Huskies drop Home Opener to StFX

In their first game on their brand new turf, the Huskies came out on the losing end to the visitors, StFX 31-7 in their home opener.  With 3 blocked punts and 2 interceptions, Saint Mary's had some costly mistakes that opened the door for the X-Men.  That in addition to an offense that was unable to find the end-zone and this was not the start the Huskies were looking for to the 2014 season.

In the first half, neither offense could get things going in the early beginning as the teams traded punts.  A Saint Mary's mistake on special teams opened the door for StFX when Kodejs' punt was blocked by LB Brownlee and returned to the Saint Mary's 8-yard line.  X-Men Quarterback Tivon Cook then completed the 8-yard pass to Wide Receiver Donald Tabor for a 7-0 lead before the end of the 1^st Quarter. A safety followed by a 77-yard touchdown drive by the StFX offense put the Huskies in a 16-0 hole early.

The Huskies responded by going 51 yards of their own including a 30 yard catch by Prot and 17-yards by Magee.  But just a few minutes later a 39-yard missed field goal and Saint Mary's was unable to close the deficit.  After an X-Men punt, Abankwah responded with a 38-yard rush into StFX half and Koedjs nailed a 32-yard kick to put the Huskies on the board.  The X-Men followed by kicking a 34- yard field goal of their own to make it 19-3 going into the half.

The 2^nd half saw the Huskies get off to a bad start as Rossong was sacked at SMU's own 16.  The following punt was blocked again by StFX and returned for the touchdown, increasing the deficit to 26-4.  Running backs Abankwah and Gesse took matters into their own hands marching the Saint Mary's offense down the field into the X-men's half.  A crucial 3^rd down conversion on a completed pass to Magee kept the drive alive and put the ball within range for Kodejs to nail the 32-yard field goal to make it 26-7.

Down by 21 in the 4^th, the Huskies were forced to put the ball in the air.  Rossong promptly under threw a pass to WR Magee that was intercepted by DB Holland and resulted in a StFX field goal to make it 31-7.  With the game out of reach coach Marchese turned to back-up QB Scott Borden who drove the ball 96-yards to the 9-yard line but failed on the last attempt.

The Huskies will be forced to rebound next week in Acadia, against a tough Axemen team and will need to improve the offense and special teams in order to avoid falling to 0-2.