The St. Francis Xavier X-Men looked good in a 52-12 playoff pasting of the Mount Allison Mounties last week in Antigonish. If they can be that good again today in Halifax for the Loney Bowl (1 p.m., EastLink), the CIS No. 5 Saint Mary’s Huskies have reason to be nervous.

But for John Bloomfield’s X-Men, that’s a big if.

Home success for the X-Men in recent times has rarely translated to good fortune on the road and Huskies Stadium has often been the place where St. F.X.’s Vanier Cup aspirations have gone to die for more than a decade. SMU has won 15 straight games against the X-Men in Halifax since 1998 and hasn’t lost a conference final to anybody at home in 33 years.

The Huskies have another bit of history on their side. No team with a first-round bye and home-field advantage has lost the AUFC final.

But the X-Men thrashed the Huskies 23-0 for the first 20 minutes of their regular-season game in Antigonish. Then the Huskies came back to win 32-26 with the X-Men collapsing on special teams.

St. F.X. came close to an upset in last year’s Loney Bowl at SMU, eventually losing 25-24.

"We’re hungry," said X-Men linebacker Henoc Muamba, the AUS defensive player of the year. "We didn’t forget what happened last year.

"We don’t think we’ve had enough respect in the league," Muamba added. "You’ve got to go out and show what you’ve got and this is the game to show it."

The Huskies didn’t need a reminder that the X-Men are dangerous.

"They looked pretty good on the weekend," said receiver Ryean Warburton. "We’ve got to take them serious. We know it’s going to be a tough game."

The Huskies have won seven of the last nine AUFC championships. St. F.X. hasn’t won since 1996.

Huskies head coach Steve Sumarah said his team’s keys will be good special teams play and holding on to the football.

"But the final key is the intensity of playoff football rises," he said. "I think X is going to come out like gangbusters and we’re going to have to fight the wave of their emotion."

The X-Men, with an electrifying rusher in tailback James Green and an athletic and aggressive defence, began to show their potential late in the regular season in wins against Acadia and McGill. They tanked their final regular season game at SMU, resting their starters in a 49-7 loss.

The playoff win was the most complete game for the X-Men all season.

"When we do execute, when we don’t beat ourselves, I think that’s who we are," Bloomfield said.

The game should be determined at the line of scrimmage and both teams wield strong offensive lines. The Huskies will be missing a key piece of their line with fifth-year left tackle Bryan Jordan serving a one-game suspension.

The Huskies have the best ground attack in the CIS at 278 yards per game. If the Huskies, led by a trio of solid backs in Allistair Blair, Devon Jones and Craig Leger, can run effectively, the pressure on 19-year-old quarterback Jack Creighton goes down. The Huskies also get versatile slotback Carl Hardwick back from an ankle sprain.

The X-Men were unstoppable on the ground against the Mounties with Green, fullback Jeremy Marchand and slotback Mark Metulynsky running like fugitives. That success allowed quarterback Steve Snyder to target open receivers all afternoon.

The Huskies learned much from the first clash with the X-Men.

"It showed true character," said defensive lineman Dan Schutte. "Being down by 23 points and coming back to win the game really shows that we can pull through in tough situations."

The home team is 27-7 in conference finals with one banner decided on a neutral field.

The X-Men are undaunted. "We feel like we have the team to do it and now we get our shot," said Green.

The Huskies will be waiting. "This is our house," said Warburton. "If you’re going to beat us we’re going to make you earn it."

The other three conferences will be decided this weekend with Ottawa at Western Ontario in the OUA, Concordia at Laval in the QUFL and Simon Fraser visiting Blake Nill and his Calgary Dinos in Canada West.

LONEY BOWL PRIMER
The Teams — St. Francis Xavier (5-4, 1-3 on the road) at CIS No. 5 Saint Mary’s (7-1, 3-1 at home)

The Game — 1 p.m., Huskies Stadium

The Stakes — Winner plays either Ottawa or Western Ontario in the Mitchell Bowl national semifinal next Sunday in Ontario.

The Odds — Saint Mary’s is favoured by 13 points at on-line betting site Pinnaclesports.com.

The Series — Saint Mary’s swept the season series, overcoming a 23-0 deficit in Antigonish to win 32-26 and rolling 49-7 on the last weekend of the regular season. The X-Men rested most of their starters in the second game.

The Skinny — It is a rematch of last year’s Loney Bowl, won 25-24 by the Huskies ... Saint Mary’s, with seven league titles in the last nine years, had a playoff bye. No team with the week off has lost since the current format started in 2002 … The X-Men have lost 15 in a row in Halifax ... St. F.X. was 14th in the CIS in offence and eighth in defence. Saint Mary’s was No. 8 on offence, including No. 1 on the ground (278 yards per game), and sixth on defence ... SMU is 15-1 all-time at home in conference finals.

The Stars — St. Francis Xavier — RB James Green (168 yards, 2 TD vs. Mount A in semifinal), QB Steve Snyder (282 yards, 3 TD, vs. Mount A, 970 passing yards last three starts), SB Mark Metulynsky (104 yards receiving, 43 rushing vs. Mount A); Saint Mary’s — RB Devon Jones (507 yards/7 TD in four games), KR Jahmeek Murray (612 return yards in six games), CB Jeff Zelinski (AUS-best 5 interceptions).

Courtesy the Chronicle Herald, Monty Mosher