Gaiters fall to X-men 27-14 to close out the 2017 season

The Bishop’s Gaiters first ever season in the Atlantic University Sports conference ended on Saturday afternoon with a 27-14 loss. In Antigonish against the St. Francis Xavier X-men, the Gaiters had an unproductive first half on offence that hampered the team’s start while St. Francis utilized their kicking game to get ahead by a margin of 11-0 after 30 minutes.

In the second half, Bishop’s got on the board with a touchdown coming from a 103-yard drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run by Trey Millings at 6:54 of the third quarter pulling the game within reach. After STFX increased their lead to 24-7 with two field goals and a touchdown, the Purple and Silver got their next score on a 13-yard rushing touchdown from Eric Gagnon. St. Francis Xavier’s final score of the game came on 39-yard field goal from Jonathan Heidebrecht. Heidebrecht was 5-for-6 in field goal attempts in the game.

Bishop’s split time between their two quarterbacks, starting with Dylan Tucker in the first half and electing to put in Stephen Casey for the second. Tucker finished the game 8-of-17 for 47 yards passing against one interception. While Casey finished the game 6-of-15 for 143 yards against three interceptions.

The Gaiters offence was in part stymied to a heavily depleted offensive line throughout the season, nonetheless the unit persevered and battled through the game. Trey Millings finished the game with 74-yards rushing and a score. Linebacker Maxx Toutant finished the game with a team high 10 total tackles including a sack.

With the win Stfx finished the year 44 and earned a spot in the AUS playoffs and kept the Bigg Bowl in Antigonish after having spent its time at Bishop’s since the Gaiters won it back in 2009. The Gaiters finished the year with their fourth straight one-win season in head coach Cherif Nicolas’ first year at the helm.