Acadia drops home opener to StFX

The Acadia Axemen fell 35-0 to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in Atlantic University Sport football action Saturday at Raymond Field.

StFX built an early lead and never looked back. The visitors opened the scoring in the first quarter when Acadia conceded a safety. Quarterback Silas Fagnan added a 12-yard touchdown run late in the quarter to make it 9-0.

The X-Men extended their lead in the second quarter. Malcolm Bussey scored on a four-yard run at 7:12, followed by a Caleb Fogarty 20-yard rushing touchdown at 2:45. Less than three minutes later, Fagnan connected with Zachary Houde for an 11-yard touchdown pass, sending StFX into halftime ahead 30-0.

Acadia's defence forced a first-quarter fumble at the goal line when linebacker Kosta Zannis stripped Bussey, with Elliot Boucher recovering. Linebacker Riley Comeau contributed five tackles and a tackle for loss, while Brandon Kamenz added seven total stops. Zannis led all Axemen with nine tackles.

The X-Men tacked on a safety in the third quarter and a Payton Plesh 40-yard field goal in the fourth to close out the scoring.

Quarterback Tyran Duval went 18-for-29 with 129 yards and one interception. Chad Alexander led Acadia receivers with four catches for 36 yards, while Xander Matheson added five receptions for 31 yards. Carson Graham and Reiven Salen combined for 25 rushing yards, while Noah Crowley chipped in 11 yards on the ground.

On defence, Acadia posted 50 total tackles, including nine from Zannis, seven from Kamenz, and five from Comeau. Elliot Boucher recorded four tackles to go with his fumble recovery.

StFX finished with 488 yards of total offence compared to Acadia's 169. Fagnan threw for 321 yards on 24 completions, while Houde caught nine passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

With the loss, Acadia dropped to 0-2 on the season. The Axemen return to action Sept. 13 when they host Saint Mary's at Raymond Field.