Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men played a home game for the first time on their own gridiron since Oct. 4, 2019, earning a 23-14 victory over the Acadia Axemen in AUS pre-season exhibition play.
The teams were able to dress close to 100 players aside and utilize their entire depth charts as they prepared for regular season play to open next weekend.
X-Men head coach Gary Waterman noted there was excitement in finally getting back to AUS action and having a chance to get everyone onto the field into a game situation.
"It was great for everyone to get a chance to experience university football. Some of these athletes who have been around for a year haven't had a chance to do that, and for those around for a long time had almost forgotten what it was like."
"I thought it was good to get everyone in there and compete against another AUS team. Overall it was a great experience for them."
It didn't take long for the visiting Axemen to get on the board as they scored a single point off a deep opening kickoff.
After settling in, the X-Men answered with an extended drive that lead to a 51 yard touchdown reception by Zakariya Karim off a nice pass from pivot Silas Fagnan. The play came 8:25 into the game.
Acadia responded at 5:42 with a short 12-yard touchdown run from running back Cole Estabrooks. The major came off a string of Axemen receptions and a lengthy drive down field.
The one point 8-7 Acadia lead held up after the first quarter.
Five minutes into the second quarter, Silas Fagnan connected with his older brother Isaac Fagnan for a nice 46 yard reception.
The play led to a 41 yard field goal attempt by Max Capriotti but the ball went wide left of the uprights. Acadia conceded a safety on the play as the X-Men knotted it up 8-8.
Capriotti attempted another field goal later in the quarter - this time from 26 yards out - but the wet weather impacted the X-Men's ball handling and the snap was fumbled.
The latter half of the second quarter saw several penalties, many assessed to the home squad, though Coach Waterman noted that was to be expected. "In a normal exhibition game you get penalties but then coupled with not playing for so long – it's been 707 days playing on our home field – so I was expecting some sloppiness but for the most part I felt they played well."
With 19 seconds left in the opening half the Axemen conceded a safety and the X-Men took a 10-8 into halftime.
STFX increased their lead to 13-8 off an 11-yard field goal by Ben Hadley 6:22 into the third quarter.
Quarterback Bailey Wasdal played well with several key passes and runs for the blue and white. Caleb Fogarty was the go-to player on the ground for the X-Men as he logged many carries.
The X-Men used four quarterbacks throughout the game as Sam Caplice and Justin Letendre-Lampron also saw action.
Waterman noted that, "We were pleased from what we saw from there, they've been working really hard and trying to get consistency in footwork and reading plays, so I thought a lot of the things we were doing in practice they showed up in the game and each one had a chance to show what they were capable of doing. We were really excited about their performances."
It was the STFX defence however, that pulled in the next score of the game as linebacker Jordan Forrest had a nice pick-six play from 22 yards out. The play came with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter to increase the X-Men lead to 20-8.
The quickness of Letendre-Lampron made for an exciting fourth quarter. He made a strong 47 yard pass to Isiah Parkinson who split the Acadia defenders to run the ball deep in to Axemen territory. Despite being second and goal, the X-Men couldn't punch in the major score but Hadley kicked his second field goal of the game from 13 yards out this time to give STFX a 23-8 lead.
With just under two minutes to play, the Axemen took advantage of an X-Men fumble to score their second touchdown of the game. Spencer Richard jumped on a loose ball in the end zone as STFX had a high snap to the punter and a resulting fumble.
Acadia tried for a two-point convert but were held up, and the 23-14 score held until the final whistle.
Both teams will be back in action next weekend as AUS regular season play begins.
The X-Men travel to Halifax Friday night, September 17th to face the Saint Mary's Huskies in a 7:00 pm kick-off, while the Axemen will be in Sackville, NB Saturday afternoon for a 2:00 pm encounter with Mount Allison.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, StFX Sports Information