Mounties capture first win against Axemen

SACKVILLE, N.S. - The Mount Allison Mounties celebrated Homecoming with a 20-12 win over the Acadia Axemen at Alumni Field on Saturday.

The game started slowly on offense with neither side putting up points in the first quarter.  Penalties also seemed to quiet any offense that was trying to emerge in the early going.  The Mounties struck first, 5 minutes into the 2nd quarter when kicker Ryan Lambert hit from 37 yards to give the Mounties a 3-0 lead.  Acadia put their first points on the board 5 minutes later when they forced the Mounties to a safety, bringing the score to 3-2. 

Mount Allison would stretch their lead to 6-2 before halftime when a nine play, 63 yard drive ended with Lambert's 2nd field goal, this time from 34 yards. 

Acadia struck first in the 2nd half, driving 54 yards on 6 plays for their only major of the day. The touchdown came when Sabastian Robinson scored from 1 yard out.  This gave Acadia a 9-6 at the midway point of the 3rd quarter but the Mounties would respond right away to regain the lead.  Fifth year Mountie Michael Bohan took the ensuing kickoff back 38 yards to midfield to give the Mounties great field position.  Mounties freshman QB Jakob Loucks then took over and drove his Mounties into Acadia territory.  All-Canadian running back Chris Reid capped the drive with back-to-back runs, first for 9 yards and then from 6 yards to find the end zone.  The Mounties took a 13-9 lead and would never trail in the game again. 

Acadia closed to within 1 point early in the 4th quarter with a field goal to run the score to 13-12.  But less than two minutes later the Mounties got a huge play on special teams to stretch their lead.  With Acadia backed up in their own end rookie linebacker Aidan McKenna blocked the Acadia punt, sending the ball rolling into the Acadia end zone.  Fourth year Mountie Quinn LeBlanc quickly jumped on the ball and the Mounties cashed in their 2nd TD of the day.   

Acadia would have one last chance at the end of the game but as the final throw was knocked down in the end zone the celebration started for the home crowd. 

Freshman QB Jakob Loucks continues to impress for the Mounties, earning Subway Player of the Game Honours.  Loucks was 26 of 40 for 238 yards passing.  Loucks also had 76 yards rushing on 8 carries during the game.  For Acadia, Cody Cluett was 27 of 46 for 298 yards on a day where the Axemen only had 17 rush attempts.  Sophomore receiver Maleke Richards had 10 catches for 112 yards while Dakota Brush added 7 catches for 80 yards. 

Defensively the Mounties were led by Damian Halstead and Kyle Horsman who had 8.5 tackles each on the afternoon.  Horsman currently leads the AUS in tackles. 

The Mounties, who sit in a tie for 2nd place at 1-3, now travel to Saint Mary's this coming Friday, October 7th for the 2nd of 3 meetings with the Huskies this year.