AUS Playoff spots on the line
Huskies look to win third straight with top spot in their sights
Courtesy Monty Mosher, The Chronicle Herald
It’s time to talk playoffs in AUS football.
The three-time defending champion Saint Mary’s Huskies (2-3), the Mount Allison Mounties (2-3) and the first-place Acadia Axemen (3-2) are all in position to nail down playoff spots with all three still in contention for top spot and the coveted first-round bye.
The St. Francis Xavier X-Men (1-4) need a win at a place that has been most inhospitable for the last 12 years.
The X-Men and Huskies start Week 6 on the schedule Friday night at Huskies Stadium. A Huskies win would be their third in a row after an 0-3 start and would secure no worse than third place.
Saint Mary’s can still win the league and host the Loney Bowl for a fourth straight year by winning out.
The Huskies pounded the young X-Men 43-16 last Friday night in Antigonish and have won their last two by a combined 88-26.
"Our biggest fear is having any level of slip up," said Huskies head coach Steve Sumarah. "We still have a goal in mind that we’d like to finish first in the conference and the only way we can do that is to win every game."
Meanwhile, Gary Waterman’s team has to win where they’ve lost 18 in a row in the regular season and playoffs since 1998. The average score in the losses is 44-13.
Waterman said most of the young X-Men don’t know much about the team’s past in Halifax.
"This crew here doesn’t have a real history with Saint Mary’s and the tough times we’ve had there," said Waterman. "For us it’s just about trying to get a victory."
Acadia hosts Mount Allison in the back end of their home and home Saturday afternoon at Raymond Field. The Axemen rallied for a 26-19 win last week in New Brunswick.
Wins by Acadia and Saint Mary’s this weekend mean the Axemen can finish no worse than second and guarantees them a home playoff date. The Huskies and Axemen could settle top spot head to head on the final day of the regular season Oct. 30 in Wolfville.
X-Men (1-4) at Huskies (2-3): Can anybody stop Jahmeek Taylor?
The 2008 conference rookie of the year has four touchdowns in the last two games, three on punt returns. He has been the CIS special teams player of the week for the past two weeks.
He had 252 all-purpose yards last week against the X-Men after slamming Acadia for 280 yards the week before.
Taylor’s 486 punt return yards has already broken the Saint Mary’s single-season record with three games to go. He has 919 all-purpose yards.
Sumarah said Taylor has matured in the last year.
"He’s been playing with a nice confidence and he’s doing some good things for us," he said.
The one-sided score in Antigonish masked a lukewarm day for the SMU offence, which had only 286 yards of offence.
The X-Men continue to ask too much of a veteran defence and have yet to settle on a quarterback. Rookie Jahmari Bennett became the fourth X-Men pivot in five weeks when he finished up against the Huskies, throwing for a late touchdown.
St. F.X. starter Cory Wensley threw three interceptions, all to Mark Holden, and was sacked three times. St. F.X.’s other major came from a fumble recovery.
Wensley will start Friday. "We’re going with him another game and giving him an opportunity to rebound," Waterman said.
SMU’s Dan Schutte, the league leader in sacks, is expected to miss the game due to nagging injuries.
Mounties (2-3) at Axemen (3-2): Acadia has dominated the series 21-2 since the start of the 2000 season.
The Axemen used a stonewall defence in the third quarter to allow a 17-point rally to unfold. They also got a touchdown on a punt return from Najja Coley as part of the comeback.
The Mounties have lost two in a row since MVP receiver/returner Gary Ross went out on Sept. 25 with a hand injury. Mount A starts two in a row on the road with a visit to Saint Mary’s next Saturday.