Mounties Continue to Roll With 39-8 Win Over Saint Mary's

The CIS 8th ranked Mount Allison Mounties celebrated Homecoming weekend with a decisive 39-8 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies on Saturday afternoon at MacAulay Field in Sackville.  The raucous hometown crowd was on their feet early and often in the 1^st quarter as the Mounties built up an 18-0 first quarter lead and never looked back.  The score was 32-2 at halftime and from there the 2013 AUS Champions cruised to their 8^th straight win in AUS regular season and playoff action.

The Mounties offense struck less than 3 minutes into the game when Christian Plante powered his way into the end zone from 2 yards out.  Plante, a 4^th year defensive lineman for the Mounties was given the ball for first of 5 touchdowns the home team scored on the day.  The Mounties struck again 5 minutes later when Kyle McLean sprung free on a fake field goal attempt and ran the ball in from 17 yards out.  Kicker Ryan Lambert put the ensuing kickoff through the Saint Mary's end zone to make it 15 nothing.  The Mounties would add another rouge and Saint Mary's team safety to make it 18-0 by the end of the first quarter.

The Mounties kept the offense moving in the 2^nd quarter, mostly on the strength of freshman running back Chris Reid's 192 yards rushing.  After some good work to get the Mounties within striking distance, Reid scored from 1 yard out to make it 25-0. Saint Mary's found the scoreboard by forcing Mount Allison to a team safety with 8 minutes gone in the 2^nd quarter.  Chris Reid then scored his 2^nd touchdown of the day, this time scampering 19 yards for the major.

In the third quarter Christian Plante scored his 2^nd touchdown of the day when he punched it in from 1 yard to make it 39-2.  The Huskies would respond with a touchdown of their own when Ben Rossong hit Lukas Snyder for a 28 yard strike with 10 minutes remaining.  From there, the Mounties ran out the clock on their 3^rd straight victory of the young AUS season.

Reid was the leader on offense for the Mounties with his 192 yards on the ground.  Starting quarterback Brandon Leyh was 4-5 for 72 yards on a day where strong winds kept the game mostly on the ground.  Leyh gave way to 4^th year Mountie QB Alex Field in the 4^th quarter.  Jacob Gesse had 49 yards on 10 carries for the Huskies while Melvin Abankwah had 24 yards on 12 carries.  Ben Rossong was 11-23 for 133 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

On defense, the Mounties had 9 sacks to go along with 3 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery.  Special teams also chipped in with a blocked punt from Matt Rose.  Michael Bohan, Kwame Adjei and Andrew Klain all had interceptions while Jacob LeBlanc led the team with 5.5 tackles and 1 sack.  For Saint Mary's Jonathan Langa had 8.5 tackles to lead the way defensively.

Fans were treated to a halftime special appearance by members of the 1984 Mounties that won the Atlantic Bowl and played in the Vanier Cup.  More than 30 members of this celebrated Mounties team were back on MacAulay field to relive the magical run of '84.

The Mounties now sit at 3-0 in first place in the AUS while Saint Mary's falls to 0-3 and sits in last place.  The Mounties travel to Quebec to play Bishop's next Saturday night, September 27^th at 8PM (ATL) while Saint Mary's hosts Concordia in Halifax.