Antigonish, NS – The StFX X-Men pulled off a dramatic 32-29 victory over the Bishop's Gaiters Saturday afternoon at STFX Stadium, scoring the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left in the game.
Quarterback Silas Fagnan (Bonnyville, AB) connected with his brother Isaac Fagnan (Bonnyville, AB) with 49 seconds on the clock for a 31-yard touchdown reception while in triple coverage.
The play came with Bishop's leading 29-24 after they had conceded a safety.
The game was a tale of turnovers as each squad had six giveaways apiece.
The turnovers started early in the game and mostly in favour of the X-Men as they had three interceptions in the opening 15 minutes.
Early on, STFX defensive back Isaac Ombotimbe (Ottawa, ON) blocked a Noah Laursen (Calgary, AB) punt deep in the Gaiters zone but the ball was recovered by BU. They used the turnover and good field position to capitalize on their first major of the day as quarterback Maxime Bouffard (Sherbrooke, QC) ran the ball in himself for a 9-yard score.
The X-Men replied with touchdown from Benoit Cormier (Moncton, NB) less than two minutes later as QB Fagnan connected with the fourth year receiver for a 28-yard reception.
X-Men defensive back Kyle Rutter (Belleville, ON) picked off his second ball of the quarter, plucking a Bouffard pass from the eligible Gaiters receiver. A pair of carries by Malcolm Bussey (Hammonds Plains, NS) led to Silas Fagnan scoring on a one-yard touchdown run. The X-Men held a 14-7 lead with just over five minutes to play in the opening quarter.
Liam Kennedy (Nepean, ON) took over the quarterbacking duties for the Gaiters in an effort to right the turnovers in the air.
The Gaiters fumbled a punt attempt late in the quarter though the X-Men were unable to convert it into a score. Kicker Max Capriotti (Mount Hope, ON) missed wide on a 27-yard field goal attempt on the opening play of the second quarter.
STFX increased their lead to 21-7 as Silas Fagnan hit Ben Harrington (Dartmouth, NS) in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown pass at 11:50.
Defensive back Ethan Mastin (Chilliwack, BC) was a presence on the STFX defense as he had an exciting block on a Gaiters 15-yard field goal attempt late in the quarter.
The Gaiters clawed into the X lead when they took advantage of yet another turnover late in the half. Jakob Matheson (Ottawa, ON) sacked Fagnan, causing a fumble with teammate Chris Sabat (Whitby, ON) recovering on the X-Men 30-yard line. Two plays later Kennedy connected with receiver Nykolas Pierre-Masse (Laval, QC) for a 17-yard pass for their second major score of the day.
The Gaiters touchdown came with 41 seconds left in the first half, giving the X-Men a 21-14 lead at halftime.
The teams exchanged single points in the third quarter after a pair of missed field goal attempts from either side. They were the only points put on the board in the third quarter as the X-Men held onto a 22-15 lead.
The Gaiters evened the score four minutes into the fourth quarter after a drive down field led to a Kennedy 10-yard pass to Griffin Shillingford (Winnipeg, MB) deep in the end zone.
In keeping with the turnover theme of the game, the Gaiters special teams unit came up with a big play with four minutes left to play. On a 47-yard STFX field goal attempt, linebacker Digaan Gomis (Trappes, France) blocked the kick then Jake Kelly (Markham, ON) recovered the ball and ran it in for a 51-yard touchdown score.
The play gave BU only their second lead in the game, 29-22, since early in the first quarter.
The X-Men had a strong drive down field and made a valiant attempt to tie it up but in the final two minutes Cormier failed to hang onto a pass in the end zone. The X-Men then turned the ball over on the next play as Gaiters defensive back Nicholas Cartagenise (Brampton, ON) intercepted a Fagnan pass.
When the X-Men got the ball back, pivot Silas Fagan led the drive and came up with his own key run on 3rd and 10 to gain 18 yards and make the first down. Three plays later, he found his brother Isaac in the end zone with the game-winning touchdown.
The two-point conversion on the play – again with Fagnan and Fagnan - made it 32-29 lead for X with 49 seconds left in the game.
On the Gaiters ensuing possession, they fumbled the ball deep in their own territory at their own eight-yard line but the game played out with neither team scoring in the final seconds as the home team X-Men held onto the exciting come-from-behind victory.
Silas Fagnan finished with 290 passing yards, going 22-40 with three touchdown passes. He also had nine carries for 56 yards. Bussey racked up 132 yards on 19 rushes.
Cormier had eight receptions for the X-Men for 84 yards and Isaac Fagnan had five catches for 89 yards.
For the Gaiters Kennedy went 11-27 for 131 yards with two touchdown passes. Pierre-Masse and Corey Williams (Montreal, QC) each had three receptions, while Louis-Philippe Gregoire (Jonquierte, QC) was the top BU rusher with 15 carries for 113 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mastin picked up Subway Player of the Game honours for the X-Men as he had an interception, forced fumble and block. Veteran linebacker Ben VonMuehldorfer led the X-Men in tackling with 9.5 in the game, including a shared sack.
Hunter Mosseau (Sault Ste Marie, ON) had a pair of sacks for X and 6.5 tackles.
Linebacker Gabriel Royer (Lawrenceville, QC) led the Gaiters defense with 9.5 tackles.
The loss drops the Gaiters to 0-2 for the season. They will attempt to regroup as they host the Saint Mary's Huskies (1-2) Friday night in Lennoxville, QC.
The X-Men (2-0) will be on the road to Sackville, NB to face Mount Allison (2-0) in a battle of the only two undefeated teams in the conference. Kick-off is 7:00 pm on Friday night.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information