Axemen fall short in hosting Semi-Finals despite win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Despite a 27-0 win over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies, the Acadia Axemen will find themselves on the road in a semi-final match up against the host StFX X-Men next Saturday at 2:00 pm.

The Axemen completed the regular season with a 4-4 record, while StFX and Mount Allison finished with 5-3 records. Today's X-Men 24-18 win over the Mounties gives StFX home field advantage for the semi-final game.

The Huskies, winless this season, struggled in the first quarter to complete several offensive drives as did the Axemen. Eli Prochnau's (Cochrane, Alta.) five yard run at 4:48 of the first quarter concluded a 78 yard, eight play drive which was the first of three Acadia majors.

Senior fullback Troy Harrison (Mississauga, Ont.) punched in from one yard out to give the Axemen a 14-0 lead late in the first half.

Following a four play, 56 yard drive with no time remaining in the second quarter, Jeffrey Beattie (Hamilton, Ont.) kicked a 13 yard field goal to give Acadia a 17-0 lead into the locker room.

Beattie finished the day with one missed field goal from 27 yards and two field goals from 13 and 16 yards out. Beattie extended the lead to 20-0 early in the fourth quarter from 16 yards.

Graduating senior Andrew Adams (Bedford, N.S.) pulled in a 20 yard pass from second string pivot Darcy Lavoie late in the game to give Acadia the 27-0 lead and eventual win.

Senior receiver Brian Jones (Bedford, N.S.), who was named the Subway Player of the Game, pulled in a game high nine receptions for 144 yards, while teammates Eli Prochnau and Eugene McMinns (Nassau, Bahamas) had 58 and 53 yards respectively.

Starting quarterback Cody Cluett (Cole Harbour, N.S.) was 22 for 33 for 267 yards. The Axemen compiled 386 net yards offense including 341 yards in the air and 45 yards on the ground.

The Huskies tallied 227 net yards of offense that boasted a game high 101 yards of rushing, 80 of which was contributed by running back Ryan Zawacki (Thunder Bay, Ont.). Rick LeMoignan (Edmonton, Alta.) was the Huskies' leading receiver with eight receptions for 58 yards.

Acadia's Drew Morris (Ottawa, Ont.) posted eight tackles that included six solo and four shared, while teammate Jesse St. James (Pincourt, Que.) fell short in breaking the AUS single season sack record held by former Axeman Karim Grant of 11 sacks in a season. St. James had 11 heading into today's final game.

Acadia will head to StFX next Saturday for the AUS Semi-final game. Last season the X-Men, who trailed for the entire semi-final game against Acadia, pulled off a last minute victory. Last week the X-Men did the same in a regular season matchup against the Axemen in Antigonish.