X-Men handle Gaiters 48-21 to win Bigg Bowl

LENNOXVILLE, Que. - The StFX X-Men were propelled by a 24-point second quarter in Saturday afternoon's Bigg Bowl game to finish the day with a 48-21 victory over the Bishop's Gaiters.

The X-Men remain undefeated on the season with a 4-0 record atop the AUS conference standings.

The X-Men and Gaiters faced off at Coulter Field in the 7th edition of the Bigg Bowl. The Bigg Bowl trophy was donated in 2002 by the family of Reverend H. R. Canon Bigg, and has been awarded after competition between the StFX X-Men and Bishop's Gaiters in U SPORTS football.

The Gaiters opened the day's scoring on a one-yard Louis-Philippe Gregoire run six and a half minutes into the first quarter to cap off a 13 play drive for 88 yards.

Eight minutes later, rookie quarterback, Mason McGriskin, found Griffin Shillingford in the end zone on an 8-yard pass to double the Gaiters' lead to close out the first quarter.

The second stanza was controlled by StFX. Max Capriotti kicked a field goal one minute into the second quarter to get the X-Men on the board and then scored three straight touchdowns, the first on a 1-yard carry by quarterback Silas Fagnan. Fagnan then completed two touchdown passes to Benoit Cormier (8-yard pass and 29-yard pass) to take a 24-14 lead into the break.

Following halftime, StFX found the end zone twice more and added a field goal in the fourth quarter as they scored 48 unanswered points to take a commanding 48-14 lead.

Veteran linebacker Ben VonMuehldorfer had a nice interception for a pick-six five minutes into the third quarter that he ran in for 44 yards.

Silas Fagnan then found his brother Isaac Fagnan with a 12-yard touchdown pass and Cormier scored his third major of the night, this time an 11-yard reception.

Capriotti's second field goal of the game from 25 yards out wrapped up the X-Men scoring.  

Tyler Gray responded late for the Gaiters with a six-yard touchdown run but the X-Men proved victorious, taking the game by a score of 48-21 and securing the Bigg Bowl, the fifth time they've done so.

X-Men quarterback and Player of the Game Silas Fagan was an outstanding 96% in completions, going 25 for 26 for 321 yards and throwing four touchdowns. Cormier was his top receiver with 10 catches for 133 yards, while Malcolm Bussey led the ground attack going14-50.

For the Gaiters, Louis-Philippe Gregoire accounted for 100 yards rushing, and Mason McGriskin went 9 for 21 on the day and threw for 104 yards, including one touchdown.

The Bishop's defense combined for 52 total tackles, led by Gabriel Royer who tallied eight tackles including seven solo tackles, recorded one sack, and had two tackles for loss for a combined 9 yards. Royer was named the Bishop's Subway Player of the Game for his performance.

The X-Men defense had 53 tackles on the night, led by VonMuehldorfer who had six tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and interception. Makayeo Hall and Jay Turnsek each added five tackles apiece.  

The loss drops the Gaiters to 2-3 while the X-Men extend their 2021 record to 4-0.

The Gaiters head into their second bye-week of the season next weekend, while the X-Men return home to host the Saint Mary's Huskies on Saturday, October 30^th in a 2pm game.  

-30-

Courtesy of StFX Athletics