ANTIGONISH - Powered by an MVP-type performance by running back Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, ON) and another rock-solid effort from the defense, the StFX X-Men punched their ticket to the 2015 AUS Subway Loney Bowl with a 26-4 win over the visiting Acadia Axemen in semi-final action Saturday afternoon at Oland Stadium.
"We came out wanting it," X-Men wide receiver Christian Ridley (Dubai, UAE) said, noting it was "disappointing" for the team not to clinch first place in the regular season last week with their win over the Mount Allison Mounties.
"Today, there was just a lot of hustle, a lot of heart out there. Our defense played phenomenally; they have been amazing, especially in the second half of the season, so we owe a lot to them. Dickson was running the ball well and the O-line was awesome.
"It was an all-around team effort, which was really cool, because we have had a couple games where it was kind of just the defense and the offense didn't really step up too much, but all three sides of the ball really stepped up big in this game," the Subway player of the game, who had five catches for 79 yards, added.
More than 1,100 fans saw the visitors take a 1-0 advantage on the opening play, when the Jeffrey Beattie (Hamilton, ON) kick-off resulted in a rouge. The Axemen doubled their lead after a Beattie punt resulted in another rouge.
In the first quarter, the Acadia defense stymied Dickson on two third-and-one rushes, leading to X-Men turnovers on downs.
After being penned in deep in their own zone, X-Men punter Jeremy Ford (Halifax, NS) conceded a safety, which gave the Axemen a 4-0 edge. That would be the last time Acadia hit the scoreboard in the semi-final match-up.
Late in the first quarter, the X-Men were driving, but Axemen defensive back Harland Hastings (Calgary, AB) wrestled a ball from fifth-year receiver Donald Tabor (Dartmouth, NS) deep in his own zone for another turnover.
On the ensuing drive, Axemen co-player of the game Eli Prochnau (Cochrane, AB) broke into the X-Men zone on a long run, but freshman DB Mike Miller (Ottawa, ON) stripped him from behind and linebacker Adam Kuntz (Camrose, AB) made the fumble recovery.
Early in the second quarter, Dickson put the X-Men on the board with a three-yard touchdown run, which capped an eight-play, 55-yard drive. Ridley corralled a pair of first-down catches on the march to help put StFX in the lead. With a Jonathan Heidebrecht (Camrose, AB) point-after, the X-Men led 7-4.
"Ashton (Dickson) has been running so well, so we have been getting those first downs. We have installed some new pass plays; (Steve) Snyder (X-Men offensive co-ordinator) has been in the lab working on some new plays," Ridley said, when asked about how the offense stepped up in the win.
"We are just making connections; Tivon (Cook) has been on. We are just coming together. It is about time," he added, with a laugh.
On the kick-off after the Dickson score, Heidebrecht booted one into the Axemen end zone, which resulted in a rouge, giving the X-Men an 8-4 advantage. StFX took a 9-4 edge into halftime after another Heidebrecht rouge.
Just over five minutes into the third quarter, the X-Men extended their lead on a leaping 40-yard touchdown catch by Ridley from quarterback Tivon Cook (Scarborough, ON). With the conversion from Heidebrecht, StFX led 16-4.
On the next Axemen possession, the X-Men thwarted a running attempt on a third-down gamble.
A long Dickson run keyed the next StFX drive, which ended with a 24-yard Heidebrecht field goal, making it 19-4 for the home side.
Late in the third quarter, on the first play of a drive, after a nifty punt return from Randy Roseway (Ottawa, ON), Dickson raced 37 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Heidebrecht tacked on the point-after to make it 26-4.
The teams played to a scoreless fourth quarter, with Dylan Bell (Brockville, ON) ending the game on an interception for the X-Men.
Offensively, for the Axemen, Cody Cluett (Cole Harbour, NS) completed 10-of-15 pass attempts for 59 yards, while Nickolas Bynkoski (Duncan, BC) was 6-for-14 for 70 yards, in relief.
Brian Jones (Enfield, NS) caught six balls for 50 yards, while Sabastian Robinson (Saskatoon, SK) chipped in five catches for 42 yards. Acadia churned out 146 yards on the ground, with Prochnau leading the way with 66 yards on three carries.
The X-Men amassed 188 yards on 35 carries, with Dickson carrying the ball 26 times for 156 yards, an average of 5.9 yards per carry. Dejon Lynch (Nanaimo, BC) rushed for 50 yards on eight carries in the fourth quarter.
Through the air, Cook finished 19-for-30 for 232 passing yards, while Roseway and Tabor joined Ridley with five catches apiece, collecting 58 and 51 yards, respectively. The X-Men outgained the Axemen 416-315 in total offense.
Defensively, Jimmie Cunningham (Niagara Falls, ON) led the X-Men with six tackles and half a tackle-for-loss, while freshman Kadel King (London, ON) added 5.5 tackles. Hayden Peters (Inverary, ON) and Daniel Tshiamala (Kinshasa, Congo) collected 4.5 tackles apiece for a StFX defense that has allowed only two touchdowns in the last six games.
For the Axemen, co-player of the game Harrison da Costa (Ottawa, ON) had a game-high 10 tackles, along with one tackle-for-loss. Brian Doyle (Syracuse, NY) added nine tackles.
With the victory, the X-Men will face the defending champion Mount Allison Mounties for the Loney Bowl crown in Sackville, N.B. on Saturday, Nov. 14.
"We played Mt. A last week. It was tough because we needed to beat them by 11 [for first place], but we showed a lot of strength playing against them. We know we can beat them because in that first game we had some offensive issues (three turnovers led to Mountie touchdowns in a 27-17 X-Men loss), but now our offense is a lot stronger and our defense continues to be great," Ridley said.
"We just have to play like we did today and we should do well."
Opening kick-off for the championship match-up is 2 p.m.
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