Mounties drop heartbreaker in home opener

The Mount Allison Mounties engineered a dramatic 2^nd half comeback on Saturday afternoon only to come up just short, losing 27-25 to Saint Mary's. 

The hometown Mounties trailed 24-7 early in the 3^rd quarter before storming back to take a 25-24 lead with 3 minutes remaining only to see Saint Mary's pick up a late field goal to regain the lead with less than a minute remaining.  Mounties kicker James Parker attempted a 50-yard field goal to win the game with a kick that had enough distance but sailed just right to end the game.

Saint Mary's opened the scoring 5 minutes into the game when Brian Hope connected from 20 yards out to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead. Saint Mary's scored again 5 minutes later when quarterback Josh Shimm found Liam O'Brien in the end zone from 26 yards out.  Saint Mary's missed on the two-point convert attempt, leaving them with a 9-0 lead.  

Neither team was able to add points until a rouge point from Brian Hope extended the Huskies lead to 10-0 with 5 minutes remaining in the 2^nd quarter.  Two minutes later O'Brien caught his 2^nd touchdown pass, this time from 10 yards out, making the score 17-0.

The Mountie would get on the board before half time on a scoring drive started by a Nathan Jones kick return to the 45 yard line. From there the Mounties drove 65 yards on 5 plays before Hunter Sturgeon scored from 1 yard out on a quarterback keeper.  The scoring play was set up by a 32 yard completion to Robbie Walker. 

Saint Mary's opened the 3^rd quarter with a long kickoff return to set up a short field for the offense. From there, O'Brien caught his 3^rd touchdown of the day for a 24-7 lead.

The Mounties comeback started when sophomore defensive lineman Vincenzo Frangione picked off a Josh Shimm pass to give the Mounties good field position. This led to a James Parker field goal from 27 yards.  A blocked punt by Mounties special teams led to another James Parker field goal, this time from 11 yards out to run the score to 24-13. 

With Mounties gaining momentum the offense drove 45 yards before Sturgeon punched in his 2^nd touchdown of the day, again from 1 yard out. At this point the Mounties trailed 24-20 with 10 minutes remaining. The Mounties defense then forced Saint Mary's to take a safety and the lead was down to 24-22. 

The Mounties got the ball back with 8 minutes remaining and drove 45 yards to the SMU 5 yard line before James Parker hit his 3^rd field goal of the day, this time from 12 yards to give the Mounties their first lead of the day at 25-24. 

After a roughing the kicker call kept the Saint Mary's offense on the field with less than 3 minutes to play, they drove down field before Brian Hope connected from 17 yards as the Huskies regained a 27-25 lead. This is where the game would finish as Parker's game ending field goal would sail just wide. 

Huskies quarterback Josh Shimm was 20 for 32 for 218 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also added 61 yards on the ground on 9 carries.

For the Mounties sophomore quarterback Hunter Sturgeon was 5 of 18 for 76 yards. Sturgeon also ran for 111 yards on 12 carries and scored 2 touchdowns for the Mounties.

The Mounties now enter their bye week before travelling to play Bishop's on September 14^th.  Saint Mary's will host Bishop's next Saturday, September 7^th at 3PM.