The Saint Mary’s Huskies held off a resilient St FX X-Men team to win today’s AUS semi-final game 25-2 at Huskies Stadium.

The Huskies received 70 and 55 yards on the ground from Devon Jones (St.Albert, Alb.) and Craig Leger (Salmon River,  N.S) respectively to hold off a 2nd half charge by the X-Men and win 25-2 in front of 1503 fans on a frigid afternoon in Halifax.

The pivotal moment came midway through the 3rd quarter with the Huskies leading 12-0. The X-Men took advantage of great field position and drove deep into Huskies territory behind the relentless running attack of Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, Ont.) and Andrew Hickey (Fredericton, N.B.).

But on 3rd and four from the six yard line, Neil King (Sherwood Park, Alb.) tackled Hickey two yards short of a first down and the Huskies had their biggest defensive stand of the season.

Saint Mary’s conceded a safety shortly thereafter to give the X-Men all the scoring they would muster on the day.

Dixon would finish with 145 yards rushing on 29 carries for the X-Men while Ron Omara (Aylmer, QC.) registered 10 tackles to lead St FX defensively.

The youthful X-Men made huge strides one year after going winless in 2010 and are poised to be legitimate AUS championship contenders in 2012.

Rob Jubenville (Oshawa, Ont.) was named Subway Player of the Game as he led the Huskies defense with 8.5 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

The Huskies move on to play Acadia next week in the 2011 AUS Loney Bowl championship game.