ANTIGONISH, N.S. - On a cold and windy Saturday afternoon in late November, the StFX X-Men edged the Bishop's Gaiters 25-17 in the 2021 Subway AUS Championship Loney Bowl presented by Bell.
The Gaiters started the game slowly on the offense, recording just six plays for 14 yards in the first quarter. Despite the X-Men running 19 plays for 141 yards, the Gaiters' defense held the X-Men to just one Max Capriotti field goal (34-yards). The second quarter was more of the same for the X-Men, with Capriotti (37-yards and 22-yards) hitting two more field goals to account for all of StFX's first half points. The Gaiters trailed by nine headed into the break.
In the second half, the Bishop's Gaiters came out strong and pushed the tempo on both sides of the ball. On a Gaiters' third down at the mid-way point of the third quarter,
Yani Gouadfel (Mitry-Mory, France/Cégep de Thetford) faked a punt and completed a 17-yard pass to
Gabriel Royer (Lawrenceville, QC/Cégep de Sherbrooke) for the first down. The Gaiters capitalized, ending the series with a 9-yard touchdown run by
Maxime Bouffard (Sherbrooke, QC/Cégep de Sherbrooke) with 6:52 remaining to make the score 9-7. The Gaiters added to the score two minutes later when the X-Men conceded a safety to tie the game.
Yani Gouadfel (Mitry-Mory, France/Cégep de Thetford) added a rouge before the X-Men responded with a 2-yard Malcolm Bussey run to make the score 15-10 in favour of StFX after three quarters of play.
The X-Men added a 33-yard Capriotti field goal and a 10-yard Bussey touchdown run to take a 25-10 lead with 8:11 remaining in the game. Bouffard responded for the Gaiters with a 1-yard touchdown run in the final minute of play but, the StFX X-Men took the game 25-17.
Offensively for the Gaiters, quarterback
Mason McGriskin (North Bay, ON/West Ferris S.S.) completed 16 of 31 pass attempts for 131 yards. He had one interception on the day. On the ground, fifth-year senior,
Louis-Philippe Gregoire (Jonquière, QC/Cégep de Jonquière) rushed for 57 yards on 14 carries in his final game in the purple and white.
Lokmen Nadjem (Le Blanc-Mesnil, France/Cégep de Thetford) had three receptions for 52 yards, his longest for 25 yards.
Linebacker,
Keagan Hughes (West Kelowna, BC/M.B.S.S.), led the defense in his final appearance for the Gaiters with eight tackles including seven solos. Hughes also recorded two tackles for a loss of 10 yards.
Despite the closely contested match-up, the loss closes out the Gaiters 2021 season and marks the final time the Gaiters' seniors will step on the field to represent Bishop's. With two Loney Bowl appearances in as many seasons, the Gaiters will now turn to preparations for the 2022 campaign. StFX will travel to London, Ontario for a Mitchell Bowl match-up with the Western Mustangs on Saturday November 27.
Stay tuned to www.gaiters.ca and #GaiterNation or @BishopsGaiters on social media to follow the Gaiters.
