Gaiters lose to Huskies in home opener 40-21
The Bishop’s Gaiters lost their second straight game since the start of the season, falling to 0-2 in AUS conference play. The Saint Mary’s Huskies took control of the game early on scoring on four of their first five possessions, jumping out to a 23-0 lead in the first quarter forcing the Gaiters to play from behind the rest of the game.
Bishop’s got on the board to cut the lead to 23-7 when Nathan Walker caught a pass from Mathieu Demers for a 37yard touchdown.
SMU added a field goal and forced the Gaiters to concede a safety to make the score 28-7 at the half.
In the second half, the Gaiters were unable to sustain momentum after big plays. The most notable was when Walker, at the start of the fourth quarter, returned a punt from the Bishop’s 15 yard line all the way to the SMU 5 yard line but the dynamic play was called back due to a holding penalty against Bishop’s.
In the second half Bishop’s got two scores, a 39-yard touchdown to Zac Benson to cut the score to 37-14 and a 5-yard reception from Dashaun Smellie to make it 40-21.
On special teams, the Gaiters had multiple kicks blocked, a punt that led to an immediate Huskies touchdown, and a field goal attempt that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
The Huskies (2-0) got a great performance out of quarterback Kaleb Scott, who finished the game with 391 passing yards and four touchdowns, although he was also picked off three times by the Bishop’s defence for interceptions.
Walker, the Gaiters’ player of the game, finished with two receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown as well as eight punt returns for 126 yards.
Demers was under center this week at quarterback after Dylan Tucker started week one. Demers finished 20 of 41 passing for 291 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, and was sacked four times.
The Gaiters (0-2) will look to get their first win on the road against the Mount Allison Mounties (1-1) this week before returning to Coulter Field to host the St. Francis Xavier X-men (1-2) for Homecoming on September 23.