Huskies hold on for 14-12 victory over Axemen

BY JOHN DECOSTE

The Advertiser/NovaNewsNow.com

The Acadia Axemen had the edge on the stat sheet, but the Saint Mary’s Huskies had the advantage on the scoreboard in a 14-12 win over the Axemen Friday evening in Halifax.

The Axemen felt after the game that they had probably done enough to win, and the game statistics agreed, showing Acadia with a 404-321 edge in total offense and 23 first downs to the Huskies’ 21.

Keith Lockwood completed 17 of 31 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown, a three-yard pass to first-year receiver Kevin Avery to open the scoring late in the first quarter.

The Axemen also had some success running the ball against the SMU defense, with Nick Lauder, Brett Haenni and John Matheson combining for nearly 200 yards subbing for the injured Cale Inglis.

On the negative side, James Michener missed two field goals, one of which would have given Acadia the lead, and the Axemen special teams unit botched another field goal attempt with a poor snap.

Ted Abraham and Nathan Marsman split the quarterbacking duties for SMU, with Marsman coming off the bench to connect with Carl Hardwick on a second-quarter touchdown that ensured the eventual margin of victory.

Running back Craig Leger of Truro had the Huskies other touchdown on a 15-yard run earlier in the second quarter.

Michener was good on one of his field goal attempts, and Huskies’ kicker Justin Palardy conceded a safety to account for the rest of the Acadia scoring.

The Axemen now have the rest of the week to reflect on a decent performance with a lot of positives, but which unfortunately fell a bit short on the scoreboard, before hosting the tough Laval Rouge et Or in an interlock matchup Saturday at 2 p.m. in Wolfville.