Axemen down Huskies 51-32

(HALIFAX, N.S.) The Acadia Axemen showed how good they really are on Friday night, defeating the SMU Huskies 51-32 in Atlantic University Sport football action from Huskies Stadium. 

In a battle of two Top-10 U SPORTS teams, no. 7 Acadia and no. 10 Saint Mary's did not disappoint. 

Acadia took the opening kickoff and marched 79 yards in four plays, with running back Dale Wright (Markham, Ont.) scoring on a three-yard run for the 7-0 lead with 12:43 in the opening quarter. 

SMU's first play was a turnover and Acadia capitalized on the short field with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Guenard (Calgary, Alta.) to Caleb Ryder (Moncton, N.B.), driving 47 yards in eight plays while eating 4:07 off the clock. 

The Huskies jumped on the scoreboard with 3:09 left in the quarter on a Brian Hope (Port Coquitlan, B.C.) 39-yard field goal and SMU trailed Acadia 14-3. 

Three minutes later, Ryder caught his second touchdown of the quarter from Guenard on a 25-yard strike for a 21-3 lead after 15 minutes. 

One-yard touchdown runs each by SMU's Joshua Shim (Lawrenceville, Georgia) and Tyrique Dixon-Bowden (Halifax, N.S.) pulled Saint Mary's to 21-17 with 2:43 left in the half. 

Guenard connected with Matthew Gledhill (Ottawa, Ont.) on a 26-yard touchdown pass to increase Acadia's lead to 28-17 with 1:17 left in the half. 

Shim drove SMU down on their next drive, 83 yards in four plays, finding Brandon Ihanza (Brampton, Ont.) for a 18-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the half. 

Saint Mary's trailed 28-24 at halftime. 

SMU's defence forced Acadia into a safety and trailed the Axemen by two, 28-26 with 9:22 left in the third quarter. 

Shelder Fervius (Toronto, Ont.) put SMU ahead with a 43-yard touchdown catch from Shim as Saint Mary's took a 32-28 lead with 7:40 left in the third quarter. 

Acadia would outscore Saint Mary's 23-0 over the last 22:40 with touchdowns from Gledhill, Cole Estabrooks' (Moncton, N.B.) 34-yard run and Duncan Patterson's (Bedford, N.S.) one-yard sneak.  

The Axemen added a safety for the 51-32 victory, as they move to 3-0 on the year. 

SMU falls to 2-1 in conference play. 

For his efforts, Guenard finished 20-30 for 375 yards and four touchdowns and was named Subway Player of the Game. Estabrooks had 86 yards on eight carries while Wright had 78 yards on 16 rushes. 

Gledhill hauled in five catches for 124 yards and Ryder finished with three catches for 93 yards. 

Shim finished 21-35 for 348 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions for SMU while Dixon-Bowden had 29 yards rushing and Fervius had 11 catches for 225 yards. 

Both teams return to action Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. as Mount Allison visits Acadia and SMU hits the road versus StFX. 

Source: Dominic Nolasco for Saint Mary's Sports Information