Gridiron X-Men earn first win of the season

The StFX X-Men earned their first win of the season with a 37-26 victory in front of an enthusiastic Homecoming crowd Saturday afternoon in Antigonish, NS.

Freshman receiver Jordan Catterall led the StFX attack with three touchdowns on the afternoon while kicker Anthony Alix returned one of his own punts for a touchdown and booted three field goals.

X-Men quarterback Cory Wensley was 18 for 36, throwing for a total of 234 yards on the afternoon. Catterall had 4 receptions for 109 total yards and the three touchdowns, while Kwame Osei pulled in 6 receptions for 50 yards.

The Mounties were without star receiver Gary Ross who continues to recover from a hand injury suffered last weekend. Quarterback Jake Hotchkiss was 25 for 40, throwing 356 total yards including two touchdown passes.

Stu Moore and Adam Molnar were on the receiving ends of the two second half Mount A touchdowns, while Alonzo Howell punched in a three yard TD and kicker Jon Szilagyi kicked one field goal. 

The X-Men kept their 4000 plus Homecoming fans happy in the first half as they got out to a 10-2 lead after the first quarter. Player of the Game Jordan Catterall scored his first touchdown of the afternoon 4:47 into the game on the X-Men’s opening drive on a 45 yard pass from Wensley. Before the quarter was over the X-Men would concede a safety and Alix would kick a 20 yard field goal, his first of three on the day.   

The Mounties opened the scoring in the second quarter as Howell ran in his three yard major at 2:32, closing the lead to 10-9.

The X-Men shut down the Mounties offense for the duration of the half as Catterall scored consecutive touchdowns. At the 10:37 mark, Catterall scored on a nifty play, catching a ball pitched by fellow wide receiver Devon Bailey and streaking down the sideline to the end zone.

His third touchdown of the day came at 11:54, set up from a Henoc Muamba interception. Muamba picked a Hotchkiss pass inside the Mounties 10 yard line and Wensley converted on a 9 yard pass to Catterall to boost the X-Men lead to 24-9.

The X-Men’s second quirky play of the game came late in the second quarter as kicker Anthony Alix booted a short, high punt and ran in to recover his own kick off a timely bounce, taking it to the end zone for a 37 yard touchdown.

The 31-9 half-time lead was extended to 34-9 when Alix kicked a 28 yard third quarter field goal. The next three scoring plays belonged to the Mounties, who outscored the X-Men 17-6 in the final 30 minutes of play.

Moore ran in a 45 yard Hotchkiss pass for a touchdown, while teammate Molnar caught an 18 yard pass in the fourth quarter to pull Mount Allison to within 34-23. Szilagyi closed the gap to 34-26 with a 31 yard field goal with 8:25 to go in the game. Szilagyi had another field goal attempt with 5:32 left, but the ball hit the bottom of the uprights.

The X-Men were able to hold onto their lead and Alix kicked another late field goal after the X-Men gained field position off a Tom Lynch interception.

With the 37-26 loss, the Mounties drop to 2-2 on the season and will host the Acadia Axemen (2-2) in a battle for first place in the AUS next Saturday, Oct. 9th. The X-Men (1-3) will host the Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-1) on Friday night, Oct. 8th at 7:00 pm at StFX Oland Stadium.