Antigonish, NS - On the strength of a second-half explosion, where they outscored their opponent 37-0, the StFX X-Men (1-1) cruised to a convincing 48-13 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies (0-2) in AUS football action Saturday afternoon.
More than 2000 fans watched the X-Men win their home opener at Oland Stadium on a scorching late-summer afternoon.
Fifth-year StFX running back Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, ON), the Subway player of the game, collected 238 all-purpose yards in the victory, including 92 on 12 carries, 80 on six receptions and 66 on two kick-off returns.
After trailing 13-11 at the half, the X-Men wasted no time in regaining the lead, scoring on a five-play, 75-yard touchdown march, which was capped by a 43-yard touchdown catch by freshman receiver Dejuan Martin (Scarborough, ON), who had two receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns, from Tivon Cook (Scarborough, ON).
Cook, a senior quarterback, finished the game 23-for-30 with 338 passing yards and three touchdown passes, while Martin also added 67 yards on two carries in the winning effort.
With the extra point from freshman placekicker Jonathan Heidebrecht (Camrose, AB), the X-Men led 18-13, and never looked back.
On the ensuing kick-off, Heidebrecht tacked on the rouge when his boot bounced through the Saint Mary's end zone to make it 19-13.
After the X-Men defense held the Huskies offense to a two-and-out, Cook and the offense went back to work, with a four-play, 59-yard drive completed on a four-yard TD catch from freshman wide receiver Kaion Grant (Toronto, ON). Dickson keyed the march with a 32-yard reception and 17-yard rushing effort.
With another Heidebrecht convert, the X-Men led 26-13.
After the X-Men bottled up the Huskies' offense deep in their own zone, Saint Mary's kicker Ideen Samadi (Edmonton, AB) conceded a safety, which gave StFX a 28-13 advantage.
Dickson returned the next kick-off 50 yards, which led to a 35-yard field goal from Heidebrecht to make it 31-13.
In the fourth quarter, Heidebrecht split the uprights from 21 yards out to give the X-Men a 34-13 lead. He was three-for-four on field goal attempts in the game.
Sophomore running back Dejon Lynch (Nanaimo, BC) keyed the next X-Men drive by rushing for 33 yards on three carries, including an 11-yard score.
With the third of four point-after makes from Heidebrecht, the X-Men led 41-13.
Lynch, who finished with 75 yards on seven carries, completed the one-sided second half for the X-Men with a 41-yard touchdown run, followed by the final Heidebrecht convert.
The X-Men, who dominated the Huskies 618 to 212 in total offense, opened the scoring in the first five minutes of the game on a 46-yard field goal by Heidebrecht.
The home side increased its advantage to 5-0 when the Huskies conceded a safety.
Later in the first quarter, Saint Mary's jumped to a 7-5 lead on the strength of a 51-yard TD pass from Trevor Erdmann (Ardrossan, AB) to Rick LeMoignan (Edmonton, AB) and a convert from Samadi. Erdmann, who had a strong first half, finished 20-for-33 with 208 passing yards, while LeMoignan was his top receiver with five catches for 84 yards.
In the second quarter, Samadi booted his first of two field goals, from nine yards out, to top a 14-play drive. The Huskies extended to a 13-5 lead, when Samadi completed an 11 play, 75-yard drive, with another three points.
Before halftime, the X-Men answered when Martin and Cook hooked up for a 24-yard touchdown play to make it 13-11, but StFX failed on a two-point attempt that would have tied the score.
The X-Men collected 26 first downs in the game, while the Huskies had 12.
Spearheaded by a great effort by the StFX offensive line, the blue and white rushed for 272 net yards, compared to minus-four for the Huskies.
In the passing game, freshman Christian Ridley (Dubai, UAE) chipped in three catches for 62 yards, while veteran Randy Roseway (Ottawa, ON) added 36 yards on three receptions.
Along with the LeMoignan effort, Mohammed Abdallah (Edmonton, AB) contributed 65 yards on seven catches to lead the Huskies.
Defensively, MaKenzie Fox (Bedford, NS) had 8.5 tackles for the Huskies, while Aiden Panchyshyn (Edmonton, AB) added 7.5. Lucas Cristovao (Markham, ON), who spent plenty of time in the X-Men backfield in the opening 30 minutes, chipped in 5.5 tackles, along with 2.5 tackles for loss.
For the X-Men, Daniel Tshiamala (Kinshasa, Congo) had seven tackles and two tackles-for-loss for 14 yards, while freshman linebacker Brandt Kolybaba (Lacombe, AB) counted five tackles and two tackles for loss, in a balanced effort on that side of the ball.
Defensive lineman Tyler Cordeiro (Oakville, ON) chipped in 2.5 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Both teams return to action Saturday, Sept. 26, in CIS interlock action, with the Huskies hosting the Bishop's Gaiters in Halifax, while the X-Men will hit the road to face the nationally #2 ranked Laval Rouge et Or.
The X-Men are back on home turf Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at 2 p.m., when they host the Huskies in the StFX Homecoming 2015 match-up.
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