Huskies roll to 43-16 win over X-Men

Saint Mary’s 43, StFX 16

The AUS defending champion Saint Mary’s Huskies rolled away with a 43-16 victory over the StFX X-Men Friday night in Antigonish, NS.

Huskies receiver Jameek Taylor had 252 all-purpose yards in the game including two touchdown punt returns, while defensive back Mark Holden had three interceptions in the game, one resulting in a 77 yard touchdown return.

The hometown X-Men struggled on offense, one major coming off a Tom Lynch fumble recovery and the other coming late in the fourth quarter.

The Huskies opened the game with a 9-0 first quarter lead after a safety and a Kurt Tonowski 1 yard touchdown run. The X-Men closed the gap early in the second quarter after Lynch’s 20 yard fumble recovery and touchdown return, however the 9-7 margin was the closest they would get in the game.

Brett Lauther kicked a field goal and StFX conceded another safety before half-time closed out 14-7 in favour of the Huskies.

Saint Mary’s came out ready to play in the third quarter. Taylor scored back-to-back touchdown punt returns of 56 and 63 yards, respectively. The Huskies recovered an on-side kick, Mark Holden and Brian Ridgeway snagged interceptions, and Lauther booted his second field goal of the night to establish a 31-7 lead after three quarters of play.

A safety in the fourth quarter gave the X-Men a couple points, but the Huskies continued to rack up the score sheet with Holden’s 77 yard interception return for a touchdown, accompanied by a safety and Lauther’s third field goal of the evening.

On the last play of the game, X-Men second string quarterback Jahmaro Bennett hit a pass to Justin McLean for a 73 yard touchdown play, closing out the game at 43-16 in favour of the visiting Huskies.

Saint Mary’s quarterback Micah Brown was 13 for 24 for 164 total passing yards, while running back Craig Leger had 12 carries for 70 yards on the ground. Player of the Game Jahmeek Taylor combined for 39 rushing, 44 receiving and 169 punt return yards in the game.     

X-Men quarterback Cory Wensley was 9 for 22 for 97 yards. Andrew Hickey was the leading rusher in the game with 7 carries for 44 yards, while Michael Hopper and Kwame Osei each had 3 receptions.

With the win, the Huskies break out of the AUS basement tie with StFX and improve to 2-3 on the season. The X-Men fall to 1-4. Acadia (2-2) and Mount Allison (2-2) meet Saturday in Sackville, NB to battle it out for first place.

Next on the schedule for StFX is a rematch against Saint Mary’s next Friday night, Oct. 15th at Huskies Stadium.