Antigonish, NS - Paolo Edwards (Hamilton, ON) keyed a 20-point explosion in the second quarter with two interceptions, including a return of 48 yards for a touchdown, as the StFX X-Men (3-2) earned a 37-20 win over the Acadia Axemen (1-4) at Oland Stadium Saturday afternoon in AUS football action.
A pro-StFX crowd of more than 5,100 fans enjoyed the action during Homecoming 2014.
"I played my cards right," Edwards said, with a laugh, of the X-Men coverage that led to his touchdown. Edwards scampered untouched for the touchdown, giving the X-Men an 18-6 advantage.
The Axemen jumped to a 6-0 lead on a pair of field goals (34 and 21 yards) by Ryan Begin (Orleans, ON).
After Edwards' first interception earlier in the second quarter, with 4:45 remaining until halftime, running back Ashton Dickson (Ottawa, ON), who gained 81 yards on 16 carries, scored on a one-yard plunge.
The key play of the six-play, 66-yard march was a 39-yard screen pass from Tivon Cook (Scarborough, ON) to Dickson, who made several Acadia tacklers miss after the catch. With the Jeremy Ford (Halifax, NS) conversion, the X-Men took their first lead of the game (7-6).
On the ensuing kick-off, Ford scored a rouge to give StFX an 8-6 advantage. With a 44-yard field goal, the X-Men placekicker gave the home side a five-point margin at 11-6.
After the Edwards pick-six and Ford conversion, Acadia conceded a safety, which wrapped up the first-half scoring. The X-Men led 20-6 at halftime.
StFX opened the second-half scoring on a 25-yard field goal from Ford, making it 23-6.
Acadia answered when Zack Clarke (Sackville, NS) finished a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown scamper (23-13).
StFX answered less than three minutes later, keyed by back-to-back catches from Jordan Catterall (Oakville, ON), who kept the drive alive with a leaping catch for a first down along the sidelines. On the next play, he connected with Cook on a 55-yard touchdown pass. With the Ford conversion, the X-Men led 30-13.
With 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Randy Roseway (Ottawa, ON), with an electrifying 81-yard punt return, extended the StFX lead. "I said 'uh-oh,'" Roseway said, with a laugh, in talking about his TD return after the game.
"I thought I was going to get tackled right away, but I made my way through [the tacklers] and then outran everyone," he added. With another Ford convert, StFX led 37-13.
Acadia scored the only points of the fourth quarter, when Thompson Richards connected with Brian Jones (Enfield, NS) on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Cook finished 10-for-20, with 167 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the X-Men. The top receiver for the X-Men was Catterall with four catches for 85 yards.
Dickson rushed 16 times for 81 yards for the blue and white, while freshman DeJon Lynch (Nanaimo, BC) added 39 yards on eight carries to the ground attack.
Jon Shaw (Stittsville, ON), who started at quarterback for Acadia, threw for 53 yards on six completions. In relief, Richards was 6-for-9 for 81 yards.
Clarke led the Axemen rushing attack with 77 yards on 16 carries. Jones, with six catches for 80 yards, led the Acadia receiving corps.
StFX had 299 yards in total offense, while Acadia collected 250.
On the defensive side, Justin Holland (Parksville, BC) joined Edwards with two interceptions for the X-Men. Jessie Stevens (Ottawa, ON) and Ron Omara (Aylmer, QC) led the X-Men with six and 4.5 tackles, respectively.
Mete Konya (Osnabrueck, Germany) had 1.5 sacks for StFX, while Kyle Forde (Ajax, ON) and Jainyme Dasilveira (Everett, MA) added one and 0.5 sacks, respectively.
For the Axemen, Drew Morris (Ottawa, ON) recorded 8.5 tackles, while Russell Rainey (Hawkesbury, ON) chipped in 6.5. Martin Pesek (Toronto, ON) led Acadia with 1.5 sacks, while Jesse St. James (Pincourt, QC) added 0.5 sacks.
"It felt great to get the win in front of such an awesome crowd," Roseway said.
The teams return to action Saturday, Oct. 11th in a re-match during Thanksgiving in Wolfville at the annual Subway Turkey Bowl. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
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