Mounties earn critical win over X-Men

Sackville, NS - The Mounties Allison Mounties came away with a big win on Saturday, defeating the StFX X-Men 32-15 for a critical week 7 victory in AUS football action. 

Both teams started the afternoon cautiously with no scoring over the first quarter. The Mounties were first to hit the scoreboard as senior quarterback Troy Downton drove his Mounties 58 yards on 7 plays, finding senior Jared Rawlings in the end zone from 10 yards out to put the Mounties up 7-0.

On the next StFX possession Mounties sophomore defensive back Tyree Dunn intercepted Josh Millar's pass and ran it back 38 yards to give the Mounties the ball back on StFX 22 yard line.  Five plays later Downton converted a 3^rd and goal try, again finding Rawlings in the end zone, this time from 3 yards out.  The Mounties failed to convert the extra point to leave the score at 13-0.

The Mounties added to their lead on their next possession when senior kicker Ryan Lambert connected from 29 yards out to bring the score to 16-0.  StFX would pick up a single point off a missed field goal late in the 2^nd quarter to post a 16-1 score at halftime.

With six minutes gone in the 3^rd quarter, the Mounties pushed their lead to 19-1 with Lambert's second field goal of the game as he connected from 16 yards out.  After the Mounties conceded a safety to bring the score to 19-3, Lambert connected on his 3^rd field goal, this time hitting from 32 yards.

StFX matched these points with a 39 yard field goal from Jonathan Heidebrecht with 3 minutes gone in the 4^th quarter to pull the score to 22-6. But the Mounties went right back to work, driving 75 yards before Chris Reid found the end zone on a 1 yard run.

With the score 29-6, StFX took only 37 seconds to respond as Dylan Fisher hit Kaion Julien-Grant for a 67 yard touchdown, the longest play of the day for either side.  StFX was unsuccessful on the 2-point convert attempt, leaving the score at 29-12.

From there the Mounties were able to lock down the win, culminating with a two minute drive at the end of the game where Lambert kicked his 4^th field goal of the afternoon as time expired, giving the Mounties the 32-15 win.  The big play on the final drive came when Chris Reid busted open a 38 yard run.

Mounties' quarterback Troy Downton was 26 of 35 for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Chris Reid had 194 yards on 26 carries with 1 touchdown. Kiel Ambursley chipped in with 94 yards of his own on 14 carries as the Mounties amassed 541 yards of total offense in the game.  Subway Player of the Game Jared Rawlings had 6 catches for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns while junior Josh Hicks had 9 catches for 111 yards.

For StFX Josh Millar was 7 of 15 for 86 yards and 1 interception before leaving the game with an injury.  Dylan Fisher was 7 of 15 for 117 yards and 1 touchdown in relief. AUS all-star running back Jordan Socholotiuk was held to 75 yards on 13 attempts.  Kaion Julien-Grant had 4 catches for 106 yards and the X-Men's only touchdown.

The Mounties (2-4) now enter a bye week before heading to Bishop's on October 21^st. StFX (3-3) travels to Acadia on Saturday, October 14^th.

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Courtesy Mount Allison Communications