The Mount Allison Mounties defeated the StFX X-Men 42-13 on a perfect Saturday afternoon for Thanksgiving football at MacAulay field. The Mounties scored early and often, amassing more than 500 yards in offense on the afternoon and eclipsing the 40-point mark for the first time since the 2008 season.
After the teams exchanged two and outs to start the game, the Mounties took possession on their own 35 yard line and proceeded to march 75 yards in 10 plays for their first of five touchdowns on the afternoon. Matt Rose scampered 13 yards on a reverse to move the Mounties to first and goal from the 1 yard line and on the next play the AUS leading rusher Jordan Botel found the endzone. The Mounties defense forced another two and out for the StFX defense, putting the Mounties offense back to work. Back to back completions from quarterback Brandon Leyh to Josh Blanchard, the first for 16 yards and the second for 19 yards put the Mounties in scoring position. Kyle McLean knocked in a field goal from 14 yards to put the Mounties up 10-0.
The Mounties defense once again kept the X-Men from getting a first down and then for the third straight possession the Mounties offense marched down the field and put points on the board. Leyh, who was 20 for 35 for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day, drove the Mounties 47 yards before handing off to Botel who powered in from 6 yards for his second major of the afternoon, making the score 17-0.
With 5 minutes gone in the 2nd quarter, Brandon Leyh stepped out of the pocket and found a wide open Josh Blanchard downfield for a 59 yard touchdown strike, making the score 24-0 for the upstart Mounties. Both defenses held for the rest of the 1st half and the X-Men entered the locker room trailing by 24.
The X-Men showed signs of life early in the 3rd quarter when Tivon Cook found Devon Bailey in the corner of the endzone to pull the score to 24-7. The Mounties, however, were quick to respond as all-star corner back Donovan Saunders intercepted Cook on the X-Men’s next possession, bringing the ball all the way back to the StFX 32 yard line. The Mounties offense then picked up where they had left off, as they needed only 3 plays for Leyh to find Rodreke Joseph in the endzone from 15 yards out. This restored the 24 point lead for the Mounties, who led 31-7 at that point.
The Mounties would add another field goal from McLean from 20 yards and an 11 yard touchdown run from Emmanuel Musangu to run the score to 41-7. StFX added a touchdown when Dante Djan, in at quarterback after the Mounties chased Cook, hit Randy Roseway for a 40 yard score but they failed to convert the extra point. With 1 minute remaining, McLean’s missed field goal earned a single for the Mounties, leaving the score 42-13.
All-star running back Jordan Botel padded his league-leading rushing totals as he picked up 131 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 attempts. Botel now leads the lead with 4 rushing touchdowns. With Leyh’s career best 292 pass yards, he has moved into first place in the league for pass yards per game, average 183 per game. Fourth year receiver Josh Blanchard of Oromocto, NB had a huge afternoon, catching 8 passes for 150 yards and 1 touchdown. Rodreke Joseph had 5 catches for 64 yards and a touchdown while Emmanuel Musangu had 14 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.
With the win, Mount Allison moves into a tie for 3rd place with Acadia at 2-4 and run their in-conference record to 5-2 for their last 7 home games. The Mounties travel to Halifax to play Saint Mary’s next Friday, October 18th before returning home to host Acadia on the final weekend of the regular season.
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