SACKVILLE, N.B. – The Mount Allison Mounties lost 45-24 to the Acadia Axemen on Saturday to finish up the final week of the AUS football regular season.
This leaves the Mounties 3-5 on the season, good enough for a third-place finish in the AUS. The Mounties actually finished with the same number of wins as Saint Mary’s, but the Huskies will finish second by virtue of point differential between the two teams for their games between each other.
The Mounties drew first blood, using their opening drive from their 20-yard line to drive down the field and find the end zone.
The drive was highlighted by a 61-yard run by Jordan Botel. On third and goal from the one-yard line, Botel punched it in, his first of two touchdowns on the day.
He finished the day with 143 yards rushing on 20 carries. Acadia’s offense could only muster two single points in the first quarter, giving the Mounties a 7-2 advantage heading into the 2nd quarter.
Acadia took its first lead of the day when Michael Squires caught his first of four touchdown passes, a five-yard reception from Kyle Graves at 8:22 of the second quarter.
Acadia added to the lead six minutes later when Graves once again found Squires, this time from four yards out.
The Mounties responded with an Alec Curtis field goal from 37 yards with 1:39 remaining in the first half.
Acadia would score again on the last play before halftime, with the familiar duo of Graves and Squires hooking up for a five-yard touchdown.
Acadia added a Ryan Begin field goal and Squires fourth touchdown of the day in the third quarter to stretch their lead to 32-10.
The Mounties closed the gap after driving 70 yards before Jordan Botel punched it in from one yard out for his second touchdown of the day.
With the score 32-17, Ryan Begin added two more field goals and Daryl Bien Aime had a six-yard touchdown to run the score to 45-17. T
he Mounties added their third major of the day when backup quarterback Alex Field hit Morgan McIsaac for a 47-yard touchdown play with 44 seconds remaining.
Defensively the Mounties were led by second-year defensive back Matt Montgomery who had eight tackles. Donovan Saunders had 6.5 tackles and fifth-year Mountie Justin Richard, who was playing his final home regular-season game, finished with six tackles. Richard had his third straight game with an interception for the Mounties.
The Mounties now travel to Saint Mary’s on Saturday, Nov. 3 for the AUS semifinal game against the Huskies. The game will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. on Eastlink.
Saint Mary’s earned the right to host the semifinal game by hammering the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 49-3.
Acadia will await the winner of the semi-final game and will host the AUS Championship on Nov. 10.
.jpg){kind=small}
