X-Men top Mounties 46-7 in AUS pre-season football action

Antigonish, NS - In AUS pre-season football action Saturday afternoon, the STFX X-Men dropped the visiting Mount Allison Mounties 46-7, thanks in part to four touchdowns in the second quarter.

Ben Harrington had a big return on the opening kickoff for X, bringing the ball to mid-field. However, a sack on second down meant STFX had to punt. On the ensuing series, Mount Allison effectively moved the ball down field but went wide on a field goal attempt.

The squads traded the ball for the rest of the opening quarter, which ended without a score.

STFX looked dangerous in the Mounties end early in the second quarter, and Ben Hadley put the home team up 3-0 with 9:30 left as he booted a 17-yard field goal.

Justin Letendre-Lampron, who relieved Silas Fagnan at quarterback, later lead the X-Men offence down field on a strong drive, and Caleb Fogarty capped off the possession with a 27-yard touchdown run with about five minutes to play in the half. Max Capriotti hit the extra point.

Letendre-Lampron threw the first touchdown pass of the match on the next X-Men possession, finding Harrington open for a 14-yard strike. Tyson Heather hit the extra point to put the X-Men up 17-0.

Harrington then punched in his second touchdown of the quarter, bringing a 47-yard punt return to the house after the X-Men pinned the Mounties in their own end on the next series. Hadley split the uprights for the extra point.

Tyler Ivany picked up the X-Men's fourth touchdown of the quarter with less than a minute left, catching a 19-yard Letendre-Lampron pass, with Hadley kicking the extra point and a rouge on the ensuing kickoff, making it 32-0 at halftime in favor of the defending AUS champions.

Neither team was able to maintain forward momentum early in the third quarter. Sam Caplice had a 37-yard pass to Jack Healy with about five minutes left, bringing the X-Men to the Mounties' three-yard line, and two plays later Simon Degraff ran it in for six points. Heather had the extra point.

The Mounties conceded a safety with 44 seconds left in the quarter, bringing the score to 41-0.

Heather drilled a 31-yard field goal with about nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter to extend the X-Men lead.

Mount Allison's Xavier Uhr marched the Mounties downfield late in the fourth quarter and put the visitors on the board with a six-yard pass to receiver Jack Arsenault. Declan Oss had the extra point.  Mount Allison conceded another safety late, and the final score was 46-7.

The game saw numerous athletes enter the playing field for both sides as unlimited rosters are permitted in AUS exhibition play. Each squad tried out four different pivots. Training camps will resume this week with regular season play opening up on August 26^th.  

The X-Men open their AUS regular season at home next Saturday against Bishop's at 3 p.m. Mount Allison host Acadia in their regular season opener at 2 p.m.

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics
Note: No game statistics available in AUS exhibition play 

SCORING SUMMARY