X-Men heed lessons from the past

Unbeaten St. F.X. heads to Concordia in interlock play
By Monty Mosher, The Chronicle Herald

There are more than a dozen members of the St. Francis Xavier X-Men football team who can remember a disastrous 2006 visit to Concordia that halted any momentum from a 2-0 start.

The Stingers beat the X-Men 37-0. St. F.X. didn’t win another game that year.

Ironically, the CIS seventh-ranked X-Men are 2-0 to begin the 2009 season and their first interlocking match-up today takes them back to the scene of the crime, where the Stingers are 0-3 and desperate for some success.

St. F.X. fifth-year quarterback Steve Snyder, with 640 passing yards in his team’s first two wins, said there are useful lessons from that road trip.

"We’re a much more mature team at this point than we were back then," said Snyder. "I thought sometimes in the past when we travelled to Quebec we had a lack of focus and we didn’t really understand what the trip was all about. But there’s no doubt the team this year has a much better mental approach."

The X-Men will be out to end an ugly run in Quebec. They’ve lost their last five road interlock games by a combined 215-40.

"I think they all feel collectively that this is not the same team, it’s a different team," said X-Men head coach Gary Waterman. "And I’m not somebody who dwells on the past."

There are three other interlocking games today with Sherbrooke at Saint Mary’s, McGill at Mount Allison and Acadia at Montreal. Since the union between the QUFL and the AUS in 2002, Quebec holds a 39-16 advantage (one game was cancelled due to a viral outbreak).

Concordia has been outscored 116-32 and ranks 25th in the CIS against the run.

The Stingers opened with a 51-0 loss at Laval. They lost 41-18 at home to Montreal and 24-14 at Sherbrooke.

The X-Men seem to have come of age under Waterman, but CIS observers will want to see St. F.X. perform well in a major road game before stamping them a contender.

"People know about us, but we know about Concordia," said Snyder. "They are probably the best 0-3 team in the country. I think they’ve probably had the toughest schedule."

"It’s a hornets’ nest we’re walking into," said Waterman.

All-Canadian tailback James Green, banged up for the first two weekends and held to 43 yards, should be ready today, said Waterman.

Linebacker Henoc Muamba is due back from a leg injury while his brother, Cauchy, a defensive back/kick returner, may miss another week with a high-ankle sprain.

Vert et Or (2-1) at Huskies (1-1) — The Huskies ignited their run game last week with a 216-yard effort, a conference-best 108 coming from Devon Jones, in a 38-10 win over Acadia.

But it may be the Huskies run defence under the gun this week with CIS top rusher Pascal Fils coming to town for SMU’s home opener. The two programs have never met.

Fils has 661 yards and is averaging 8.6 yards per carry.

"He’s a legitimate top CIS running back," said Huskies coach Steve Sumarah. "That’s obviously going to be their thing."

Sherbrooke leads the QUFL in turnover margin at plus-nine.

SMU’s Justin Palardy has nine field goals through two games. The Cobequid grad needs six more to break the conference record of 56.

The Huskies escaped Acadia in good health, but the team has been beset by a flu bug all week.

Axemen (1-1) at Carabins (2-1) — Acadia makes its first visit to Montreal’s turf.

Punt returner Frank Bruno has been a bright light in the early going for Montreal with 340 yards and another 60 on receptions.

The Carabins have run for 639 yards while throwing for only 194 and plan to use two tight ends. Rotrand Sene has 377 yards and two majors.

Acadia’s Devon Jones has three majors, two on receptions and one on a missed field-goal return. The Axemen have also been ripped by the flu this week.

Redmen (1-2) at Mounties (0-2) — McGill head coach Sonny Wolfe returns to the Maritimes with a chance to place his team, winless in 2008, into the thick of the playoff race.

McGill has a front-line runner in Andrew Hamilton, averaging 184 yards, and one of the top receivers in CIS history in Charles-Antoine Sinotte.

McGill last played at Mount A in 2004, winning 29-13.

Scott Brady has rushed for three majors in the first two games for Mount A.