Fioroni scores the lone TD of the game

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - Not the prettiest win, but like most would agree, it was a win. The CIS #9 ranked Acadia Axemen pulled off a tight 12-5 victory over the now 2-5 Saint Mary's Huskies.

Ryan Begin's (Orleans, Ont.) 12 yard field goal early in the fourth quarter solidified the win against the Huskies who find themselves on a two game losing streak and third in the AUS standings, trailing the upstart Mount Allison Mounties who are rolling on a two game winning streak.

After one half of play, the Huskies led Acadia 1-0 on a Brett Lauther (Truro, N.S.) 53 yard punt that rolled out of the back of the end zone.

The first half offensive statistics were not flattering with the Huskies edging Acadia 115 to 84 net yards. Saint Mary's widened the margin to 3-0 on two more rouges by Lauther including a kickoff and a punt rouge.

Acadia's James Fioroni (Guelph, Ont.) finally broke the ice with the first and only major of the day on a 18 yard pass reception from Kyle Graves (Barrie, Ont.). The touchdown drive, against a stiff wind, capped an eight play, 75 yard drive.

Saint Mary's gained two more points, this time on conceded points after the Axemen tried to move the ball from their one yard line following Huskie Brett Lauther nailing a 52 yard punt that went out of bounds on the Acadia one yard line.

Begin's field goal and a team safety from a conceded two points, gave Acadia an ugly 12-5 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies.

Head Coach Jeff Cummins was unsure heading into the game about today's outcome. "Going into this week's game something felt different all week long in our practice and preparation. We managed to get the win and that's what counts at this point. Our defense played well and got us through the game".

The Huskies, who averaged 168 yards on the ground per game this season, were held to 123 yards - 101 yards of which were posted by Mike Dawes (Winnipeg, Man.). Acadia rushed for 179 net yards and added 157 yards passing - well below their 427 net offensive yards per game average this season.

Senior pivot Kyle Graves was 12 for 26 attempts, one interception and only 157 yards passing. Rookie runningback Thomas Troop (Alliston, Ont.) had a 97 yards on 19 carries performance, while teammate Zach Clarke (Sackville, N.S.) added 77 yards rushing on seven runs.

The Axemen will conclude the regular season on the road in Sackville, NB to take on the Mount Allison Mounties while the Huskies return home for the season finale against StFX. The winner of the Huskies versus StFX will grab the last playoff position for the November 3rd semi-final game.

The Axemen, who clinched first place in the AUS football conference last weekend, improve to 6-1.

Record Notes:
Kyle Graves - 23 completions away from surpassing Keith Lockwood for second in Completions to Larry Jusdanis 592. Graves has 382, fourth behind Blaine Scatcherd's 389. Graves has chance to get into Top Ten of Career Yards passing. Currently has 4984 - trailing Acadia's Bob Cameron with 5771 and Larry Jusdanis with 8766.