Antigonish, NS - On the strength of three defensive touchdowns, the visiting Mount Allison Mounties (3-2) scored a 27-17 victory over the StFX X-Men (2-3) in AUS football action Saturday afternoon at Oland Stadium.
The X-Men opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 46-yard field goal from freshman placekicker Jonathan Heidebrecht (Camrose, AB).
The Mounties took their first advantage when veteran defensive lineman Christian Plante (Dartmouth, NS) recovered an Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, ON) fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. With a Ryan Lambert (Grimsby, ON) point-after, the Mounties led 7-3.
Just over one minute later, Subway player of the game sophomore defensive lineman Shaun Robinson (Halifax, NS) forced a fumble by X-Men quarterback Tivon Cook (Scarborough, ON), which Andrew Klain (Dartmouth, NS) recovered for another Mountie defensive touchdown, also in the end zone. With the second point-after of the game from Lambert, Mount Allison took a 14-3 advantage.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter, Lambert capped an eight-play, 60-yard drive with a 24-yard field goal to give the Mounties a 17-3 edge.
Less than five minutes into the third quarter, the X-Men sliced the disadvantage in half, when Cook connected with junior wide receiver Keon Hughes (Mississuaga, ON) in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. With a Heidebrecht point-after, StFX trailed 17-10.
Lambert, from 20-yards out, restored the Mounties ten-point lead (20-10) with his second field goal of the afternoon.
On the last play of the third quarter, Cook scrambled and hooked up with fifth-year senior receiver Randy Roseway (Ottawa, ON), who took the ball inside the Mount Allison two-yard line.
Dickson, who finished with 72 yards on 16 carries, scored on the next play - the first of the fourth quarter - for the X-Men. With the Heidebrecht point-after, the X-Men trimmed the Mountie lead to 20-17.
After the StFX defense stood tall once again, the offense had an opportunity to continue the comeback, but on the first play from scrimmage from deep in their own zone, senior defensive back Matt Montgomery (Oakville, ON) picked off Cook, before scampering 15 yards for the third and final Mount Allison defensive score of the contest.
With a kick from Lambert, the Mounties returned to a 10-point lead at 27-17, the final score of the game.
For the game, the X-Men edged the Mounties in first downs - 14-11 - while out-gaining the visitors 297-190 in total offense, including 247-78 in net passing yards.
Cook completed 21 out of 39 passes for 247 yards, while Brandon Leyh (New Westminster, BC) was 13-for-19 for 78 yards.
Idahosa Yorke (Bowmanville, ON) led the Mounties with seven catches (28 yards), while Dakota Brush (Brantford, ON) corralled two Leyh throws for a team-high 31 yards.
Roseway, Donald Tabor (Dartmouth, NS) and Dejaun Martin (Scarborough, ON) each had four catches, with Roseway topping the X-Men in receiving yardage, with 64.
On the ground, Quinn LeBlanc (Calgary, AB) churned out 88 yards on 24 carries for Mount Allison.
Defensively, the X-Men - who held the Mounties to two field goals - were led by Daniel Tshiamala (Kinshasha, Congo) and Adam Kuntz (Camrose, AB) with 9.5 and seven tackles, respectively.
Kyle Forde (Toronto, ON) and Mete Konya (Osnabrueck, Germany) collected sacks for the X-Men, who also amassed seven tackles for loss for 20 yards.
Forde also forced a fumble, which Tshiamala recovered.
For the Mounties, Plante led the way with 6.5 tackles, along with 1.5 of his team's four sacks of Cook, who was under pressure throughout the game. Plante added 3.5 tackles for loss, along with nine yards on two carries late in the fourth quarter.
Te Nguyen (Mississauga, ON), with six tackles, along with Devante Sampson (Mississauga, ON) and Dylan Cossar (Darmouth, NS), with 5.5 and five, respectively, helped lead the Mounties defensively.
Mount Allison returns to action Saturday, Oct. 17, when they travel to Wolfville for a first-place battle with the Acadia Axemen (3-2)
On the same day, StFX will be on the road in Halifax to face the winless Saint Mary's Huskies (0-5).
Kick-off for both match-ups is 2 p.m.
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