Axemen claim second straight Loney Bowl with 17-9 win over Huskies

At Raymond Field in Wolfville, N.S., the CIS No. 9-ranked Axemen got all they could handle from Saint Mary's but an impressive day from a freshman running back and a strong defensive performance lifted them to a 17-9 win and their second straight Subway AUS Loney Bowl win over the Huskies, in front of 2,678 fans.

Acadia, now undefeated at Raymond Field in their last 10 games dating back to October 30, 2010, prevailed 39-20 in last year's Loney Bowl and are off to the Uteck Bowl for the second year in a row, this time travelling to Laval to take on the RSEQ champion Rouge et Or.

Holding on to a slim 10-9 lead with less than seven minutes remaining, the Axemen sealed the win with two late safeties and a 28-yard Ryan Begin field goal with 52 seconds left on the clock.

Amazingly, Acadia's defence allowed only one passing completion all afternoon, for a loss of five yards. Saint Mary's finished with 97 yards of total offence and only nine first downs, including three on penalties.

Reigning two-time AUS MVP Kyle Graves was a modest 10-of-24 for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception but the Axemen received a 181-yard rushing effort from conference rookie of the year Thomas Troop (Alliston, Ont.). Troop was awarded the Don Loney Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player of the game.

A scoreless first quarter was erased with a 34-yard Brett Lauthier (Truro, N.S.) field goal to give Saint Mary's an early second quarter lead.

Less than three minutes later the Axemen responded with the only major of the day when all-star receiver Taylor Renaud hauled in a 20-yard reception from Graves, capping a six-play, 75-yard drive.

Lauther and Ryan Begin (Orleans, Ont.) exchanged field goals in the closing minutes of the half to give the Axemen a 10-6 halftime lead.

Lauther hit his third and final field goal of the afternoon at 7:04 of the third frame to close the gap to a single point. Lauther finished three-of-four on field goal attempts, connecting from 34, 49 and 35 yard respectively.

With a slim 10-9 lead after three quarters, the Axemen had the wind at their backs in the fourth and maintained good field position throughout most of the final frame, adding two safeties and a 28 yard field goal by Begin.

Saint Mary's running backs Mike Dawes (Winnipeg, Man.) and Melvin Abankwah (Etobicoke, Ont.) split the running game duty with 18 carries each for 94 and 28 yards respectively.

Jesse St. James led the way on defence with seven tackles, including 5.5 for losses and a pair of sacks, as well as a fumble recovery. Acadia linebacker Drew Morris had a game-high 10.5 tackles.

Head coach Jeff Cummins was happy with the win but was reserved.

"There is now doubt that it wasn't our 'A' game, but give credit to Saint Mary's in their preparation for this game," said Cummins. "Our defense got the job done shutting down their run game and the bumps we hit in trying to move the ball offensively were smoothed over by an overall team effort and a desire to win this second championship in a row."

Huskies pivot Jean Legault (Sherbrook, Que.) was held to 1 completion in 11 attempts for -5 yards.

Taylor Renaud led the Axemen receivers with 40 yards receiving and the lone touchdown.

Cummins is looking forward to playing the CIS No. 2-ranked Rouge et Or in next Saturday's Uteck Bowl in Quebec City.

"We will have to work on certain aspects of our game to play against Laval with hopes to improve on our outing against them in September. I think both teams, in preparing for the Uteck Bowl, will see two different teams from those in September. Our defense was exceptional today at times and I hope it can carry over next weekend."

The Rouge et Or hosted Acadia earlier this season in the RSEQ-AUS interlock weekend on September 15, posting a 31-7 win over the Axemen. Acadia is winless against Laval since 2002.

Source: Acadia Sports Information