X-Men in tough against Huskies
Reigning conference MVP Jahmeek Taylor and the Saint Mary’s Huskies host the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in AUS football tonight at Huskies Stadium. St. F.X. hasn’t won in Halifax since 1998.
A young X-Men football team got to celebrate a win last week. The feeling may be fleeting if they can’t reverse some history.
The X-Men, 1-3, begin a home-and-home set with CIS No. 8 Saint Mary’s Huskies, 3-1 or possibly 4-0, tonight at Huskies Stadium, visiting a field where they’ve lost 19 in a row since 1998.
Saint Mary’s has been awarded a forfeit victory over Montreal, a game they lost 11-10 in Montreal on Sept. 17. The forfeit has survived one appeal, but is under a second.
Meanwhile the Acadia Axemen, 3-1, head to Mount Allison, 0-4, to begin their home-and-home affair. Acadia and Saint Mary’s are assured of playoff spots with Week 5 wins.
For the X-Men, ignorance brings a measure of bliss. With the vast majority of the roster in the first or second year, most of the players have little recollection of past disappointments in metro.
"Most of the guys here now don’t have a lot of history with that," said head coach Gary Waterman. "I think for them it’s a fresh start."
Waterman said he’s had to get his team refocused after a 24-17 win over Mount Allison.
"When they’re young, they get excited about one win, but it’s just one win," he said. "We’ve got lots of work to do."
The Huskies, coming off an 8-3 home win over Acadia, are rushing for 206 yards per game led by fifth-year tailback Craig Leger (63-377).
The Huskies have only allowed one touchdown in the last three games.
Steve Sumarah’s team will be missing Dan Schutte (ankle), Matt Lalande (shoulder) and Mark Holden (hamstring) from the starting defence for at least one more week.
Running back Devon Jones had a hearing with university administration on Thursday over eligibility and hopes to be given clearance to play for the first time this year.
"This is an up-and-coming team that is improving week to week," Sumarah said of the X-Men. "We’re also a young offence. We’ve got our own challenges and we need to improve week to week. I don’t think you’ll see us sit back and assume or expect anything."
Rookie Jesse Mills makes his fifth straight start at quarterback for the Huskies.
Axemen (3-1) at Mounties (0-4): Acadia had its chances to beat Saint Mary’s last week and showed it can trade blows with the four-time defending champs.
As with Saint Mary’s, the danger this week and next for Acadia is a letdown before their pivotal rematch on Oct. 22 at Raymond Field.
The Axemen return to the scene of last year’s conference semifinal, which they won in the mud in a four-overtime shootout.
"They played well last week," Acadia head coach Jeff Cummins said of the Mounties. "They have some weapons. (Quarterback Jake) Hotchkiss is a very good quarterback and (Adam) Molnar is a hell of a receiver and Ben Stehr is playing really well at receiver. And their defence is moving around and doing a lot of interesting things. They pose some challenges, for sure."
The Mounties continue to be their own worst enemy with 21 turnovers, including 13 interceptions, through four games. They are minus-8 in turnover margin.
Hotchkiss, last year’s all-star quarterback, has authored 12 of the picks. Offence was expected to be the team’s strength with 10 starters back from last year’s playoff team.
Acadia is a league-best plus-four in the turnover department.