A study in contrasts
Powerful St. F.X. hosts defensive Bishop’s
If he was a poker player, Cherif Nicolas would be a difficult read.
The Bishop’s Gaiters head football coach, whose team heads into its second straight Loney Bowl appearance Saturday at St. Francis Xavier, wouldn’t show his hand when asked about the Gaiters’ game plan for the Atlantic conference championship.
“I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am right now by sharing my game plan with the media,” Nicolas wryly said in a phone interview earlier this week. “If you allow me, I’m just going to take a pass.”
Instead, he offered a rather generic comment.
“Obviously we want to play good defence, we want to play good offence and we have to have good special teams.”
Neither team is willing to give away too much information leading up to the biggest game on the AUS football calendar.
But it’s no secret how each arrived to this point.
The Gaiters, who allowed the most points by any team in the conference during the regular season, tightened the defensive clamps in their 23-5 semifinal victory at Mount Allison on Saturday.
The undefeated X-men, whose 193 points scored this season were nearly 100 more than team with the next highest (Mount A with 94), outscored Acadia 17-0 in the second half in their 27-22 comeback victory in their semifinal in Antigonish.
Fifth-year linebacker Remi Desbiens led the Gaiters’ defence with 7.5 tackles, including seven solo, and had four sacks as Mount A was held to just 177 total offensive yards. Jake Kelly had a crushing 86yard interception return with 49 seconds left in the first half to give Bishop’s a 14-0 lead at halftime.
The Bishop's Gaiters will have their hands full against a young St. F.X. crew led by AUS rookie of the year Malcom Bussey and conference MVP Silas Fagnan.
Fagnan, who led all AUS quarterbacks this season with 1,297 passing yards in five games, had an even 300 on 18 of 28 attempts against Acadia and completed two touchdown passes.
Bussey, who topped the conference in rushing this season, averaging 111 yards per game, had 32 carries for 258 yards in the semifinal. He had a four-yard touchdown late in the second quarter which capped off a 104-yard, 10-play drive, with all 10 plays coming off consecutive rushes by Bussey.
“They are a two-headed monster with Silas at quarterback and the young running back in Bussey. We will have to play disciplined, sound football,” Nicolas said.
“But we have a plethora of defensive players making big contributions for us. Obviously, Remi had four sacks last game and that was pretty impressive. And Jake Kelly had the big turnover.”
In the teams’ two head-tohead matchups during the regular season, the Gaiters’ defence had trouble trying to thwart Fagnan and the X-men.
St. F.X. won 32-29 in Antigonish on Oct. 2 and blasted Bishop’s 48-21 three weeks later in Lennoxville. Fagnan was a combined 47-for-66 for 611 yards and seven touchdowns in the two games.
“In the two games we played them, we got almost 100 points on the board (actually 80),” said Fagnan, who returned to the X-men lineup on Saturday after missing the regular-season finale Nov. 6 against Acadia with what was deemed as a lower body injury.
“We’re just going to keep doing our thing. It’s more of a question of how they’re going to stop us in my mind.
“We’re expecting other teams to play ball. It’s not just going to be a cake walk but we’re up for the challenge. Mentally, we are stronger no matter what is thrown at us.”
The winner will travel next weekend to the home field of the Ontario conference champions in the Mitchell Bowl national semifinal.
The nationally third-ranked Queen’s Gaels (6-0) will host the U Sports No. 2 Western Mustangs (5-1) for the Yates Cup on Saturday.
In the Uteck Bowl on Nov. 27, the No. 1 Montreal Carabins (7-1) will host the winner of the Canada West conference’s Hardy Cup final Saturday between the Manitoba Bisons and Saskatchewan Huskies.
The Carabins punched their ticket to the Uteck Bowl by upending the perennial powerhouse Laval Rouge et Or 28-19 for the RSEQ conference banner last Saturday.
If there’s one thing Bishop’s has an edge on St. F.X., it might be experience playing in a conference championship game.
Of the X-men who played in the 2018 Loney Bowl – which St. F.X. won 33-9 at Saint Mary’s – quarterback Bailey Wasdal, receiver Isaac Fagnan and five from the defence (Alex Fedchun, Ethan Mastin, Ben Von Muehldorfer, Dyton Blackett, Liam Wilde) remain.
Meanwhile, the Gaiters making a return engagement in the Loney Bowl. They lost 31-1 to Acadia in 2019. (The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
“For all of the guys who are coming back from 2019, they have been there before and they can share their experiences and thoughts with the rest of the team,” Nicolas said. “As a program, we understand we have been here before and we have to continue to move forward as a program and the next step for us is to be conference champion.”