(HALIFAX, NS)—The Saint Mary's Huskies used a last-minute rouge from kicker Brain Hope to defeat the StFX X-Men 16-15 on Saturday afternoon in the Atlantic University Sport football semi-final from Huskies Stadium.
The first quarter saw StFX concede an early safety on their first drive and used a 33-yard field goal from Jonathan Heidebrecht (Camrose, AB) to take a 3-2 lead with 2:34 left in the quarter.
Hope (Port Coquitlan, BC) added his only field goal of the game on a 39-yarder with 43 seconds left, giving the Huskies a 5-3 lead after 10 minutes.
Heidebrecht hit field goals from 51, 31, and 17-yards out for all the scoring in the second quarter and StFX regained the lead 12-5 at the half.
Saint Mary's scored the only points in the third quarter with a rouge point from Hope and a safety to chip away at StFX's 12-8 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The lone touchdown of the game came from Saint Mary's with 14:42 in the final quarter when receiver Archelaus Jack (Toronto, ON) hauled in a 22-yard pass from quarterback Kaleb Scott (Mount Albert, ON) as the Huskies took only 1:32 off the clock with their six-play, 67-yard drive, taking the lead at 15-12.
Heidebrecht hit his fifth and final field goal from 25-yards out and tied the game at 15-15 with 3:25 left.
Scott then orchestrated a six-play, 37-yard drive which took SMU from their own 52 to StFX's 21-yard line.
Hope had the game on his foot from 28-yards out and missed his attempt to the right as the ball went thru the end zone for the single point and a 16-15 Huskies lead with 41 seconds left.
StFX had one final attempt from 68-yards away but Heidebrecht's field goal kick came up short and Saint Mary's held-on for the 16-15 victory.
With the win, the Huskies advance to the Loney Bowl and will face the host Acadia Axemen in the 2017 Subway AUS football championship game next Saturday, November 11th at 2 pm in Wolfville, NS.
Courtesy Dominic Nolasco, Saint Mary's Communications