After falling behind 11-0 in the first quarter, the StFX X-Men rallied for a 29-14 victory over the Mount Allison Mounties in AUS pre-season football action Friday night at Oland Stadium in Antigonish.
Both teams played with expanded rosters in the contest.
It was a tale of two quarters in the opening half, with the visiting Mounties jumping to a 7-0 advantage on a three-yard Chris Reid touchdown run and a Ryan Lambert extra point.
On the ensuing kick-off, Lambert booted the ball through the end zone for a single point to extend the Mount Allison lead to 8-0.
Lambert made it 11-0 with a 41-yard field goal.
The X-Men had two turnovers in the opening quarter, including a Tivon Cook interception and a failed third-down-and-one attempt at mid-field with Mount Allison defensive back Kwame Adjei stopping running back Ashton Dickson before he gained the required yardage.
Dante Djan, who took over for Cook at quarterback, used his legs and arm to help the X-Men get on the scoreboard in the second quarter. He scrambled for a couple of first downs and completed five out of six pass attempts, including a 12-yard touchdown strike to Keon Hughes.
With the point after by Jeremy Ford, the X-Men cut the Mountie lead to 11-7.
In the final seconds of the first half, X-Men freshman Jonathan Heidebrecht trimmed the deficit to 11-10 with a field goal.
Early in the second half, Heidebrecht gave StFX its first lead (13-11) with his second field goal of the game. The X-Men capitalized on a fumble recovery by defensive lineman Zeandre Regis.
After the next X-Men series, Ford recovered his own punt, giving his team excellent field position. On the resulting drive, Heidebrecht could not connect on his third field goal try. On the miss, Mount Allison returner Idahosa Yorke dashed 75 yards to the X-Men 40-yard line. Cook, who was the holder on the field goal attempt, saved a touchdown by nudging Yorke out of bounds along the sideline.
The Mounties did take advantage of the prime field position, coming away with a Lambert field goal to regain the lead at 14-13.
The X-Men took the lead for good, at 15-14, when the Mounties conceded a safety. A high snap on a punt attempt sailed over the head of Kyle MacLean, who tracked it down at the back of the end zone, before kicking it out of play.
Sean Mellor, the fourth QB who played for StFX, engineered a scoring drive, which included two catches from wide receiver Christian Ridley. From inside the one-yard line, running back Albert Banahene scored the touchdown. With an extra point from Keiran Burnham, the X-Men led 22-14.
The X-Men wrapped up the scoring in the fourth quarter on electrifying 68-yard run from freshman wide receiver Dejuan Martin, who took a hand-off from Mellor and blazed untouched to the end zone.
Another Burnham conversion made it 29-14.
The AUS regular season kicks-off next weekend, beginning Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m., when the Mounties visit Halifax to face the Saint Mary's Huskies.
The X-Men will face the host Acadia Axemen Saturday, Sept. 12 in Wolfville.
Game time is 2 p.m.
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Note: Box Score and statistics unavailable for exhibition game