stuck together as a team."
The winners of Saturday afternoon's matchup will visit the first-place Acadia Axemen (8-0) in the Subway AUS Loney Bowl championship game, presented by Keep It Social, on Nov. 9 in Wolfville, N.S.
"It would be very special for us to win this game at home, then go to the final," said Walker, a 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont.
"We knew that we were going to have a good year because we stuck together in good and bad times and we never lost faith in ourselves," he added. "We kept going, put in all of the hard work and bought into the coach's plan for our team. We want to keep going as far as we can go."
Walker, who caught 35 passes for 453 yards for an average of 12.94 yards per reception this season, is anticipating a close game.
The Gaiters and Mounties split their two games this season. The Gaiters won 27-23 at home on Sept. 27 and the Mounties bounced back with a 35-13 victory on Oct. 19 in Sackville, N.B.
"They have a very good team and both teams like to play a physical game so it's going to be quite a battle," Walker said.
Fifth-year Mounties receiver Josh Hicks, who caught a conference-record 16 passes for 300 yards in their season finale against the Axemen, is also expecting a combative semifinal.
"We keep talking about playing Mount A football," said Hicks, a Moncton native who graduated with a commerce degree last year and will earn an arts degree with a major in economics this year.
"When we say Mount A football, we mean playing tough from start to finish and in every game," he said. "If they punch, we punch back. If they come after us, we come after them even harder.
"We played well against them and we got some confidence, but the playoffs are different. We have to be ready to play our best game of the season."
The Mounties, who are making their first playoff appearance in three years, lost their first four games, but rallied for a strong showing in the second half of the schedule.
"We didn't feel like we got many breaks early in the year and we just stuck to our game plan," said Hicks, who led the conference with 43 receptions and 739 receiving yards. He also recorded three touchdowns.
"We stuck together, and the coaching staff did a good job of staying positive," he said. "We never got down on ourselves."
The Mounties outscored their opponents 194-161 during the regular season. The Gaiters, however, were outscored 210-150.
"We have a very resilient group that works extremely hard and have really come together as a team," said Mounties head coach Peter Fraser. "We knew we had a young group this season and just wanted to get better every day."
The game will be televised live on Bell Aliant Fibe TV1 (channel 1) and available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.