(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the Mount Allison Mounties 32-27 Friday night in AUS football action from Huskies Stadium.
Brian Hope (Coquitlam, B.C.) hit one of his five field goals with 78 seconds left, giving the Huskies (1-1) their first win since October 2013.
Mount Allison gave up an early safety in the first quarter and took control of the first half from then on.
A 10-yard touchdown pass from Jakob Loucks (Cornwall, Ont.) to Dakota Brush (Brantford, Ont.) and a Ryan Lambert (Grimsby, Ont.) 39-yard field goal saw the Mounties end the quarter up 10-2.
Lambert opened the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal. Brampton, Ontario native Chris Reid had a two-yard touchdown plunge and Loucks connected with Brush on a 12-yard strike, building a 27-2 lead with 5:25 left in the half.
Hope added field goals of 17 and 19 yards late for Saint Mary's, trimming the Mounties lead to 27-8 at halftime.
The third quarter saw Saint Mary's use a six-play, 80-yard drive in 1:46 to score on a 19-yard Brock Berglund (San Diego, California) touchdown pass to Rick LeMoignan (Edmonton, Alta.).
Another 17-yarder from Hope saw Saint Mary's end the third quarter trailing 27-18.
With Trevon Wright's (Calgary, Alta.) 22-yard touchdown reception from Berglund with 5:58 left in the fourth, the Huskies closed the gap to 27-24.
A two-point conversion to Jordan Koch (Bedford, N.S.) had the Huskies within reach, trailing 27-26.
Hope nailed a 30 and a 29-yard field goal down the stretch for the 32-27 Saint Mary's win.
The Huskies had more first downs (27-17), total yards (505-319), passing yards (271-137) and rushing yards (260-182) than Mount Allison.
The Mounties had 17 penalties for 106 yards, Saint Mary's had 13 for 115.
Loucks finished with 114 rushing yards on seven carries for Mount Allison (0-2) while Reid had 24 rushes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Loucks also threw for 137 passing yards on 18-35 attempts and two touchdowns.
Brush caught six passes for 53 yards and two scores while Reid had three catches for 26 yards.
Kyle Horsman (Moncton, N.B.) recorded 13 total tackles for the Mounties defence, who return to action Sept. 24, when they play host to the CIS No. 3-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (1-1).
Berglund had 17 rushes for 101 yards and threw for 271 and two touchdowns for the Huskies.
Leonardo Mantuila (Edmonton, Alta.) had 76 rushing yards and Derek Pisani (Newmarket, Ont.) added 66 for Saint Mary's.
D'Shawn Miller (Brampton, Ont.) had seven grabs for 93 yards while Koch had 66 yards. Rick LeMoignan had 57 yards on the night and while Wright finished with 29 yards and a touchdown.
Emmanuel Agbozo had 8.5 total tackles for Saint Mary's, who travel to Bishop's University (0-3) in Sherbrooke, Que. for their next game on Sept. 24.
Source: Dominic Nolasco for Saint Mary's Communications