Huskies top X-Men in exhibition action

Antigonish, NS – In AUS pre-season exhibition action Saturday afternoon the Saint Mary's Huskies topped the StFX X-Men 39-7 at StFX Stadium.

The game saw the visiting Huskies dress 60 players and the X-Men suiting up 81.  

Saint Mary's got out to an early 4-0 lead after the first quarter and bumped it up to a 19-0 halftime lead.

Fourth year kicker Brian Hope (Port Coquitlan, BC) accounted for the first quarter points with a 27 yard field goal and a rouge.

Huskies quarterback Josh Shimm (Lawrenceville, GA) threw a 26 yard pass to Josh Henry (Pickering, ON) on the opening drive of the second quarter then connected with Shedler Fervius (Scarborough, ON) for a five yard major late in the half.

Saint Mary's continued to dominant on the offensive side of the ball, scoring another 13 unanswered points in the third quarter.

With Avery Clayton (Ottawa, ON) in the pivot position, he threw a 34 yard touchdown pass to Liam O'Brien (Parksville, BC), then Hope added to his point total with another rouge and a 14 yard field goal. The Huskies closed out the quarter with a safety to go up 32-0.  

Their final major came off a 19 rushing touchdown four minutes into the fourth quarter by freshman Teon Alexander-Amour (Vancouver, BC) who finished the game with six carries for 66 yards.  

The X-Men capitalized on a Branden Thompson (Middle Sackville, NB) interception deep in Huskies territory and turned it into a touchdown on a one-year run from freshman quarterback Silas Fagnan (Bonnyville, AB).

Fagnan (2-4, 20 yards) was one of four pivots the X-Men used throughout the afternoon, along with fellow rookie Mitchell Tufts (1-3, 15 yards), as well as Quinn Stewart (2-8, 15 yards) and Bailey Wasdal (6-8, 58 yards).

The Huskies were more successful on the afternoon both in the air (375 yards to the X-Men's 108) and on the ground (28-194 to StFX's 23-77) and used just two quarterbacks. Shimm was 15-16 for 193 yards, while Clayton was 11-15 for 153 yards.

O'Brien was their top target, hauling in eight catches for 111 yards. Alexander-Amour (6-66) and Halifax native Tyrique Dixon-Bowden (10-72) were the Huskies top rushers.

For the X-Men, Chase Bowden (St. Catherine's, ON) had three carries for 15 yards and Matt Kariath (Calgary, AB) had four receptions for 39 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, Alexis Verville (Victoriaville, QC) led the X-Men with five tackles, while Brandon Kohls (Maple Creek, SK) had five for SMU.

The AUS season opens regular season play next weekend. The Huskies will be dormant as they are on a bye week and will next see action on September 7^th when they host Bishops in their home opening game.

The X-Men will host Mount Allison on Saturday, August 24^th to kick off the season in a 2:00 pm game at StFX Stadium.

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Recap courtesy StFX Sports Information