X-Men close out perfect 8-0 season with win over Mounties

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - Powered by a 22-point fourth quarter, the StFX X-Men completed a perfect 8-0 regular season with a 37-13 victory over the Mount Allison Mounties Saturday afternoon at StFX Stadium.

StFX quarterback and Subway player of the game Silas Fagnan (Bonneyville, AB) went 21-29 in the air, throwing two touchdown passes and scoring a running touchdown himself.

Running back Malcolm Bussey (Hammonds Plains, NS) rushed for 92 yards on 26 carries, with one touchdown for the X-Men. Zachary Houde (Thetford Mines, QC) had seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, while Zakariya Karim (Ottawa, ON) snagged four passes for 133 yards and a touchdown.

On defence for the blue and white, Nathan Cayouette (Strathmore, AB) had four solo tackles, and Liam Wilde (Calgary, AB) had five.

For Mount Allison, quarterback Justin Vogels (Sackville, NB) went 15-27 in the air with one touchdown pass. Running back Brandt Burzuk (Red Deer, AB) earned 33 yards on 11 carries, while Nolan Cheeseman (Upper Tantallon, NS) made three catches for 26 yards and a touchdown, with Cody Barton (Lower Coverdale, NB) catching seven passes for 62 yards.

On defence for Mount Allison, player of the game Owen O'Neal (Sackville, NB) had eight tackles, while Reid MacKay (New Maryland, NB) had five solo tackles and three assisted.

Houde scored the first major of the game, at 8:33 of the first quarter, on the X-Men's second possession, a five-play, 61-yard drive capped off with a 33-yard pass and catch. Ben Hadley (Halifax, NS) connected on the PAT.

Mount A got on the board later in the quarter with a Graeme Maither (Hinchinbrooke, QC) rouge, but the X defence scored a safety two minutes later to bring the lead to 9-1. Near the end of the quarter, Cheeseman collected a 24-yard pass from Vogels for the first Mounties major of the game, leaving the score at 9-8. 

The second quarter was scoreless until the 2:24 marker, with Hadley nailing a 17-yard field goal, but Maither added one of his own just over a minute later, leaving the score at 12-11 in favour of the X-Men at halftime.

In the third quarter, Hadley opened things up with a 10-yard field goal, capitalizing on an interception on the Mounties' first possession of the half. STFX conceded a safety late in the quarter, leaving the score at 15-13.

Early in the final stanza, Hadley went wide on a field goal attempt but scored a point with the rouge. The X-Men lit up the scoreboard again just over a minute later, with Karim collecting a 62-yard pass for the score and Hadley converting.

Fagnan crossed the line himself with a two-yard run on the next X possession, with Hadley converting, and Bussey scored on a short run, with Hadley converting again, a short time later, bringing the score to 37-13.

With the first-place regular season finish, the X-Men have earned the right to host the Subway AUS Loney Bowl Championship. The AUS semifinal is set for November 5^th when third place Mount Allison will travel to Lennoxville, Que. to take on the second place Bishop's Gaiters.

The Loney Bowl championship game is slated for November 12^th at 2:00 pm at STFX Stadium.

The winner of the Loney Bowl will host the U SPORTS Uteck Bowl national semifinal game on November 19^th against the winner of the Canada West conference.   

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics Sports Information