Mounties pick up critical 32-15 win over StFX

The Mounties Allison Mounties came away with two big wins on Saturday. First, the Mounties defeated StFX 32-15 for a critical week 7 win in AUS football action.  To add to that before the game Mount Allison announced the formation of a $1 million endowment to support Mounties student athletes.

Both teams started the afternoon cautiously with no scoring over the first quarter. The Mounties were first to hit the scoreboard as senior quarterback Troy Downton drove his Mounties 58 yards on 7 plays, finding senior Jared Rawlings in the end zone from 10 yards out to put the Mounties up 7-0.

On the next StFX possession Mounties sophomore defensive back Tyree Dunn intercepted Josh Millar's pass and ran it back 38 yards to give the Mounties the ball back on StFX 22 yard line.  Five plays later Downton converted a 3^rd and goal try, again finding Rawlings in the end zone, this time from 3 yards out.  The Mounties failed to convert the extra point to leave the score at 13-0.

The Mounties added to their lead on their next possession when senior kicker Ryan Lambert connected from 29 yards out to bring the score to 16-0.  StFX would pick up a single point off a missed field goal late in the 2^nd quarter to leave the score at 16-1 at halftime.

With six minutes gone in the 3^rd quarter the Mounties pushed their lead to 19-1 with Lambert's second field goal as he connected from 16 yards out.  After the Mounties conceded a safety to leave the score at 19-3, Lambert connected on his 3^rd field goal of the afternoon, hitting from 32 yards.

StFX matched these points with a 39 yard field goal from Jonathan Heidebrecht with 3 minutes gone in the 4^th quarter to pull the score to 22-6. But the Mounties went right back to work, driving 75 yards before Chris Reid found the end zone on a 1 yard run. 

With the score 29-6, StFX took only 37 seconds to respond as Dylan Fisher hit Kaion Julien-Grant for a 67 yard touchdown, the longest play of the day for either side.  StFX was unsuccessful on the 2-point convert attempt, leaving the score at 29-12.

From there the Mounties were able to lock down the win, culminating with a two minute drive at the end of the game where Lambert kicked his 4^th field goal of the afternoon as time expired.  This gave the Mounties a 32-15 win.  The big play on the final drive came when Chris Reid busted open a 38 yard run.

Mounties' quarterback Troy Downton was 26 of 35 for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Chris Reid had 194 yards on 26 carries with 1 touchdown. Kiel Ambursley chipped in with 94 yards of his own on 14 carries as the Mounties amassed 541 yards of total offense in the game.  Subway Player of the game Jared Rawlings had 6 catches for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns while junior Josh Hicks had 9 catches for 111 yards. 

For StFX Josh Millar was 7 of 15 for 86 yards and 1 interception before leaving the game with an injury.  Dylan Fisher was 7 of 15 for 117 yards and 1 touchdown in relief. AUS All-Star Jordan Socholotiuk was held to 75 yards on 13 attempts.  Kaion Julien-Grant had 4 catches for 106 yards and the X-Men's only touchdown.

The Mounties wore purple during Saturday's game to help support Craig's Cause to raise awareness for the fight against pancreatic cancer.  Former Mountie Matt Zwicker got the Mounties interested in supporting this important cause as he watches his own father, Darren, battle pancreatic cancer. It was announced at the end of the game that $10,000 was raised as part of today's efforts to 'Tackle Pancreatic Cancer'.

Before the game Mount Allison University announced the formation of the James Rogers Student-Athlete Awards, a $1 million endowment to help provide student athlete scholarships.  The fund has been created through the generous support of donors to Mounties athletics.

The Mounties (2-4) now enter a bye week before heading to Bishop's on October 21^st. StfX (3-3) travels to Acadia on Saturday, October 14^th.