Mounties, X-Men seek first wins
The top of the AUS football heap meets the bottom in a pair of games Saturday that could go a long way in determining the home playoff teams.
The Saint Mary’s Huskies are in Moncton for a neutral-site game against the Mount Allison Mounties at 1 p.m. as part of Touchdown Atlantic weekend. The Acadia Axemen welcome the St. Francis Xavier X-Men at 7 p.m.
The Axemen top the standings at 2-0 with the Huskies 1-1 and the Mounties and X-Men 0-2. The Axemen and Huskies tangle Oct. 1 at Huskies Stadium.
This week’s games mark rematches from Week 1 which saw the Huskies whip the Mounties 54-14 in Halifax and the Axemen slam the X-Men 43-10 in Antigonish.
Acadia can go 3-0 for the first time since Larry Jusdanis was the quarterback in 1995.
"They are a wounded dog backed into a corner at 0-2," Acadia head coach Jeff Cummins said of the X-Men. "You can’t take your eye off them or they’ll bite you. I think they’re ready to play and they’ve got enough talent to be successful against anybody."
X-Men at Axemen: Acadia scored 24 points in the second half last week in a 38-9 win over McGill, spoiling Sonny Wolfe’s return to Wolfville.
The Axemen lead the AUS in turnover margin at plus-three. The defence has only allowed 37 yards on the ground and has eight sacks.
Cummins had some concerns about mental lapses he addressed with the team this week.
"We’ve progressed," he said. "This is a pretty veteran-laden team, so they are pretty receptive."
Axemen running back Brett Haenni has a hand injury and may not play.
The X-Men enter off a 55-9 loss at Concordia. Gary Waterman’s team had some decent moments in the loss, most notably a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from rookie Damone Williams, and the goal is to develop more consistency.
"We’re learning on the fly here," said the ever-positive Waterman, with 69 of 85 players on his roster in their first or second year.
X-Men all-Canadian defensive back Dylan Hollohan, out for the first two games with a groin pull, remains questionable for Saturday.
Huskies at Mounties: Don’t expect the Huskies to look past the Mounties, who are down and hurting.
Saint Mary’s went to Moncton to play Mount A last year and came home with a 0-3 record.
"This year we’re really focused on not taking any game lightly," said Huskies defensive lineman Dan Schutte.
The Huskies have some work to do after a grim offensive performance last week overshadowed a tremendous defensive effort in an 11-10 loss at Montreal. Saint Mary’s ranks last in the conference in passing offence.
Head coach Steve Sumarah will send out rookie Jesse Mills for his third straight start. The 18-year-old Mills had a front-row seat at the school of hard knocks last week.
"Young quarterbacks are going to make mistakes and they are going to have challenges," said Sumarah.
"Now the biggest thing is how he responds. He’s gotten lots of lessons he can work with."
The Huskies are down two all-star defensive backs after Mark Holden reinjured his hamstring in last week’s game and Fraser Vrenjak broke his foot in practice. Vrenjak is out for the season.
With a brand-new defensive secondary this year, the Mounties have already given up 620 passing yards in two games.
They will be without slotback Adam Molnar, who has a strained MCL. The all-Canadian leads the conference in all-purpose yards.
The team’s No. 1 running back, Nick Kukkonen, is doubtful with a hip pointer. He fell on a helmet in last week’s 36-23 loss to Bishop’s.
"We’ve told our guys that we’re competing against Mount A and not SMU," said Mounties head coach Kelly Jeffrey. "I think throughout the first two games our biggest enemy has been ourselves in terms of turning the ball over and lack of execution."