WOLFVILLE, N.S. – AUS Subway Player of the Game Hunter Guenard's 273 yards passing combined with 90 yards in rushing from 2017 AUS MVP Dale Wright, catapulted the Acadia Axemen to a 53-13 win over the visiting Bishop's Gaiters in the AUS regular season opener in Wolfville.
Guenard connected with Glodin Mulali, Darius Beckford and Matthew Gledhill for three of Acadia's five majors, while Wright added the fourth on a 12 yard rush and Ethan Kimura pulled in a 6 yard pass from back up pivot Duncan Paterson both in the fourth quarter.
"We spread the ball around nice which was good. Get everyone involved. Ethan (Kimura) and Darius (Beckford) getting their first-ever touchdowns. Get that out of the way. I think everybody had a catch in the starting lineup. That's important. The O-Line was moving people and Dale was rumbling. It was a good first game to get everyone rolling and set the tone for the season," said Guenard after the game.
Matthew Gledhill scored the first touchdown of the day on a 24 yard pass from Guenard combined with a safety given up by the Gaiters early in the opening quarter for a 9-0 lead.
Forty-nine seconds into the second quarter, Darius Beckford grabbed a 22 yard pass in the endzone followed by a Ben George rouge on the ensuing kick off to give the Axemen a commanding 17-0 advantage.
On the Gaiter's first play from scrimmage after the George rouge, quarterback Charles Aubry fumbled the ball and defensive standout Bailey Feltmate delivered the third touchdown in the opening half on a 25 yard fumble recovery run. Feltmate would lead the Axemen defense with 9 solo tackles and 4 assisted tackles that included a tackle for a loss.
Gaiter Noah Laursen broke the Axemen goose egg with a 21 yard field goal. Ben George would reply with two rouges on punts and a 32 yard field goal to give the Axemen a 29-3 lead heading into the final five minutes of the second quarter.
Third year wide out, Glodin Mulali added a 14 yard touchdown reception to give Acadia a one-sided 36-3 lead at halftime.
Laursen would add his second field goal of the day on a 27 yard kick nearly seven minutes into the third quarter.
A 37 yard Ben George field goal plus Wright's 12 yard scamper and Kimura's 6 yard pass reception would conclude Acadia's scoring for the day.
The Gaiters scored their only touchdown of the day on a 12 yard reception by Zach Graveson from Charles Aubry with 7:29 remaining in the game.
Bishop's posted 242 net yards of offense in their first game of the season after playing no exhibition games. Louis-Philippe Gregoire rushed for 56 net yards, while teammate Charles Aubry passed for 128 yards on 11 completions. Zach Graveson led the Gaiters with five receptions for 67 yards.
Acadia's Dale Wright posted 84 net yards rushing and Cordell Hastings had a game high 104 yards in receiving on five receptions. Acadia recorded 446 net yards on offense of which 337 yards were in the air.
The Axemen will have next weekend off in the first of two bye weekends, while the Gaiters play host to to StFX next Saturday in Lennoxville, Que. for an evening game at 7:00 p.m. Acadia's next game is on the road on Sat. Sept. 7 in Antigonish against StFX at 2:00 p.m.