Cluett completed 36 of 44 attempts for 302 yards in the air as the Axemen rebounded from a season opening loss to Mount Allison in Sackville, N.B. last weekend.
Acadia opened the first quarter at the 2:49 mark with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Cluett to Ben Meek to give the Axemen a 6-0 lead after the convert was missed.
Alberta native Brandon Jenning’s first quarter, 33-yard field goal extended the Acadia lead to 9-0 heading into the second frame.
A five-yard reception by Dale Wright for Acadia’s second touchdown of the first half, pushed Acadia into a 16-0 advantage with 4:15 remaining in the second quarter. Just over a minute later, a team safety was added, giving Acadia an 18-0 lead heading into half time.
Nearly two minutes into the second half, Gaiters’ Vincent Dube nailed a 32-yard field goal to give Bishop’s their first points of the game.
Wright scored his second and Acadia’s final touchdown of the afternoon on an eight yard run in the third frame, pushing the lead to 25-3.
With five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Trevon Millings closed the gap to 25-10 on a 25-yard pass reception from Dylan Tucker. Bishop’s capitalized on a fumbler recovery on the Acadia 25 and with no delay scored their first and only touchdown of the game.
A team safety with 1:38 remaining in the game, gave the Axemen a 27-10 win after regulation time.
Named the Subway Player of the Game, Cluett’s performance tied a record of 36 completions set by former Axemen pivot Keith Lockwood on Sept. 22, 2007 versus McGill in Montreal.
“We just stuck with the process we’ve known all year. We know we didn’t come and play as well as we could have last week. We obviously wanted to bounce back and every day in practice we got a little bit better and sticking with what we were doing,” noted Cluett after the game.
Bahamas native Eugene McMinns led the way for the Axemen receiving core with seven catches for 64 yards. Cordell Hastings, Caleb Ryder, Ben Meek added 49, 47 and 42 yards respectively.
Cluett was appreciative of his receivers following the game. “It makes it easy when you have guys like that running around catching the ball. I just have to put it in a spot and they will go and run and catch it for me. Those guys making plays makes it really easy for me,” said Cluett.
While the air-attack was impressive, senior running back Kentville’s Cameron Davidson spearheaded a ground attack with 145 net yards on 24 carries. Gaiter Trevon Millings had a team high 74 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Defensively, the Gaiters Arnaud Dandin posted nine solo tackles and three assisted while second year Axemen linebacker Bailey Feltmate had 13 solo tackles and two assisted.
The Gaiters head home to host the 1-0 Saint Mary’s Huskies next Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. (ET), while the Axemen travel to Antigonish to take on the 1-1 St FX X-Men next Saturday at 2 p.m.
Did you know?
Acadia and Canadian Football League Hall of Famer, Bob Cameron, was present for the game. Cameron is second in the AUS record book with 35 completions in a single game in 1977.
The recent game was the first for the Bishop’s Gaiters, the newest addition to the Atlantic University Sport Football Conference. Bishop’s had no exhibition games prior to the game at Acadia.
