SHERBROOKE, Que. - The Bishop's Gaiters football team's 140-year history starts a new chapter on Saturday afternoon, as they head to Wolfville, N.S. to take on the Acadia Axemen. The contest will be the Gaiters' first as a member of Atlantic University Sport, after 37 seasons as a member of the Ontario-Quebec Interuniversity Football Conference (later known as the QIFC, QUFL and RSEQ football leagues).
 
While it is a new league for the Gaiters, this year's opponents are still familiar, as the Bishop's has played the AUS in interlock play since 2002. In that time, the Gaiters have gone 8-8 against Atlantic teams, most recently a thrilling 30-29 comeback win last year at home to Saint Mary's.
 
With the change in conference also comes a change at the top for Purple and White, as Cherif Nicolas takes command for the first time.
 
"We are going to strive to be the best version of the Bishop's University football team that we can be," said Gaiters head football coach Cherif Nicolas. "We are going to work each week and take every opponent as a challenge and opportunity to get better."
 
He amassed a 56-26 record at the collegiate level with the CEGEP de Vieux-Montréal Spartiates, including a championship in 2014. The Gaiters also boast two new co-ordinators, as Pat Boies (offensive) and Jerome Erdman (special teams) join Marc Loranger (defensive) on the Gaiter sidelines.
 
While the Gaiters are now taking to the air to get to their games, they may also be taking to the air at the games, as they head into the year with veteran quarterback Mathieu Demers (Quebec City, Que./Cégep LImoilou) and their top six receivers from 2016. The Gaiters averaged 249 yards in offence last year, and will be looking improve on that number in 2017. Up front, the Gaiters' line has been bolstered by a pair of recruits from the B.C. junior football ranks, with the addition of Terrek Bryant (Parksville, B.C/Vancouver Island Raiders) and Connor Bryan (Victoria, B.C./Westshore Rebels).
 
Defensively, the Gaiters return six of last years' starters. Sophomore Keagan Hughes (West Kelowna, B.C./Mount Boucherie S.S.) will lead a rebuilt linebacking corps, after a rookie season that saw him make 39.5 tackles, second on the squad. Up front, fourth-year lineman Mathieu Breton (Roxboro, Que. /John Abbott College) and third-year DL Jeremy Magan-France (Rexdale, Ont./Don Bosco C.S.S.) will look to shut down the opponents' rushing attack. Meanwhile, Arnaud Dandin (Paris, France/Cégep de Thetford) will called upon to take a greater role in the Gaiters' secondary. The Parisian made 35 tackles last year and had a 104-yard fumble return touchdown.
 
The Gaiters' opponents on Saturday, the Acadia Axemen, come into the game with an 0-1 record. They were overwhelmed 64-23 by Mount Allison last Saturday in Sackville, N.B., a game that saw the Mounties post 43 first-half points. Jacob Loucks passed for 402 yards and threw three touchdowns to lead Mount A to the win. Acadia quarterback Cody Cluett went 21-for-39 for 247 yards and also threw three touchdown passes, while Axemen running back Dale Wright had 12 carries for 102 yards.

The Gaiters and Axemen have played four regular-season games in their history, with each team winning twice. The last matchup came on Sept. 18, 2010 – a 31-16 win for the Gaiters, while the last time the Gaiters went to Wolfville, they downed the Axemen 42-17, a game that saw running back Jamall Lee rush for 266 yards and four touchdowns, as he set the Quebec single-season rushing record.

Watch the game live at: http://austv.ca/.

After Saturday's game, the Gaiters return home to play the Saint Mary's Huskies at Coulter Field on Saturday, Sept. 9.