WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Matt Gledhill's 41 yard pass reception for a touchdown and Scott Perry's 62 yard reception for a major in the opening half was good enough for the win as the Axemen handed the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies a 33-10 win in front of a COVID-19 restricted crowd of 500 fans.
All 33 points posted by the Axemen were in the first half, with neither team recording any points in the closing half.
Owen MacRae's rouge in the first quarter gave the Huskies their only lead of the game as the Axemen replied with five minutes remaining in the opening frame with a 41 yard pass reception for the first of four Axemen touchdowns.
A double-pass from receiver Michael Adams, barely made it into the hands of Scott Perry for the Axemen's second major of the day that pushed the Acadia lead to 14-1. Acadia picked up a 2-point safety given up by the Huskies to grab a 16-1 advantage.
An intercepted Duncan Patterson pass by Ryan Butler, at the Saint Mary's 37-yard line, quickly turned into a 73-yard pick for six by Butler to give the Axemen a shrunken 16-8 lead.
The Huskies picked up a safety to close the gap to 16-10.
Cole Estabrooks punched in for a late first half touchdown after the Huskies turned over the ball on a Lain Young sack that was picked up by senior defensive lineman Anderson Recker on Saint Mary's 11 yard line.
A Huskies three-and-out was followed by a 46-yard touchdown run by Estabrooks with 59 seconds remaining in the half.
With nine seconds left in the half, Kristian Stembridge's pass to the flat was intercepted by Brett Switzer. Switzer's interception setup the 41-yard field goal by Ben George to close out the first half.
"Obviously last week wasn't a great week, but this week we got the boys together, got some extra snaps in and really came together as a group. Even after our last practice yesterday, we went down over the Dykes (fields) and got some extra snaps in so we could make sure we were really crisp and come out today and play as a team," noted Subway Player of the Game Cole Estabrooks following the game.
The Axemen pulled together 367 total yards on offense that included 155 net yards in the air and 219 net yards on the ground, while the Huskies struggled with only 75 net yards passing and added 174 on the ground.
Huskie Teom Alexander-Amour had 88 yards on the ground and Liam Stewart had a team high 36 yards on two receptions. Stembridge was eight for 26 in passing with a longest completion of 26 yards.
Axeman pivot Duncan Patterson was eight for 18 for 93 yards and two touchdowns, while backup QB Damien Bucknor added 1 completion for 62 yards.
Leading the way on defense was Axeman Kyle Chappus with eight solo tackles in his defensive lineman position. Linebacker and teammate Franck Kemayou posted seven solos.
The Axemen improve to 1-1 and head to Halifax next Saturday for a rubber match against the Huskies, who drop to 0-2 and will look to post their first win of the season.