Quebec City - The StFX X-Men (1-2) dropped a 64-0 decision to the CIS #2 ranked Laval Rouge et Or (4-0) in interlock football action Saturday night.
The perennial national powerhouse scored early and often, en route to a 40-0 halftime advantage.
Laval amassed 373 total yards in offense in the first half, compared to 30 for StFX. They also held a 24-2 advantage in first downs.
They got out to a 17-0 first quarter lead with an early 17 yard field goal by Dominic Levesque and two rushing touchdowns
In the second half, the X-Men were able to engineer more offensively, but they could not get on the scoreboard.
Offensively, senior quarterback Tivon Cook (Scarborough, ON) was 9-for-19, with 53 passing yards. He added 19 rushing yards on three carries. In relief, sophomore quarterback Sean Mellor (Carleton Place, ON) completed three passes in five attempts for 29 yards.
Through the air, Laval collected 273 net yards, compared to 82 for StFX.
Rouge et Or quarterback Marc-Antoine Langevin was 17-for-22 with 243 yards, throwing to a range of receivers. His top targets were Tyrone Pierre who had 3 catches for 53 yards and Anthony Auclair (4-47)
Junior Keon Hughes (Missassauga, ON) led the X-Men with three catches for 36 yards, including a 17-yard grab.
Fifth-year senior Randy Roseway (Ottawa, ON) and freshman Dejaun Martin (Scarborough, ON) both caught three balls for 15 yards.
On the ground, the X-Men amassed 82 net yards, with the home team totalling 315.
Fifth-year running back Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, ON) rushed for 52 yards on 11 carries for the X-Men, with his longest run covering 15 yards. Sophomore DeJon Lynch (Nanaimo, BC) carried the ball twice for 13 yards.
Dickson continued his strong play on special teams, gaining 102 yards on six kick-off returns. His longest scamper covered 24 yards.
For the game, Laval had 32 first downs, compared to 10 for StFX.
The home team gained 578 net yards, with the visitors from the AUS finishing with 124.
From the Rouge et Or ground attack, Christopher Amoah amassed 181 yards on 15 carries in cluding three touchdowns in the game (32 yards, 1 yard and 6 yards scores). Maxime Boutin scored two touchdowns from 2 and 4 yards out and totaled 84 rushing yards in the game on 10 carries.
Laval kicker Levesque had eight points in the game while Anthony Dufour scored a 55 yard punt return touchdown, in addiiton to his 118 punt return yards on 8 returns.
Christian Dallaire receovered an Amoah fumble on a Rouge et Or rushing play in the end zone for another Laval major late in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring in the game.
Defensively, freshman linebacker Brent Kolybaba (Lacombe, AB) and sophomore defensive back Dylan Bell (Brockville, ON) both had 5.5 tackles, including four solo and three assisted). Bell also collected a forced fumble.
Sophomore defensive back Nathaniel Fermin (Pickering, ON) added five tackles (three solo and four assisted), as did freshman defensive back Chad Girimonte (Ottawa, ON), who chipped in four solo and two assisted.
Second-year defensive lineman Kyle Forde (Toronto, ON) contributed one sack and three tackles.
For the home team Rouge et Or Guillaume Tremblay-Lebel had 4.5 tackles and Louis-Phil St-Amant had 4. March-Antoine Ouellet (3.5 tackles) and Matthew Betts (2.5 tackles) each had 2 sacks a peice.
The RSEQ first place team will next meet the Concordia (2-2) when they host the Stingers on Sunday, Oct. 4th.
The X-Men will return to AUS action Saturday, Oct. 3, when they host the rival Saint Mary's Huskies in the StFX Homecoming 2015 game. Opening kick-off at Oland Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
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