Football Axemen snap losing streak with 27-11 win over StFX

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The log jam in the AUS standings is not going away anytime soon. The 2-4 Acadia Axemen snapped a two game losing streak by pulling off a 27-11 Homecoming win against the now 3-4 StFX X-Men.

The Axemen opened the scoring early in the first quarter with a 77 hard drive that was highlighted by a 61 yard rush by Andrew Healy who found the end zone on the long distance run but was called out of bounds short of the goal line. Unable to get the day's first major from the X-men's six yard line, the Axemen settled for an 11 yard field goal by Ryan Begin.

A low scoring affair continued with an added saftey after a Ryan Begin 47 yard punt that put StFX deep in their end on the two yard line. An Ashton Dickson rush for a loss of seven yards gave Acadia a 5-0 lead.

StFX followed on the next series with a forced fumble recovery by Demetrius Ferguson to give the X-men field position on the Acadia 33 yard line, but the StFX only mustered up a 23 yard field goal by Jeremy Ford. Ford's field goal ended the first half scoring with the Axemen edging StFX 5-3 lead after 30 minutes of play.

With poor field position from the second half opening 68 yard kickoff, StFX gave up a second safety on a three yard loss by Ashton Dickson, giving Acadia a 7-3 lead.

Late in the third quarter, Acadia's Thomas Troop punched in the first major of the day on a four yard rush. The touchdown was setup by a Cameron Wade sack and fumble by StFX pivot Clay Masikewich on their own 35 yard line.

Starting at the StFX 44 yard line early in the final frame, the Axemen posted their second and last touchdown of the game on an Evan Brown pass to Brian Jones for the five yard major, giving Acadia a 21-3 lead.

The X-men finally got their first seven pointer on a five play, 58 yard drive that followed the previous Acadia touchdown possession. Ashton Dickson ran in the only StFX touchdown of the day on a 10 yard rush to close the gap to 10 points.

But the Axemen defense went back to work and veteran defensive back Cameron Wade took a Dante Djan pass away for a seven yard return to the StFX 35 yard line to setup an eventual Ryan Begin 40 yard field goal to give Acadia a 24-11 cushion. Begin would add a third field goal with less than a minute remaining to give the Axemen a 27-11 win.

Djan, who replaced Clay Masikewich, was three for six passes, while Masikewich, who replaced starting pivot Tivon Cook, was 4-8 for 17 yards. Cook posted nine completions on 20 attempts for only 66 yards.

Subway Player of the game Thomas Troop compiled 168 net yards in rushing on 30 carries, adding to the Axemen's 452 net offensive yards. Fifth year senior Taylor Renaud posted a game high 91 yards in receiving while X's Randy Roseway and Devon Bailey were reduced to a combined nine receptions for 61 yards.

StFX pulled together 162 yards of net offense including a dismal 67 yards on the ground but on the bright side, linebacker Ron Omara posted 10.5 tackles including one sack and two tackles for a loss.

The Axemen win creates a three way tie in the AUS standings between StFX, Mount Allison and Acadia at 3-4, while the Saint Mary's Huskies hold onto first with a 4-3 record.  Mount Allison hosts Acadia next Saturday and the X-men will be taking on the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies.