The Mount Allison Mounties were on top of the world Saturday,
erasing a streak of futility that spanned four long seasons.
The Mounties capitalized on two key special teams plays, ending a
34-game winless drought with a 24-18 victory over the St. Francis
Xavier X-Men in Canadian university football action.
The Mounties (1-4) hadn't won since beating the first-year
Montreal Carabins 21-4 in an interconference match Sept. 14, 2002.
They had lost 27 straight to Atlantic opponents dating back to a
10-9 win over the X-Men on Nov. 3, 2001.
In other CIS action Saturday, it was: No. 1 Laval 26, Bishop's
14; No. 7 Laurier 31, No. 3 McMaster 12; No. 5 Ottawa 34, Queen's
13; No. 6 Concordia 41, McGill 13; No. 8 Montreal 33, Sherbrooke 13;
Saint Mary's 24, Acadia 21; Guelph 45, Waterloo 23; and Western
Ontario 44, Toronto 21.
At Antigonish, N.S., the Mounties earned the upset victory
despite going without an offensive touchdown. Jock Gemmel had a
30-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter,
while Gary Ross gave the Mounties their first lead with a 69-yard
punt return TD in the third.
Euan Crisp added field goals of 34, 33 and 19 yards for Mount
Allison.
Corbin Sharun and Justin Connors combined for 349 passing yards
for the X-Men (2-3), but their only touchdown came on Tyler Kirby's
one-yard run midway through the second quarter.
No. 1 Rouge et Or 26, Gaiters 14
At Lennoxville, Que., Benoit Groulx ran in a pair of touchdowns
and threw for another as Laval (5-0) cruised past Bishop's.
Groulx finished 25-of-36 for 316 yards, and added touchdown
plunges in the first and second quarters. Nicolas Bisaillon caught
six passes for 117 yards to lead the Rouge et Or air assault.
Jesse Andrews threw for 315 yards for the Gaiters (1-4), but
tossed a pair of costly interceptions.
No. 7 Golden Hawks 31, No. 3 Marauders 12
At Hamilton, Jamie Partington threw for 289 yards and two
touchdowns as Laurier (5-1) upset third-ranked McMaster (5-1) in
decisive fashion.
Ryan Lynch had 154 rushing yards and a score while Anthony
Maggiacomo added a 50-yard interception return TD for Laurier, which
led 31-0 early in the third quarter.
Ryan Fanthom connected with Jordan Kozina on a 47-yard TD strike
late in the fourth quarter to provide the Marauders' only touchdown
of the game.
No. 5 Gee-Gees 34, Golden Gaels 13
At Kingston, Ont., Josh Sacobie threw for 291 yards and three
touchdowns Saturday as the No. 5-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees (5-1)
defeated the Queen's Golden Gaels 34-13 in an Ontario University
Athletics football game.
David Crane, Wayne Desmond and Adam Nicolson had the touchdown
catches for the Gee-Gees.
Queen's (2-4), loser of four straight after starting the season
2-0, has scored three touchdowns in its last three games.
No. 6 Stingers 41, Redmen 13
At Montreal, Andrew Hamilton scampered for 221 yards and three
touchdowns as Concordia (5-0) routed McGill (1-4).
Hamilton's TD runs of 30, three and 69 yards were complemented by
a pair of touchdown receptions by Nicholas Saikaley.
Matt Connell threw for 269 yards and a touchdown for the Redmen.
No. 8 Carabins 33, Vert et Or 13
At Montreal, Joseph Mroue's 75-yard touchdown in the third
quarter run capped a dominant performance by the Carabins (3-2) in a
win over Sherbrooke (2-3).
Moure finished with 127 rushing yards, Yves Beriault added 77
receiving yards and a touchdown and the Carabins took advantage of
five Vert et Or turnovers.
Charles St-Martin threw for just 88 yards with one touchdown and
two interceptions for Sherbrooke.
Huskies 24, Axemen 21
At Wolfville, N.S., Erik Glavic had 122 rushing yards and a
touchdown as Saint Mary's held on to beat Acadia.
Justin Palardy added four field goals for the Huskies (2-3), who
also had a pair of safeties 2:05 apart in a dominant second quarter.
Chris Judd tossed a pair of fourth-quarter TD passes and finished
with three in a losing cause for the Axemen (2-3).
Gryphons 43, Warriors 23
At Waterloo, Ont., Justin Dunk threw for 352 yards and four
touchdowns in Guelph's one-sided win over the Warriors.
Jeff Keegan and David McKoy had two TD receptions each while Dunk
and Joshua McCreight added rushing scores for the Gryphons (2-4).
Jon Morbey and Evan Martin each threw a touchdown pass for
Waterloo (2-4), but the duo also combined for four interceptions.
Mustangs 44, Varsity Blues 21
At Scarborough, Ont., Western Ontario's three-man backfield
tandem of Randy McAuley, D.J. Bennett and Jay Akindolire rushed for
375 yards in a one-sided win over Toronto.
The trio combined for four rushing touchdowns, while quarterback
Mike Faulds threw for another for Western (4-2).
Quarterback David Hamilton had touchdown passes to Mark Stinson
and Tyler Daly for Toronto (0-6) in a losing cause.
