Acadia Axemen comeback to defeat Gaiters

Penalties and late field goals prove to be Purple and Silver’s undoing.

Bishop’s held a 24-21 lead going into the fourth quarter at home against the Acadia Axemen. However, the Axemen came away with two field goals in the final quarter while shutting out the Gaiters to hand Bishop’s their fourth loss of the season.

Jarret Saumure hit a 10-yard field goal to tie the game with under five minutes remaining and then a 21-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining to give the Axemen the lead.

The Gaiters started rookie quarterback Stephen Casey for their fifth game of the year. Both Mathieu Demers and Dylan Tucker are out of the lineup with injuries. The freshman quarterback managed to go 17-of-37 passing for 301 yards against one interception. The young signal caller also led the Gaiters in rushing with 72 yards on the ground.

Nathan Walker led Bishop’s receivers with 115-yards on just three receptions, which included an 81-yard reception.

On defence the Purple and Silver were led by Callum Jasinski with 10 total tackles.

Bishop’s took 19 penalties during the game resulting in 140-yards against. Jerome Valbon from the Gaiters was ejected by the referees in the first quarter after a dangerous hit during a Bishop’s kickoff.

Acadia (4-2) is back in action next week, when they host St. Francis Xavier Saturday afternoon. The Gaiters (1-4) will travel to take on the Saint Mary’s Huskies in Halifax. The last time the Gaiters played in Halifax the team came back for a 23-17 win in 2015.

Unfortunately for Bishop’s the road to the playoffs just became more difficult as St. Francis Xavier (3-3) was awarded an extra win after St. Mary’s (4-1) was deemed to have used an ineligible player. Bishop’s is currently fifth in the AUS with three games remaining.