Axemen finish in third despite 27-0 shutout win over Huskies in season finale

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - Despite a 27-0 win over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies, the Acadia Axemen will end the season in third place in the AUS standings and travel to StFX to face the X-Men next Saturday in the AUS semi-final.

The Axemen wrapped up the regular season with a 4-4 record, while StFX and Mount Allison each finished with 5-3 records. With StFX's 24-18 win over the Mounties, they finish in second place and secured home field advantage for the semi-final game.

The Huskies, winless for the second consecutive season, struggled in the first quarter to complete several offensive drives as did the Axemen.

Eli Prochnau's (Cochrane, Alta.) five-yard run at 4:48 of the first quarter capped a 78-yard, eight-play drive which was the first of three Acadia majors.

Late in the first half, senior fullback Troy Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.) punched in Acadia's second TD from one yard out to give the Axemen a 14-0 lead.

The Axemen added a 13-yard field goal on the last play of the first half after a quick four-play, 56-yard drive. Kicker Jeffrey Beattie (Hamilton, Ont.) connected from 13 yards to give Acadia a 17-0 lead heading into the locker room.

Beattie finished the day with one missed field goal from 27 yards and two field goals from 13 and 16 yards out. He extended the lead to 20-0 early in the fourth quarter from 16 yards.

Graduating senior Andrew Adams (Bedford, N.S.) pulled in a 20-yard pass from second string pivot Darcy Lavoie late in the game to give Acadia the 27-0 lead and eventual win.

Senior receiver Brian Jones (Bedford, N.S.), who was named the Subway Player of the Game, pulled in a game high nine receptions for 144 yards, while teammates Eli Prochnau and Eugene McMinns (Nassau, Bahamas) had 58 and 53 yards receiving respectively.

Starting quarterback Cody Cluett (Cole Harbour, N.S.) was 22-for-33 for 267 yards. The Axemen compiled 386 net yards offense including 341 yards in the air and 45 yards on the ground.

The Huskies tallied 227 net yards of offense that included a game-high 101 yards of rushing, 80 of which came from running back Ryan Zawacki (Thunder Bay, Ont.). Rick LeMoignan (Edmonton, Alta.) was the Huskies' top receiver with eight receptions for 58 yards.

Acadia's Drew Morris (Ottawa, Ont.) posted eight tackles that included six solo and four shared, while teammate Jesse St. James (Pincourt, Que.) fell short in breaking the AUS single season sack record held by former Axeman Karim Grant of 11 sacks in a season. St. James had 11 heading into today's final game but couldn't add to his season total before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

Acadia will head to StFX next Saturday for the AUS semi-final. Last season the X-Men, who trailed for the entire semi-final game against Acadia, pulled off a last minute victory. Last week the X-Men did the same in a regular season matchup against the Axemen in Antigonish.

The game will be televised live on Bell Aliant FibreOp TV1 and will be available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca

Source: Acadia Communications