X-Men improve to 3-0 with win over Mounties

Photo credit MtA Sports Information
Photo credit MtA Sports Information

Sackville, NB - The StFX X-Men defeated the Mount Allison Mounties 21-19 at Alumni Field on Friday night in a battle of the league's two undefeated teams.

The Mounties opened the scoring when they picked up a single point of a James Parker missed field goal from 23 yards out on the team's first possession of the game.

StFX took their first lead of the game when the Mounties conceded a safety with 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter. StFX extended their lead to 5-1 when Max Capriotti connected on a 41 yard field goal attempt early in the 2nd quarter.

The Mounties responded with a 75 yard touchdown drive that got started with a 30 yard completion from quarterback Julian Wytinck to Robbie Walker. Senior Aidan O'Neal used a 2 yard jet sweep to find the end zone for the Mounties. Parker's convert gave the Mounties an 8-5 lead.

After a defensive stand for the Mounties, the offence went back to work as Jack Estabrooks picked up 26 rush yards before James Parker hit on a 26 yard field goal attempt. This gave the Mounties an 11-5 lead.

StFX engineered a 75 yard drive of their own for their first major of the game. The scoring play came with Silas Fagnan connected from 8 yards out with his brother Isaac Fagnan. This gave the X-Men a 12-11 lead, a lead they would take to the locker room at halftime.

StFX extended their lead in the 3rd quarter when Capriotti hit his 2nd field goal of the game, this time from 31 yards. The rest of the X offense would come from the foot of Capriotti as he also connected from 18 and 24 yards to give StFX a 21-11 lead over the home side.

The Mounties started their comeback when they picked up a single off a missed field goal by Parker. This left the score at 21-12 with under 7 minutes left to play.

With a minute left in the game the Mounties went deep into the play book as Wytinck threw a lateral pass to receiver Drew Besco who then found a wide open Adam Shambemirada. The Mounties receiver did the rest of the work, scampering 13 yards to the end zone to bring the score to 21-19 on a 52 yard scoring play.

The Mounties attempted an onside kick but when the ball sailed out of bounds the X-Men gained possession and were able to run out the clock for the win.

Subway Player of the Game Malcolm Bussey from StFX ran for 96 yards on 20 carries. Jack Estabrooks had 93 yards on 23 carries for the Mounties. Fagnan was 19-27 for 226 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for the X-Men. Wytinck was 14 of 21 for 125 yards for the Mounties.

The Mounties now travel to Saint Mary's for a 2PM game on Saturday, October 16th. StFX enters a bye week followed by a trip to Bishop's on October 23rd.

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Courtesy Mount Allison Sports Information