Gaiters mount fourth quarter comeback to defeat X-Men

Sherbrooke, QC – The Bishop's Gaiters defeated the STFX X-Men 37-27 in AUS action Saturday afternoon at Coulter Field in what was a rematch of 2023 AUS Loney Bowl final.

The Gaiters outscored the X-Men 15-0 in the fourth quarter to mount the comeback victory, improving to 2-0 on the season and handing the X-Men (0-1) their first regular season loss since October, 2019, snapping a 27-0 win streak in AUS competition.

Gaiters quarterback Justin Quirion was 29-37 with 361 passing yards and running back O'Shae Ho-Sang scored two touchdowns as he had 124 yards on 18 carries.

For the X-Men, Silas Fagnan was 12-28 for 227 yards as his favorite target was Zach Houde who had four catches for 131 yards. Caleb Fogarty was 13-74 on the rushing side for X, stepping in to replace All-Canadian Malcolm Bussey who was out with an injury.

The three-time AUS defending champion X-Men got on the board first when Silas Fagnan hit Justin Letendre-Lampron with a 41-yard touchdown pass six minutes into the first quarter. The score came after STFX defensive back Logan Ritchie made a key fumble recovery while on punt return.

The Gaiters posted their first points at 3:58 of the opening quarter with a 23-yard field goal from Xavier Gervais.

STFX held onto the 7-3 lead after the first. Their defense continued to come up with big plays as a Thomas Bentley interception early in the second set up an ensuing X-Men drive that culminated in a one-yard TD run from Fagnan.

The X-Men held onto the 14-3 lead until Ho-Sang scored with five minutes left in the half for the Gaiters. After churning out 38 yards on an outlet pass from Quirion, he rushed for the one-yard score on the next play to close the gap to 14-10 for STFX.

Gervais kicked his second field goal of the game - this time from 32 yards out - to close out the half as the Gaiters trailed by a point, 14-13 at halftime.  

Ben Hadley gave the X-Men back a four-point lead with a 22-yard field goal early in the third quarter, but a Gaiters safety closed the gap to 17-15.

On the next possession, Jahme Dawson intercepted a Quirion pass and ran it in 43 yards for the pick-6 for STFX, giving them a 24-15 lead.

But the pesky Gaiters fought right back as Quirion connected with Oliver Burnett for an eight-yard TD pass two minutes later. Burnett was the leading Gaiters receiver on the day, finishing with six catches for 103 yards.

Hadley booted his second field goal of the afternoon (from 17 yards) and closed out a 13-point third quarter for the X-Men as they lead 27-22 after three.

The Gaiters took their first lead of the game three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter as Joey Julien scored off a five-yard pass from Quirion, capping off an eight-play, 75-yard drive for Bishop's.

They capped off their comeback as Ho-Sang scored his second touchdown of the game on a 30-yard run at 6:35 to give the Gaiters a 36-27 advantage. A rouge with two minutes to play made it a 10-point Bishop's lead.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jean Aubert lead the Gaiters with 5.5 tackles in the game and had two break-ups. Ritchie topped the X-Men defense with 7.5 tackles and Najaun David had 6.5.

STFX will host their home opener next Saturday, September 7^th when they host Acadia at 2:00 pm at the STFX Stadium. The Gaiters have a bye next weekend and will next see action at home on September 14^th when they host the same Acadia squad.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics