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X-Men improve to 2-0 with win over Axemen

The U SPORTS No. 6 ranked STFX X-Men improved to 2-0 on the season with a 24-10 victory over the Acadia Axemen on a sunny Saturday afternoon at STFX Stadium in front of over 1400 fans.

Photo credit Bryan Kennedy, STFX Athletics
Photo credit Bryan Kennedy, STFX Athletics
Box Score
September 10, 2022

Antigonish, NS – The U SPORTS No. 6 ranked STFX X-Men improved to 2-0 on the season with a 24-10 victory over the Acadia Axemen on a sunny Saturday afternoon at STFX Stadium in front of over 1400 fans.

Penalties plagued the X-Men in the opening half as several key plays were negated due to penalties from the home squad as they struggled to get offensive momentum going.

The only scoring in the first quarter came off a Ben Harrington (Dartmouth, NS) touchdown as Silas Fagnan (Bonnyville, AB) dished a three-yard pass on second and goal.

The Axemen got on the board early in the second quarter on their first play with a 25-yard field goal by Ben George (Moncton, NB) as they too struggled to string together offensive series' early in the game.

STFX went up 11-3 on a rouge as Max Capriotti (Mount Hope, ON) missed on a 40-yard field goal attempt.

Capriotti then booted field goals from 36 and 45 yards out to give the X-Men a 14-3 lead.

The blue and white increased that margin to 21-3 at halftime as All-Canadian running back Malcolm Bussey (Hammonds Plains, NS) punched in a one-yard TD run at the end of the second quarter.

The third quarter saw no scoring, but veteran X-Men defensive lineman Alex Fedchun (Calgary, AB) helped stymie the Acadia attack when he forced and recovered a fumble on a key Axemen drive at third and goal.

Capriotti kicked his third field goal of the afternoon from 48 yards out two minutes into the fourth quarter to give the X-Men a 24-3 lead.

The Axemen offense strung a 14-play drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by Alex Hayes (Kentville, NS) midway through the quarter and the 24-10 scoreline held up for the X win.

The Axemen were out-rushed by the X-Men 204 to 76 with 153 of those yards coming from Bussey who had 23 carries in the game.

Harrington was the top receiver for Fagnan, catching five passes for 54 yards as Fagnan was 14-24 on the day for STFX.

Acadia pivot Dante Tabacu (Lloydminster, AB) was 17-22 with two interceptions. Receiver Andrew Rees (Hamilton, ON) caught five passes for 37 yards for the Axemen.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Axemen were lead by player of the game Riley Gabriel (Springhill, NS) who had six tackles.

Fedchun received Subway player of the game honours for his efforts, leading the X-Men with 6.5 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss of six yards and the forced fumble and recovery.

He noted after the game that the X-Men had to "shake off some of the rust" coming off the bye weekend but that they "got the job done" and he was proud of his teammates.

With the win the X-Men remain undefeated on the season (2-0) as they head to Lennoxville, QC next weekend to face the Bishop's Gaiters (1-1) on Saturday, September 17th at 2:00 pm EDT.

The Axemen (0-3) are still in search of their first win and will host Mount Allison (2-0), also on Saturday at 2:00 pm ADT.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics