(SACKVILLE, N.B.) - The CIS No. 8-ranked Mount Allison Mounties celebrated Homecoming weekend with a decisive 39-8 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies on Saturday afternoon in front of more than 2,400 fans at MacAulay Field in Sackville.
The raucous hometown crowd was on their feet early and often in the opening quarter as the Mounties built up an 18-0 first quarter lead and never looked back. The score was 32-2 at halftime and from there the reigning AUS Champions cruised to their eighth straight win in AUS regular season and playoff action.
The Mounties offense struck less than three minutes into the game when Christian Plante powered his way into the end zone from 2 yards out. Plante, a 4th year defensive lineman for the Mounties was given the ball for first of five touchdowns the home team scored on the day.
The Mounties struck again five minutes later when Kyle McLean sprung free on a fake field goal attempt and ran the ball in from 17 yards out. Kicker Ryan Lambert put the ensuing kickoff through the Saint Mary's end zone to make it 15-0. The Mounties would add another rouge off a missed FG and Saint Mary's conceded a safety to make it 18-0 after the first quarter.
The Mounties kept the offense moving in the second, mostly on the strength of freshman running back Chris Reid's 192 yards rushing. After some good work to get the Mounties within striking distance, Reid scored from 1 yard out to make it 25-0. Saint Mary's got on the scoreboard by forcing Mount Allison to concede a safety midway through the second. Reid then scored his second rushing TD of the day, this time scampering 19 yards for the major.
In the third quarter, Plante scored his second major of the day when he punched it in from 1 yard to make it 39-2. The Huskies would respond with a touchdown of their own when Ben Rossong hit Lukas Snyder for a 28-yard strike with 10 minutes remaining in the game to make it 39-8.
Reid was the leader on offense for the Mounties with his 192 yards on the ground. Starting QB Brandon Leyh was 4-of-5 for 72 yards on a day where strong winds kept the game mostly on the ground. Leyh gave way to 4th year back-up Alex Field in the fourth quarter.
Jacob Gesse had 49 yards on 10 carries for the Huskies while Melvin Abankwah added 24 yards on 12 carries. Ben Rossong was 11-of-23 for 133 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
On defense, the Mounties had nine sacks to go with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Special teams also chipped in with a blocked punt from Matt Rose. Michael Bohan, Kwame Adjei and Andrew Klain all had interceptions while Jacob LeBlanc led the team with 5.5 tackles and a sack. For Saint Mary's, Jonathan Langa had a game-high 8.5 tackles to lead the way defensively.
The Mounties now sit at 3-0 in first place in the AUS while Saint Mary's falls to 0-3 and sits in last place. The Mounties travel to Quebec to play Bishop's next Saturday night, September 27th at 8:00pm (ATL) while Saint Mary's hosts Concordia in Halifax.
Notes: Fans were treated to a halftime special appearance by members of the 1984 Mounties that won the Atlantic Bowl and played in the Vanier Cup. More than 30 members of this celebrated Mounties team were back on MacAulay field to relive the magical run of '84...The win marks the first time Mount Allison has opened the regular season with a 3-0 record since 1998.
Source: Mount Allison Sports Information
Photo courtesy of Paul Lynch