“We won’t, and can’t, dwell on it.": A look ahead at the 2018 AUS football season

By: Monty Mosher

The final week of last year's football season will always be memorable for every member of the Acadia Axemen.

Contained therein was an AUS championship, a hard-fought 45-38 win an overtime shootout against the Saint Mary's Huskies in Wolfville. It was a game that almost wasn't played after a dispute – one that ended up in court – concerning an eligibility matter involving a Saint Mary's player.

The Axemen, 6-2 in the regular season, had a month off after a series of bye weeks, and what appeared to be a forfeited Loney Bowl, before fighting off a stout challenge from the Huskies on a Tuesday afternoon.

It was cause for celebration in the Axemen camp, but there was little time left to prepare for the Western Mustangs in a Uteck Bowl to be played at Raymond Field four days later. Western was undefeated and one of the more dominant teams in the history of Canadian university football.

It would have been hard to predict any road to victory for Acadia in the national final. A showing good enough for the home fans and a respectable send-off for the seniors would have been plenty.

But 81-3 happened, and it happened before a national audience on television. Once again, at least in the minds of the critics, the AUS schools were deemed unable to compete on a national stage and the proof was in a 78-point rout.

Western went on to win the Vanier Cup, trampling Laval on the way.

For their part, the Axemen picked up and moved on. Players and coaches set their sights on a new season and a chance to defend their conference title and perhaps do better in a national semifinal.

"A little of both … sweep it away understanding the unfortunate situation we were put in on three-days prep and also use it as motivation to grind and understand the level at which we need to play versus the best team in U Sport and one of the tops of all time," said Axemen head coach Jeff Cummins, a two-time U Sports coach of the year.

"We won't, and can't, dwell on it after finishing a game thee days prior having run 92 plays on offence … I won't let our players waste time thinking about a lot of circumstances that were out of our control."

The AUS winner will visit Quebec for the national semifinal this year.

"We have the core of the 2017 team returning with approximately 70 players participating in winter/spring football," said Cummins.

There were exhibition games Saturday. Acadia defeated St. F.X. 15-4 in Antigonish, while Saint Mary's downed Mount Allison 17-10 in Halifax.

St. F.X. visits Saint Mary's on Friday and Bishop's travels to Mount Allison on Saturday to start the regular season. Acadia opens on the road at St. F.X. on Aug. 31.

Acadia returns running back Dale Wright, who topped 1,000 yards on his way to conference MVP. He was hurt in the Loney Bowl and unable to play in the Uteck Bowl, but is healthy now.

Receivers Cordell Hastings (36-603) and Brad Vince and offensive linemen Nathan Heide and Drew Seldon, along with incoming offensive lineman Tristan Murray and receiver Ben Smith will be part of the offensive group.

Linebackers Bailey Feltmate, an all-Canadian, Matt Nettle and Brandon Johnston, defensive backs Brandon Jennings, Gavin Cius and Jadin White and defensive lineman Tommy Grant will lead the defence. Defensive backs Riley Gabriel and Chris Cameron-Kogler are new to the unit.

Acadia will need to replace starting quarterback and 2017 AUS all-star Cody Cluett, receiver Eugene McMinns, offensive lineman Keiler Cherry, all-Canadan defensive linemen Adam Melanson and Ben Wallace and linebacker Jesse Boudreau.

Saint Mary's Huskies (5-3, AUS finalist): Quarterback Kaleb Scott leads the Huskies in their bid to return to the Loney Bowl.

"We're excited to get the season going as we return five starters on the offensive line and the all-AUS quarterback under centre," said head coach James Colzie III.

Receivers Rick LeMoignan, Josh Henry and Liam O'Brien and linemen Tyler Clucas Warren, Dryden Ferjo, Nick Bartolacci and Peter Kourtis are the key returnees on offence. Running back Jonathan Cimankinda, receiver Brody Bernier and lineman Terrek Bryant are the top recruits.

Wide receiver Archelaus Jack, at the centre of last year's eligibility dispute, and all-Canadian running back Johnny King are the key losses.

Linemen John Cole and Kyle MacDonald, linebacker Brad Herbst and defensive backs Antoine Lyte-Myers, Mandella Loggale and Jordan Angove are back on a defence that has lost standout lineman Jadarius Ceasar, linebacker Deandre Smith and linebacker Raphael Muntu.

"We lost some pretty good players on the defensive side of the football but that's why you recruit and believe in the developmental side of your football team," said Colzie.

Brian Hope is back to handle the kicking game.

St. Francis Xavier X-Men (4-4, AUS semifinalist): Two-time all-Canadian receiver Kaion Julien-Grant (31-572) and former 1,000-yard rusher Jordan Socholotiuk give the X-Men a great place to start on offence. Offensive lineman Jacob Czaja and Jonathan Zamora will be the centrepieces of the offensive line with David Dean returning at tight end.

Defensive linemen Jimmie Cunningham, Tyler Cordeiro and Jalen Burley, linebacker Gordon Whyte and defensive back Dylan Bell will be the veterans on defence.

Offensive lineman Gregor MacKellar is an interesting pickup. The native of Timberlea, N.S., was a red-shirt in the NCAA at Rice University in Houston last season.

Linebacker Adam Kuntz, defensive backs Nate Fermin and Justin Holland and kicker Jonathan Heidebrecht are among the losses from the roster.

"We are extremely excited to get the 2018 football season underway," said X-Men coach Gary Waterman. "Coming off back-to-back conference championships heading into the 2017 campaign, we did not get the results we were looking for last season.

"We will be returning a solid core of veterans this year throughout all three phases, and we feel we have secured an excellent recruiting class of incoming student-athletes."

Mount Allison Mounties (4-4, missed playoffs): Former Acadia assistant coach Peter Fraser makes his debut at head coach after the departure of Scott Brady to McMaster, where he will be defensive coordinator.

All-star Chris Reid (124-776) and Kiel Ambursley (88-444) are back at running back. They combined for 1,200 rushing yards last year. All-star Malik Richards (37-608), Josh Hicks (31-576) and Idahosa Yorke should be prime targets in the pass offence.

Returning starters Nick Oppong, Brock O'Brien, Ross McCormack and Charles Lavallee anchor the offensive line, where veteran Andre Goguen is the big departure.

Seniors Troy Downton, Graham Kelly and Brandon Smyk lead a large stable of quarterbacks in camp. The Mounties need to replace last year's starter Jakob Loucks, the 2016 U Sports rookie of the year, who has left the program.

All-star Nate Rostek, Damian Halstead and Dylan Cormier will provide the leadership group on the defence.

"I am very optimistic about the season in spite of all are loses at key positions. (QB, corner, kicker, centre, etc.)," said Fraser.  "After seeing the team at spring ball I feel we should be very competitive here in the AUS. Our group is very physical and tough."

He thinks Reid and Ambursley are the top two backs in the conference and Oppong and Lavallee will be crucial to the success of the offensive line.

"We will be looking to fill many holes on the defensive side but I am confident that we have the pieces and tough mentality to be a top defence in the conference. It will be led by Halstead and Rostek."

Bishop's Gaiters (1-7, missed playoffs): Receiver Nathan Walker (AUS all-star and Gaiters' MVP), offensive lineman Matthew Ouellet De Carlo (AUS all-star and team captain) and Liam Patton (AUS and team top rookie) are the key returning pieces for coach Cherif Nicolas.

New faces include defensive back Aaron Franklin from California, defensive back Tyler Webster and linebacker Donald Blue from Nova Scotia and defensive lineman Brandon Wilson from Holland College.

Defensive lineman Mathieu Brenton, on the Saskatchewan Roughriders practice roster, and AUS all-star kicker Vincent Dube are the key departures.

"We want to be the best version of the Bishop's Gaiters that we can be," said Nicolas. "We will work hard to do that. We are very excited to have two new members, Justin Chapdelaine (offensive co-ordinator) and Fabrice Raymond (defensive co-ordinator) join our coaching staff, both of whom bring post-season experience. We are looking forward to starting our second year in the AUS."

In preseason action, Bishop's played a controlled scrimmage against Sherbrooke of the RSEQ on Friday night.