Antigonish, NS - The StFX X Men football team earned a perfect 6-0 regular season record with a hard fought 13-7 win over the visiting Acadia Axemen on Saturday afternoon.
In the first quarter, after stuffing the Axemen on defense, X allowed a sack on their first possession of the game. However a 32 yard drive led the X-Men to the redzone and Max Capriotti (Mount Hope, ON) drilled a 19 yard field goal to give his squad their first score of the game.
Despite the best efforts of both teams, tight defence and a number of penalties kept everyone off the score sheet for the rest of the half. It wasn't until the third quarter that X was able to add to their lead with another Capriotti field goal from 30 yards out.
StFX's first major score of the game came from their defence, with Ben Von Muehldorfer (Calgary, AB) picking off an errant Acadia pass and returning it 58 yards to the house for a pick-six. Capriotti's conversion was good and that's all StFX would need.
Acadia didn't quit though and after a 35 yard drive, punched in a touchdown off a one yard run from Duncan Patterson (Bedford, NS), followed by a successful conversion from Ben George (Moncton, NB).
For StFX, Malcolm Bussey (Hammonds Plains, NS) ran for 215 yards on 34 attempts while Bailey Wasdal (Calgary, AB) went 6-10 through the air for 56 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Nathan Cayouette (Strathmore, AB) had two picks and Brandyn Martin (Melfort, SK) had 11 solo tackles and two sacks.
For Acadia, Patterson went 8-20 in the air, gaining 84 yards, while Cole Estabrooks (Moncton, NB) gained 36 yards on the ground. On defence, Kameron Bell (Moncton, NB) had seven solo tackles while Kyle Chapus (Black River, NS) had two sacks.
After the game, X-Men head coach Gary Waterman called it a gutsy win for his team.
"All credit to Acadia, they're a tough football team, their defence has been great all year," said Waterman. "We made enough plays to win the game but it was definitely a hard fought football game."
With the regular season now over, the X-Men head into playoffs with a fresh slate.
"Everything that happened up until this goes out the window now," said the coach. "It comes down to the next little while for everybody. It's a new season and it's really about resetting. Everyone is 0-0 in the playoffs."
As for the next week in the run up to playoffs, Waterman said there is a lot of work to do in preparation in the film room and on the practice field.
Finishing up atop the AUS table, X will have home field advantage with AUS semifinals kicking off next Saturday, November 13th.
The first place X-Men will host the fourth place Awxemen at 2:00 pm, while the third place Bishop's Gaiters will travel to Sackville, NB to face the second place Mount Allison Mounties.
The semifinal winners will meet in the Subway AUS Loney Bowl championship on November 20th at the home field o the highest remaining seed.
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Courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics
Malcolm Bussey picks up Subway Player of the Game in StFX's 13-7 win over ACA today!
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) November 6, 2021
Bussey was 34-215 to help the X-Men wrap up a perfect 6-0 regular season! �� #goxgo #subwayfuel pic.twitter.com/TBVkcShakt