Football Axemen knocked out of post season after 27-22 loss to X-Men

Antigonish, NS – The U SPORTS No. 8 ranked STFX X-Men are Loney Bowl bound after a 27-22 victory
over the Acadia Axemen in Subway AUS semifinal playoff action on a wet but mild Saturday afternoon at
STFX Stadium.

The X-Men needed late game heroics in order to pull off the victory as Acadia were leading for a
significant portion of the game.

X-Men head coach Gary Waterman took a gamble on a third and six play with six minutes left in the
game and was rewarded as quarterback Silas Fagnan (Bonnyville, AB) hit Zakariya Karim (Ottawa, ON)
with a 46-yard pass and he scored his second touchdown of the afternoon.

Waterman noted, "It was one of those feel things, you normally don't want to go for it in that type of
situation but the way the game was going and the time left on the clock, we had the ball and wanted to
put it in the hands of the offense to make a play and they did."

The Axemen were pressing with just over a minute to play and opted for a gamble of their own on a QB
hand-off to receiver Cherokee Robinson (Halifax, NS) who attempted a pass but X-Men defensive back
Nick Clarke (Woodville, NS) picked it off.

The X-Men then played out the remainder of the quarter and earned the 27-22 victory after trailing 22-
20 for the majority of the second half.

Subway Player of the Game Malcolm Bussey (Hammonds Plains, NS) had 32 rushes for 258 total yards
for the X-Men, and quarterback Silas Fagnan (Bonnyville, AB) was 18-28 for 300 yards.

Waterman commented that "Just watching all those tough runs, there weren't easy, it was a dog fight.
He earned every run and was really having to make cuts and explode out there. He really is a special
player."

Acadia player of the game Cole Estabrooks (Moncton, NB) put up 206 rushing yards on 20 carries and
quarterback Daniel Hashem (Hammonds Plains, NS) was 12-23 for 104 passing yards.

STFX scored on their opening drive of the game off a 36-yard field goal from Max Capriotti (Mount Hope,
ON) to establish an early 3-0 lead four minutes into the game.

The upped their lead to 10-0 when Karim pulled in a 28-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end
zone midway through the quarter.

The Axemen quickly answered on the next possession however, as Estabrooks broke a couple X tackles
and swung out for an impressive 95-yard touchdown run down the sideline.

The visitors took a 14-10 lead with only 23 seconds left in the opening quarter as Hashem connected
with Julien Poirier-McKiggan (Halifax, NS) for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

The Axemen picked up a single point on the ensuing kick-off to lead 15-10 after one.

First year Axemen receiver Cherokee Robinson (Halifax, NS) scored a major off a 42-yard run at 7:13 of
the third quarter after the X-Men got into penalty trouble. The touchdown put Acadia in the lead 22-10.

STFX closed the gap to 22-17 with under two minutes to play in the opening half as the Malcolm Bussey
train rolled through Axemen territory. After 10 consecutive rushes for 104 total yards, the final play of
the drive resulted in a four-yard touchdown run.

Bussey ended up with 177 total rushing yards in the opening half. His counterpart on the Axemen
Estabrooks had 144.

Capriotti booted a 42-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to pull the X-Men within two points,
22-20 at halftime.

The third quarter saw no scoring plays but the X-Men pressed late in the quarter as Isaac Fagnan
(Bonnyville, AB) had a nice 59-yard pass and run play to bring the ball deep into Axemen territory. Ethan
Phinney (Porters Lake, NS) then came up with a big pass deflection and interception for the Axemen to
stave off the X attack as the 22-20 score held up for Acadia after three quarters of play.

The lone scoring in the fourth quarter came off Karim's game-winning touchdown. He had seven
receptions in the game for 142 yards including the two TD's.

On the defensive side of the ball, Alex Fedchun (Calgary, AB) led the X-Men with five tackles on the day.
Kameron Ball (Moncton, NB) had seven tackles for the Axemen defense who as a collective had five
sacks in the game.

The fourth place Axemen wrap up the AUS season with an overall 1-6 record in regular season and
playoff competition.

With the win the undefeated first place X-Men will now host the Subway AUS Loney Bowl championship
game. Their opponent will be the Bishop's Gaiters who knocked off the second place Mount Allison
Mounties 23-5 in the other AUS semifinal match played in Sackville, NB.
 
The Loney Bowl will be played at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 20th at STFX Stadium