(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the Acadia Axemen 14-11 on Friday night in front of 3,175 fans at Huskies Stadium in Halifax. The highly anticipated 2012 Loney Bowl rematch kicked off the Atlantic University Sport football season.
Melvin Abankwah (Etobicoke, Ont.) amassed 229 all-purpose yards while Dave Sabourin (Ottawa, Ont.) and Mike Dawes (Winnigeg, Man.) combined for 95 yards rushing on 30 carries to lead the Huskies offensively.
Subway Player of the Game Rob Jubenville (Oshawa, Ont.) registered 6.5 tackles and one sack and Jonathan Lange had six tackles for a Huskies defence that stood tall in the second half propelling Saint Mary's to a huge win at the Stadium.
The defending conference champion Axemen accumulated 257 total yards compared to only 142 for Saint Mary's and were in control of field position for most of the contest. But a game changing turnover on special teams in the second quarter gave the Huskies first and goal on the Acadia three-yard line.
Two plays later, Ben Rossong (Sackville, N.S.) connected with Abankwah in the deep corner of the end-zone for a Huskies touchdown to give the home squad a 9-7 halftime lead they would not relinquish.
Taylor Renaud (Winnipeg, Man.) led Acadia offensively with 127 yards on seven receptions including an electrifying 82-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the first quarter that would prove to be the only major score for Acadia.
Quarterback Evan Brown (Hubley, N.S.) was solid in his Axemen debut replacing two-time AUS MVP Kyle Graves at quarterback, passing for 227 yards and completing 18-of-34 passes.
Both teams will enter the RSEQ interlock portion of their schedules next Saturday.
Acadia will get ready to host the CIS defending champion Laval Rouge et Or at Raymond Field in a contest that can be seen on AUStv.ca.
The Huskies will travel to Montreal to play the nationally ranked Université de Montréal Carabins.
Source: Saint Mary's Sports Information