They’re better than they looked

The Acadia football Axemen avoided the ignominity of a winless season by edging Mount A 28-25 last weekend.

Yes, receiver-returner Gary Ross, the top “impact player” in the conference, didn’t play for the Mounties, and their quarterback (and conference MVP candidate) Kelly Hughes sat out most of the second half.

For the Axemen at that point in their season, any victory was welcome: not only did they win fair-and-square, they came from behind to do it on the opposition’s home field.

It was a feel-good afternoon all around for Acadia. Nick Downey, Adrian Saturley and Brett Haenni each scored the first touchdowns of their Acadia careers, and quarterback Kyle Graves threw his first AUHC touchdown pass.

All three Axemen touchdowns were special in other ways. Downey, after catching a short screen pass from Graves on Acadia’s first play from scrimmage, ran 106 yards, setting a conference record for the longest TD reception.

Saturley’s touchdown came on a sack of Mount A quarterback Kelly Hughes, forcing a fumble, which he recovered and ran 59 yards into the end.

Haenni’s touchdown provided the game-winning margin, and was the first – and only – rushing touchdown the Axemen scored all season.

The Axemen had an otherwise forgettable 2008, but they weren’t nearly as bad as their record suggests. Take away three lopsided losses (47-1 to Laval, 42-21 to Mount A, 32-2 to Sherbrooke) and the Axemen were competitive, losing by two to Saint Mary’s, by five to the Huskies, by seven in overtime to St. F.X. and by 11 to the X-men in what was a four-point game in the final minute.

Turn around any two of those results, and the Axemen finish at 3-5 and likely would have made the playoffs. Win both games against SMU, and Acadia could have been in the hunt for a conference title.

What does head coach Jeff Cummins need to do?

One might suggest he only has to sit back and let his young players mature; it’s not quite that simple. He has to keep recruiting - but he’s proven as good as anyone at that and, besides, he has to do it anyway.

One of the problems for the Axemen this season was consistency. When the defense played well, the offense forgot to show up. When the offense got the job done, the defense let the team down. The end result was frustrating, but not the disaster a 1-7 season could be.

Acadia has a lot of players in their fourth or fifth year, and many of them will graduate, including most of the offensive line, defensive anchor Jamie Johnson and kicker James Michener. There are players who will be back, and a good crop of young talent.

How will Acadia fare next season? Well, probably not as badly. If there was no talent on the roster, one might worry. That’s not the case.

It’s fair to say the balance of power in the AUFC is shifting, with the result there should be even more parity next season - including Acadia rising from the ashes of 2008.