Axemen hold off Mount A 25-17 in 'home opener'

BY JOHN DECOSTE

The Advertiser/NovaNewsNow.com

It wasn’t always pretty, but when all was said and done, the Acadia football Axemen earned a 25-17 win over Mount Allison in their ‘home opener’ Saturday in Halifax.

The game was played at Huskies Stadium due to delays in the renovations to Raymond Field in Wolfville, which will hopefully be ready for Acadia’s next scheduled home game Sept. 29 against SMU.

The ever-improving Mounties gave Acadia all it could handle, fighting back to tie the score twice in the second half before the Axemen cashed in eight unanswered points in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Matt Carter caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Keith Lockwood, the second with less than a minute remaining in the game to seal the victory.

Lockwood, playing in his first-ever AUFC game, completed 21 of 30 passes for 223 yards, and though he was overshadowed by Mounties’ quarterback Kerry Hughes, he turned in a solid performance and was chosen Acadia’s player of the game.

Hughes completed 24 of 37 passes for 265 yards and rushed for 86 yards on 11 carries, and Mounties’ player-of-the-game Gary Ross racked up 229 all-purpose yards, including 103 yards on seven catches and a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown.

The Mounties had a 265-223 edge in passing yardage and a 356-347 advantage in total offense, but the Axemen, who got 81 yards on 15 carries from Cale Inglis, solid performances from receivers Anthony Mayes, Will Tanner and A.J. Moskus and a 70-yard interception return from Elliott Richardson, turned their offense into more points.

Mount A led 3-0 after one quarter, but Acadia responded on a five-yard pass from Lockwood to Carter and a James Michener field goal to take a 10-3 halftime lead.

After the intermission, Ross’s punt return tied the score 10-10. Chris DeBenedet gave Acadia back the lead with a one-yard TD run, but Hughes hit Jon Dyer with an 18-yard scoring pass to tie the score at 17 after three quarters.

The eventual winning point came when Michener’s 26-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter went for a rouge. Lockwood’s touchdown pass to Carter with just 54 seconds on the clock rounded out the scoring and provided some insurance.

The Axemen return to action this Saturday when they travel to Antigonish for a meeting with the X-men, 28-22 losers to Saint Mary’s in their season opener, also on Saturday.