Mounties drop to last in AUS with 40-9 loss to defending league champs.
The Mount Allison Football Mounties traveled to Acadia to play the Axemen Saturday night and did not leave with the result they had hoped for. In a physical game where receivers were dropping passes out of fear of opposing defenders, and both coaches were getting angry with the officials, the Mounties came out on the wrong end. The final score of the game was 40-9 for Acadia. Mt. A lost out on key opportunities early, and were not able to recover.
The Mounties got all three of their field goals in the second quarter. Each time they were close to getting into the end zone but failed to get across the goal line. Acadia was very efficient and played good defence in the second half.
The Mounties failed to grow on the momentum from last week’s first big win. Acadia was able to pick apart the defence allowing forty points and 408 yards of offence. The real difference in the game was Acadia being able to capitalize on their opportunities. Mt. A wasn’t able to score a touchdown despite being in scoring positions many times in the first half. Looking at the statistics for the game, you would think that the game was not decided until the final minutes. Mt. A had 325 yards of offence, comparable to the 408 Acadia tallied.
Brandon Leyh once again threw more than fifty times. This game he completed twenty-six of them for 278 yards passing. Jordan Botel has not been getting as many carries this season and ended up with less than fifty yards for the third straight game. Mt. A’s offence has been very pass heavy through four games, focusing less on their running game that includes 2013 East-West Bowl attendee Botel. Te Nguyen set a career high with two interceptions in the game.
The next game between these two teams should be an exciting one after all the hard hitting. Mt. A will be looking to avenge this loss on October 26 when Acadia comes to MacAulay field. This could be an important match-up for the Mounties. Last season, the Mounties were able to play in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) semi-finals, which came down to the last game of the regular season.
One positive for Mt. A from the game is that Dakota Brush caught his first AUS pass. He is in his first year and adds size to the young receiving core at six-foot, three inches. Rodreke Joseph (also at six-foot three) was once again the best receiver on the field for the Mounties, but suffered a head injury from a huge hit in the second half. The first-year wide receiver from Toronto, Ontario, has been very explosive for the Mounties, and has paired well with both Brandon Leyh and back-up quarterback Alex Field. The future of Mt. A receiving certainly looks bright.
This is the third game this season that Mt. A has failed to score in the second half, a trend that must stop if they want to stay in the race for the playoffs. Saint Mary’s Huskies beat the St. Francis Xavier (St. FX) X-Men Friday night to make a three-way tie for the lead in the AUS. This puts Mt. A last, but they remain only one game out of a playoff spot. The AUS is up for the taking as every team is competitive with each other thus far. Next Saturday, Mt. A travels to St. FX for the second time this season. Kickoff for the game is 2 pm.
