St. Francis Xavier faces long odds in AUS final vs. Saint Mary’s
By Monty Mosher, The Chronicle Herald
 
What a difference a week makes for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.

They were the hunter last week against the Acadia Axemen in the AUS football semifinal. They eventually got their prey 33-30, but it took a 17-0 rally in the last half of the fourth quarter to avoid a disastrous end to a promising year.

Now the CIS No. 10 X-Men will be the hunted. They have to beat history today in the Loney Bowl at a place where they haven’t beaten anything in more than a decade.

Today’s game at 1 p.m. will be the third straight AUS football title game between the sixth-ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies (7-1), the two-time defending champions, and the X-Men (7-2).

The last two have been classics with the Huskies surviving a furious second-half rally from the X-Men last year in a 29-27 win. An Erik Glavic touchdown run in the fourth quarter in 2007 rallied the Huskies to a 25-24 win.

Today’s winner will have home-field advantage for next weekend’s Uteck Bowl national semifinal against the Canada West champions — either the Calgary Dinos or the Saskatchewan Huskies. A Calgary win brings Glavic, the 2007 Hec Crighton Trophy winner who transferred in January, and former SMU head coach Blake Nill, a two-time Vanier Cup winner with the Huskies, back to Halifax.

The Huskies won’t look past the X-Men in anticipation of a possible showdown with Nill and Glavic. They know big wins over the X-Men in the regular season in Halifax in each of the past two seasons have meant nothing in the Loney Bowl.

"X plays us tough, that’s just how it is," said fifth-year defensive back Jeff Zelinski. "They bring their A game for the playoffs and we expect nothing less this week."

"I’m expecting it to be a close game," said fifth-year centre Derek Weber. "The AUS championship is always close. We know for sure they are going to come out here looking for blood."

Absolutely everything imaginable favours the Huskies.

For starters, no X-Men team since 1998 has left Huskies Stadium with a win, either regular season or playoff. SMU’s 41-7 victory on Oct. 23 extended that steak to 17 and clinched first place at the same time.

The Huskies have also had a week off to rest and heal while the X-Men were thrashing for their lives against the determined Axemen. Since the AUS adopted a three-team playoff format in 2002, the team with the bye and home-field advantage is 7-0, with the Huskies owning five of those banners.

What the X-Men can claim is the only win over the Huskies this season, a 29-24 thriller on opening day in Antigonish. They also clearly have nothing to lose after escaping their near-death experience against the Axemen.

"They are a good team, we know that," said X-Men linebacker Henoc Muamba. "We’ve got to go out and play to our abilities, and mistake-free, and we should be fine."

X-Men receiver Akeem Foster was indomitable down the stretch a week ago in his team’s late rally against the Axemen.

"I feel good about it," he said of another playoff shot at the Huskies. "St. F.X. against the world: last man standing. We like our chances."

Quarterback Steve Snyder, another hero in last week’s comeback win, also said the X-Men won’t be intimidated today.

"I believe in this group," he said. "I’ve never been more confident in a group of people in my life."

X-Men head coach Gary Waterman said his team has moved past the last two playoff games at Huskies Stadium, or any past failures in Halifax.

"We’ve beaten them once this year and they’ve beaten us once this year," he said. "At the end of the day how it happened is irrelevant. We’re 1-1 and this is the tie-breaker."

The Huskies will have to overcome some setbacks in their run game. Devon Jones is out with a suspension and brother Tristan is sidelined with a shoulder injury, leaving Craig Leger to carry the load.

Huskies head coach Steve Sumarah said he won’t tinker too much with the offence despite missing two key running backs.

"The reality is that what got you here is what’s going to get you farther," he said.

The X-Men got a bit healthier this week with defensive end Dave Skillen attempting to play with an ACL injury. Several offensive linemen are making their way back from the flu.

The Huskies took full advantage of their week off.

"It allowed us to heal up some injuries," said Sumarah. "We kind of had a bit of a training-camp mentality in terms of getting back to the basics. I think it was beneficial. I guess Saturday will tell."