Will Acadia Overcome the Huskies (Loney Bowl Preview)
The AUS has been dominated by the Saint Mary’s Huskies for a very long time as they are always at the top of the conference. In the last four years the Huskies have finished first in the AUS and have taken home four Jewett Trophies in a row. This dominance is typical in the smallest conference in the CIS with only four teams in the league. The small amount of teams and lack of very big schools hurts the AUS teams with fewer options for recruitment but they still put together some great teams. The Huskies are the biggest school of the football teams and because of this they have put together some great teams and are always favorites for the top spot in the AUS. This year the top spot seemed to be for the Huskies but the story did not pass as a rival from the north swept in to take them out. The Acadia Axemen have been a very up and down team over the years as they have had some success but recently have not been champions since 2006. This year the Axemen had a great year as they started 3-0 and were dominating the other teams in their schedule. Then they met their rival Saint Mary’s and took their first loss of the year. The game was a tight battle and in no way showed either teams dominance as the game finished 8-3 for Saint Mary’s. Acadia took the loss however and moved on to continue winning the rest of the season. That included another matchup with the Huskies where they won 41-28 to ensure their spot above the Huskies. With this great season the Axemen were able to take the top spot in the AUS and earned a first round bye in the playoffs. Meanwhile the Huskies suffered one more loss but not in the most natural and fair way according to the Huskies. The Huskies got their first loss in the traditional crossover week that has AUS teams face RSEQ teams for one game. The Huskies were to play the Montreal Carabins and after the game was done they took their first loss of the season by a score of 11-10. The loss was not without controversy however as the week after the game the Huskies filed a grievance with the CIS claiming that a player on Montreal was supposed to be suspended during their game. With this the CIS ruled in favour of the Huskies preserving their undefeated season and putting them on top. Then the Carabins filed an appeal of the decision forcing the Huskies back into second place with one loss. The game ended up not being a big factor as the appeal is still going through with their game against the Axemen in which their longtime rival handed them their second win in punishing fashion 41-28. With their second official loss of the season the Huskies were forced into the second spot behind the Axemen and will play in the semi-final game. With the two top teams playing very well it was the opposite for the bottom teams. StFX had a bad season as many had predicted but their two highlights on the year were their two wins. The wins were not very impressive but they got the two from Mount Allison which was just enough to squeak into the playoffs. Meanwhile after a very successful season in 2010 the Mount Allison Mounties could not find even one win this year. Despite that they had a chance to make the playoffs but the two losses to StFX hurt them too much to recover and take the last playoff spot. With their season they take the last spot in the AUS and the only spot that will not play a playoff game this year. The AUS is a small but talented league and whoever wins it this year has as good a chance as any to make the trip across the country for the Vanier Cup.
Semi-Final
Saint Mary’s Huskies 34 vs. 14 StFX X-Men
– The Huskies have remained one of the best teams in the country but had a bit of a setback this year while the X-Men struggled to find their two wins and winning against the Huskies is going to be too big a hill to climb for the team from Antigonish
Loney Bowl:
Acadia Axemen 42 vs. 37 Saint Mary’s Huskies
– The Huskies have battled with the Axemen the entire year with both teams taking a win against each other but The Axemen from Wolfville have turned it on as of late scoring no less than 34 points in their last three games and this will continue breaking the Huskies’ streak
The Sport Addiction 
gooooooo Axemen!!