X-Men clinch second place with win over Huskies

ANTIGONISH, NS - The STFX X-Men won the right to host next weekend's Atlantic University Sport conference semi-final against the Saint Mary's Huskies next week by way of a 26-19 win over the Huskies on Saturday afternoon at STFX Stadium. 

The X-Men marched down the field on their first possession, with Caleb Fogarty (Moncton, NB) capping it off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run with eight minutes left in the quarter. Ben Hadley (Halifax, NS) hit the extra point.

The X-Men defense then forced a safety, but Saint Mary's defensive back Gavin Nesterenko (Sudbury, ON) recovered a STFX fumble the next time the home team had the ball. The teams traded possessions for the rest of the first quarter and the early part of the second. 

The Huskies put some points on the board with about two minutes to go in the first half, with Adam Johnson (Rothesay, NB) hitting a field goal from 37 yards out. The X-Men got the ball back with about 30 seconds left before halftime, and a big run from Fogarty put them on the 35-yard line.  A 39-yard Hadley field goal, the 61st of his career, made it 12-3 for the X-Men heading into the intermission.  

Saint Mary's forced a safety with eight minutes to go in the third quarter, but STFX responded seven minutes later, as Fagnan found Justin Letendre-Lampron (Saint-Lucien, QC) open in the endzone for a 24-yard passing touchdown, with Hadley hitting the extra point. 

The X-Men added another score with a one-yard run from Fagnan, and another extra point from Hadley with three minutes left in the game.

Huskies running back Malik Williams (Ajax, ON) punched in a short run late in the game for the visitors, and SMU quarterback Allan Young (Halifax, NS) added another short yardage touchdown with seconds remaining, making the final score 26-19. 

For STFX, Fagnan went 22-33 through the air with a passing and a running touchdown, while STFX Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game Fogarty ran for 188 yards on 25 carries with a touchdown, and Ben Harrington (Dartmouth, NS) caught 13 passes for 92 yards.

Defensively, Naijaun David (Dartmouth, NS) had six solo tackles, with Hunter Mousseau (Sault Ste Marie, ON) and Nathan Cayouette (Strathmore, AB) each had five solo tackles. 

For the Huskies, Young went 19-35, picking up 269 passing yards, while Williams had 43 running yards, and Trydell Mintis (Halifax, NS) caught 4 passes for 91 yards.

On the other side of the ball, Huskies player of the game Max Van Nieuwkoop (Burlington, ON) had 7.5 tackles, including six solos, while Jahzonte Smith (Oshawa, ON) had six tackles, with five solos. 

\With the win, STFX will host the conference semi-final versus the same Huskies squad next Saturday, November 2. Bishops will host Acadia in the other semi-final, also next Saturday. Both games are set for 2:00 pm local time.

-30-

Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics

Prior to the game, Coach Waterman recognized the graduating X-Men student-athletes and student therapists