Mounties punch playoff ticket with 23-14 win over Axemen

(SACKVILLE, N.B.) - The Mount Allison Mounties are headed to the AUS football playoffs for the second straight year and the third time in the last four years.  The Mounties defeated the two-time defending AUS champion Acadia Axemen 23-14 in front of a frenzied hometown MacAulay Field crowd on Saturday afternoon. 

Today's game marked the third straight for the Mount Allison. The Mounties finish the regular season as the only team to have beaten every other team in the AUS this year.  With the win, they have clinched second place in the AUS and will now host Acadia for the AUS championship semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 2 at MacAulay Field.

The Mounties got the start they wanted by scoring first.  On their second possession, they took over on their own 22-yard line and proceeded to march down field to the Acadia 41-yard line. 

Faced with a third and three, the Mounties elected to go for it but used a quick kick by Brandon Leyh, who punted the ball to the Acadia two-yard. 

The Acadia defence was caught off guard by the play and Mounties receiver Troy Trentham, who lined up onside, pounced on the ball and recovered it for the Mounties.  This gave the Mounties a first and goal on the Acadia two-yard line and on the next play, Jordan Botel scored his league-leading sixth rushing touchdown of the season.

Acadia answered back three minutes later when they engineered a 64-yard drive of their own, capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Thomas Troop. 

Acadia threatened to take the lead early in the second quarter when they drove the ball to the Mounties 25.  But an aggressive Mounties pass rush forced a bad throw by Acadia quarterback Evan Brown that all-star cornerback Donovan Saunders intercepted and ran back 59 yards to the Acadia 30-yard line.

The Mounties offence went to work and after converting on a third and two to keep their drive moving, they used the reverse hand-off perfectly, springing Kyle McLean for a 17-yard touchdown run and giving the Mounties a 14-7 lead. 

Two plays later, the Mounties defence intercepted Brown again. This time, linebacker Te Nguyen grabbed his fourth interception of the year and ran it back to the Acadia 30-yard line. 

After the Acadia defence forced a punt and got the ball back on their own 22, they gave it right back to the Mounties. This time, Brown threw his third straight interception to Mounties rookie Devante Sampson. 

The true freshman from Mississauga grabbed his fourth interception of the year and ran the ball back to the Acadia 31. 

Leyh then connected with Matt Rose on the first play from scrimmage and Rose scampered 31 yards for the major.  The Mounties would pick up a single before the end of the half as Acadia failed to clear their end zone on a punt, leaving the score at 22-7 at halftime.

Early in the second half, Acadia drove the ball from their own 50-yard line. But they were held to a 22-yard field goal by Ryan Begin, bringing the score to 22-10. 

The Mounties defence held strong from here on out.  The Mounties would pick up another single point and the Acadia defence would force two safeties. But in the end, the Mounties were able to protect their lead and run out the clock on a 23-14 win.

Mounties Jordan Botel had his fourth straight 100+ yard rushing game and fifth of the year as he ran for 114 yards on 28 carries.  Botel finished first in the conference for rush yards for the second straight year, amassing 758 yards in eight games. 

Acadia's Thomas Troop, who had 119 yards on the day, finished second in the AUS with 565 yards this year.  Brandon Leyh was 11-17 for 137 yards and one touchdown.  Leyh has now gone 10 quarters without an interception. 

Defensively, rookie Devonte Sampson led the way with 7.5 sacks and one interception, while junior Matt Montgomery had 6.5 tackles for the Mounties.

Mount Allison now prepares to host Acadia in the AUS championship semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. at MacAulay Field. The winner will advance to the 2013 AUS Loney Bowl hosted by first-place Saint Mary's the following Saturday at Huskies Stadium.

Both games will be broadcast live on Eastlink TV's AUS Saturdays and will also be webcast at AUStv.ca.

Source: Mount Allison Sport Information