St. Mary's Carl Hardwick receives a touchdown from quarterback Jack Creighton. (Photo: Danny Carew)

Missed field goal clinch Husky victory

It came down to one kick.

With two minutes remaining in the Loney Bowl, Saint Francis Xavier kicker Kyle Chisholm had an opportunity to tie the game at 29-29 and send the X-Men into overtime  against the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

The kick had the distance, but it went wide-left and the Huskies held on to win,  29-27, in front of 4,162 fans at Huskies Stadium. They now move on to the Mitchell Bowl – the national semi-final – to face the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, a game set for this Sunday in London, Ont.

Recent games between the Huskies and X-Men have produced dramatic finishes.

In last year’s Loney Bowl, the Huskies edged the X-Men 25-24, after hometown Halifax running back James Green bounced around and bullied the Huskies defence for 278 yards rushing. But the Huskies managed to win.
Earlier this season, the X-Men were beating the Huskies 23-0, only to have the Huskies make big plays on special teams in a come from behind win, 32-26.

It was only fitting that the final match up between the rivals would be a close game.

By the beginning of the second quarter, each team had recorded a safety and a field goal to make the score 5-5.

Saint Mary’s rookie quarterback Jack Creighton’s crisp passes to his go-to-receiver, Ryean Warburton, set up a touchdown between the tandem to put the Huskies ahead 12-7.

On the X-Men’s next possession, quarterback Steve Snyder bobbled a handoff to James Green and the Huskies recovered the ball.  Shortly after, Saint Mary’s running back Tyler Schussler ran in a one-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 19-7.

The X-Men once again fell short on their next offensive possession and Creighton made an easy pass to an open Carl Hardwick in the end zone.  The score was 26-5 for the Huskies at the half.

Creighton was considered the top quarterback prospect in the country coming out of high school last year. When he arrived to camp, though, he was slotted as the teams’ fifth quarterback. But, Hec Crighton winner Erik Glavic is in the process of rehabbing a torn knee ligament and is out for the season. The teams’ other quarterbacks, Nathan Beeler-Marsman, Ted Abraham, and Patrick Hooey, have all either been injured or ineffective throughout the season.

“We knew at halftime, this game would not be a blowout,” said Saint Mary’s head coach Steve Sumarah.

The Huskies defensive backs, however, were blown away by the X-Men’s receivers throughout the second half.

Synder threw three touchdowns, including a 69-yard pass to Mark Metulynsky to bring the X-Men within three points with under a few minutes remaining in the game.

The missed field goal by Chisholm sealed a Saint Mary’s victory.

Sumarah believes special teams made the difference for the Huskies. Good punt returns produced good field position and it put more pressure on the X-Men defence.

“It’s all about field position,” says Sumarah.

But the game would really be about Jack Creighton’s ability to be poised and productive under constant pressure. Creighton completed 12 of 17 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns and was named the Loney Bowl MVP. 

Sumarah is pleased with Creighton’s progress at the helm. “He’s an open minded kid who wants to get better.”

While Creighton admits he was nervous about the start, like any successful  quarterback, he knows he’s only as good as his teammates are.

“I’m not the athlete on the team. I’m the ball distributor,” says Creighton. “I just have to serve up the ball and get it to the playmakers.”

Creighton and the Huskies will do their best this weekend to make a victory happen against the Mustangs, which will give them another shot at the coveted Vanier Cup, The National Championship.

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