WOLFVILLE, NS - The Acadia Axemen football team rose one spot in the CIS Top Ten this week. Positioned ninth in the pre-season ranking, Acadia moved up one spot to eighth position following their season opening 21-16 win over Saint Mary's at home.

The Axemen, who won last year's AUS championship after a 7-1 season, find themselves with 8 of last year's 12 AUS All-Stars returning along with a veteran roster and younger talent pulling up the rear.

This weekend Acadia find themselves taking on the CIS third ranked Laval Rouge et Or in Quebec City as part of the annual AUS - Quebec Interlock schedule. The Rouge et Or, who are undefeated in two games, posting a 33-15 win over Laval in week one and last weekend Laval squeezed past the winless Bishop's Gaiters 28-22 in Lennoxville, QC.

The Axemen, over the nine years while participating in the Quebec-AUS interlock, have lost all six games against the Rouge et Or including the 2006 Uteck Bowl.

Following last weekend's win over Saint Mary's, two Axemen were named as AUS football players of the week including Mike Squires and John Wilson.

Squires, a 6-foot-4, fifth-year senior from Halifax, N.S., tied an Acadia record for most receptions in a single game with 13 in a 21-16 season opening victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies. Michael, a CIS all-Canadian last season, finished the day with 123 yards receiving. His 13 receptions were just two shy of the AUS record and tied him with former Axemen standouts Grant Davy and Stu Venebles for the most catches in a game in school history.

Wilson, a fifth-year student-athlete from Hamilton, Ont., recorded 5.5 tackles, including two tackles for a loss of 10 yards and a sack Saturday afternoon, as the CIS No. 8-ranked Axemen defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 21-16 in the regular season-opener for both teams. John now has 7.5 sacks for his career, ranking him third among active AUS players this season.

Follow the Axemen at Laval this Saturday on twitter by following @AcadiaAthletics . The game is not televised or webcasted.