X-Men handle Mounties 51-5 to open AUS season

The StFX X-Men traveled to Sackville, NB Friday night and were impressive in their AUS regular season debut, playing to a 51-5 victory over the Mount Allison Mounties, disappointing the 2200 fans who turned out for the first night game in Mounties history.

StFX was led by second year running back Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, ON) on the ground attack with 150 rushing yards and one touchdown, while first year quarterback Clay Masikewich (Calgary, AB) was 9 for 19, throwing two touchdown passes to help the X-Men build up a 41-5 half-time lead. The blue and white’s special teams contributed one touchdown and the defense two.

StFX and Mount Allison began the game tentatively, exchanging first quarter field goals. Second year kicker Jeremy Ford (Halifax, NS) booted two field goals to start off the game, one from 36 yards out and the second from 22 yards. Mount Allison kicker Alex Curtis got the Mounties on the board with a 30 yard field goal before the first quarter closed out at 6-3 in favor of the visiting X-Men.

The second quarter would prove to be the difference in the game as the X-Men exploded for 35 points.  2011 AUS all-star receiver Jordan Catterall (Oakville, ON) hauled in a 20 yard Masikewich pass to launch the attack on the first drive of the quarter. On the ensuing Mountie possession, fourth year veteran X-Men defensive back Bryce Szela (Burlington, ON) recovered a Nick Lauder fumble to return the ball 37 yards for a StFX touchdown.

Second year X-Men receiver Damone Williams (Mississauga, ON) then padded the lead with consecutive majors. Masikewich hit Williams for a 55 yard touchdown pass to increase the StFX lead to 27-3, then Williams followed up with a blocked punt on Mounties kicker Kyle McLean that he recovered and ran in for a 15 yard score.

The Mounties scored a safety and StFX’s Dickson ran for a one yard touchdown score late in the second quarter before all was said and done as the X-Men outscored the Mounties 35-2 in the second frame, building up a convincing 41-5 half-time lead. 

The second half saw the scoring action slow down as the X-Men kept the Mounties off the board for the remainder of the game. Freshman StFX defensive back Demetrius Ferguson (Nassau, Bahamas) intercepted a Jake Hotchkiss quarterback pass midway through the third quarter which he returned for a 78 yard touchdown.

X-Men kicker Jeremy Ford rounded out the scoring in the game with a fourth quarter 23 yard field goal. Ford had 15 points in the game for StFX as they collected the 51-5 victory. It was the first time the X-Men had scored more than 50 points on the road since Sept. 10, 2005 when they defeated Mount Allison 72-0 in Sackville.
 
X-Men quarterback Clay Masikewich (9-19-0) threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns and also had 27 rushing yards. Catterall was his top target, hauling in four catches and one touchdown for 67 total yards. Williams had two catches and one touchdown for 74 receiving yards. Both receivers also played a strong game on the return team.

StFX running back Ashton Dickson led the attack on the ground, rushing for 150 yards on 26 carries, including one touchdown.

In the losing effort for the Mounties, fourth-year quarterback Jake Hotchkiss was 7 for 18 for 60 total yards. Freshman Brandon Leyh was 8-12 for 81 yards in relief.
Rookie tailback Jordan Botel tallying 55 rushing yards on 15 carries for Mount Allison, while Nick Lauder had 4 catches for 31 yards.

Defensively, Justin Richard led the Mounties with 9.5 tackles while veteran Ryan Downe had 7 tackles and one sack. For the X-Men, Hayden Peters and Mike Champ each recorded six total tackles. Freshman defensive back Paolo Lach-Edwards and veteran linebacker Brett Hubbeard each had five tackles a piece. Peter Dominic had two sacks in the game and Ron Omara was strong defensively with one sack and three tackles for a loss on 4.5 total tackles.

The X-Men (1-0) will now look forward to their home opener next Saturday, September 15th when they will host the Concordia Stingers (1-1) in interlock play. Kick-off is 2:00 pm at StFX Oland Stadium. The Mounties (0-1) travel to Montreal for a Friday night game against McGill (0-2).