Jon Roach – Staff Writer

On Saturday, Sept. 6, the Gaiters took to sunny Halifax, Nova Scotia, looking to add the Saint Mary’s Huskies to their collection of wins. This early-season contest between two undefeated AUS squads saw the Huskies–fresh off a blowout victory at Mount Allison University a week prior–kick off to the Gaiters, eager to stretch their season-opener success to two straight wins.  

Photo courtesy of Francis Quirion

The Gaiters saw a slow start, kicking and receiving a slew of punts before conceding a touchdown, and a sack-fumble resulting in a safety. The Purple and White would find their way onto the scoreboard with a rouge, though the Huskies were able to give their home fans an early lead in their second home campaign, reeling in two more touchdowns to end the half with a 23-1 lead.

The second half saw some more optimism from the Gaiters. After an entirely scoreless third quarter from both units, Husky fans began to hold their breath after an interception on our own 3-yard line to prevent a score on a 67-yard drive from Saint Mary’s. However, the Huskies would add 10 more points before Bishop’s would find the endzone; a 75-yard scoring drive ending with a 1-yard run by Mathieu Bellavance before Saint Mary’s ran the clock out at a final score of 33-7.  

Despite what the scoreboard says, the Gaiters kept a close contest on both sides of the ball. The offense produced 389-all-purpose-yards, led by Quarterback Justin Quirion’s 352 passing yards at nearly a 70% clip. His passing found Oliver Burnett twice for 83 yards, Cedric 

Maurice thrice for 66-yards, and Joey Julien and Charles-Edouard Bizier for 49 yards apiece. 

The Gaiters also put together the lone touchdown and 71-yards on the ground from 5 rushers, led by O’Shae Ho-Sang’s 56-yards on 12-attempts. The defense fought valiantly on the otherside, led by Alex MacDonald’s 1 interception and 9 tackles, Joseph Manga’s 1 interception and 2.5 tackles, and Kyle Chornery’s 6.5 tackles. It was inevitably the Gaiter’s 14 penalties drawing them back a total of 111-yards that made the difference.

Expect a more disciplined affair on Saturday, Sept. 13, when your Bishop’s Gaiters host the StFX X-men at 1PM in a battle of the most recent Loney Bowl Champions of the Atlantic University Sport division of Football. The boys will be hungry to get back into the win column (1-1) and into the USport National Ranking once again, so dust off your best Purple attire and don’t forget to bring your student IDs, and we hope to see you at Coulter Field.