By: Maggie Veitch, Bishop's Sports Information
LENNOXVILLE, Que. - The Bishop's Gaiters will return to the Subway AUS Championship Loney Bowl for the second-time in as many seasons on Saturday November 20 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia to face the StFX X-Men. Kick-off is set for 2PM Atlantic. The two teams will meet for the third time this season, this time with everything on the line. Both teams will vie for the title of AUS Champions and will aim to bring home the Loney Bowl.
In the first meeting of the season in Antigonish, N.S. on Saturday October 2, the two teams exchanged scores throughout the game in an exciting back and forth battle. StFX escaped with a final minute victory, narrowly defeating the Gaiters 32-29. When the X-Men travelled to Lennoxville two weeks later, StFX got a 48-21 win. Silas Fagnan went 25 of 26 for 321 yards and four touchdowns.
Mason McGriskin (North Bay, ON/West Ferris S.S.) and
Liam Kennedy (Nepean, ON/St. Joseph H.S.) shared the quarterbacking duties for the Gaiters.
After last weekend's 23-5 semi-final win over the #9 nationally-ranked Mount Allison Mounties, the Gaiters have shown that they are a contender when it comes to the post-season and will be looking to add another top-10 win to their resume when facing the #6 StFX X-Men. The winner of the AUS Championship will travel to Ontario for the Mitchell Bowl, a Vanier Cup semi-final game, on Saturday November 27. For StFX, an undefeated season is also on the line.
AUS Championship – BU @ Mount Allison
Subway AUS Loney Bowl
Saturday November 20th, 2021 @ 2PM Atlantic
StFX Stadium - Antigonish, Nova Scotia
All-Time:
The Gaiters are 2-5 against StFX since joining the AUS in 2017 and were 1-2 against the X-Men prior to that in RSEQ-AUS crossover play.
AUS All-Stars:
Bishop's Gaiters
Keagan Hughes (West Kelowna, BC/M.B.S.S.),
Samuel Ducharme (St-Hippolyte, QC/Collège Lionel-Groulx),
Nykolas Pierre-Masse (Laval, QC/Collège Montmorency) and
Louis-Philippe Gregoire (Jonquière, QC/Cégep de Jonquière) are 2021 AUS Football All-Stars. The conference revealed the 2021 All-Stars on Thursday in the lead-up to the 2021 Subway AUS Loney Bowl presented by Bell that will feature the Bishop's Gaiters and the StFX X-Men in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Keagan Hughes (West Kelowna, BC/M.B.S.S.) finished the regular season with 34.5 tackles (including 25 solo tackles), third best in the AUS. The linebacker averaged 5.8 tackles per game, tallied one sack this season and four additional tackles for a combined loss of 14 yards for the Gaiters. Hughes also recorded one forced fumble in 2021.
Samuel Ducharme (St-Hippolyte, QC/Collège Lionel-Groulx) started all six regular season games at left tackle for the Gaiters. The 6'6" tackle anchored an offensive line that helped Bishop's post #2 rankings in offensive touchdowns, total offense, yards per game, third down conversion percentage, first downs and passing yards. Ducharme was also key to the Gaiters' league leading 1,128 rushing yards and average of 188.0 rush yards per game.
Nykolas Pierre-Masse (Laval, QC/Collège Montmorency) had 22 completions on the year for a total of 273 yards. The receiver averaged 3.7 receptions per game, 45.5 yards per game and 12.4 yards per catch. The first-year scored three touchdowns for the purple and white during the 2021 AUS regular season. Pierre-Masse is the first Bishop's rookie to receive AUS All-Star recognition since the Gaiters joined the AUS in 2017.
Gregoire totalled 98 carries for 591 yards this season. The fifth-year averaged 6.0 yards per carry and 98.5 yards per game. The Gaiters' primary ball carrier found the end zone three times for the purple and white throughout the 2021 season. This is
Louis-Philippe Gregoire's (Jonquière, QC/Cégep de Jonquière) second nod as an AUS All-Star after receiving All-Star recognition in 2019-20.
Tickets:
Tickets to Saturday's Loney Bowl are available for purchase at
https://goxgo.ticketpro.ca/en/pages/stfxfootballgames.
Game Coverage:
Saturday's game can be watched live at
https://aus.yaretv.com/.
Social Media:
Twitter: @BishopsGaiters
Instagram: @gaitersfb
Live Stats:
Available here (XML)
Stay up-to-date anytime with the Bishop's Gaiters at www.gaiters.ca or on social media by using @BishopsGaiters.
