Axemen fall hard with loss to Sherbrooke in interlock

SHERBROOKE, QC - The Acadia Axemen were the third of three AUS teams to fall to an RSEQ opponent in interlock play. Earlier in the day the Saint Mary's Huskies and StFX X-men, who hosted Concordia and Montreal respectively, lost in lopsided scores.

The Axemen, who were out-gained 516-164 net yards on offence, fall to 1-3 in a 48-10 loss to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or. Sherbrooke improve to 2-2 with the fourth win against Acadia in as many meetings - the last time in 2008.

The Axemen, missing starting running back Thomas Troop for the second week in a row, were unable to keep possession of the ball, accummulating 25 minutes of possession and only 15 first downs compared to the Vert et Or 29 first downs.

Sherbrooke struck first on their opening drive when they put together a eight play, 52 yard drive that resulted in a 13 yard field goal. Another field goal that came off of an interception on Acadia's 15 yard line, nudged the score up to 6-0 in the first seven minutes of play.

The Vert et Or's third possession resulted in another field goal by Mathieu Hebert, pushing the lead to 9-0 with 4:44 remaining on the clock in the first quarter.

Finally Sherbrooke was able to penetrate the end zone on a eight play, 77 hard drive that was spearheaded by 22 yard reception by Sebastian Blanchard for 22 years and 16 yard reception by David Dumas-Goulet, both from starting pivot Jeremi Roch.

At 16-0 in the second quarter, Acadia's Ryan Begin finally got the Axemen on the scoreboard with a 44 yard field goal. The Axemen closed the margin to 16-10 on a one yard dive by Zack Clarke that completed a 66 yard drive and closed the first half scoring.

The Vert et Or would score 32 unanswered points in the second half. With the Axemen offence lacking any sustained drives, the Acadia defence fell victim to a "three downs and out" game.

A Mathieu Herbert rouge in the opening four minutes of the second half was the start of an onslaught of Sherbrooke points. David Dumas-Goulet led the Vert et Or with two touchdowns including a two yard run and 8 yard reception for touchdowns. Herbert would add another field goal and rouge while teammates Jean-Robert Moisan and Vince Gaudreau added touchdown receptions from Roch.

Roch finished the game with 280 yards in passing and was 25 for 39 with one interception and three touchdown tosses. Acadia quarterback John Shaw posted 13 completions on 25 attempts and two interceptions for a total of 90 yards. Brian Jones had a team high 47 yards on seven receptions, while the running game had a total of 83 yards - Eli Prochnau running 35 yards on 3 carries in the wildcat quarterback position. The Axemen's total offensive output was the lowest this season.

Acadia returns to the field in Antigonish next Saturday Oct. as they take on the 2-2 X-Men and then return home for Thanksgiving weekend October 11 at 2pm versus StFX.