Mounties Move to 4-0 With 26-3 Road Win Over Bishop's

The Mount Allison Mounties remain the only unbeaten team in the AUS after an impressive 26-3 road victory over the Bishop's Gaiters in Lennoxville, Quebec on Saturday night.  The win came as a result of a strong overall performance by the Mounties who were led by a defense that forced six Bishops' turnovers and gave up only 3 points on the night.  The Mounties were also strong on special teams, winning the field position battle and the Mounties offense moved the ball well, led once again by the strong running of freshman running back Chris Reid.

The visiting Mounties wasted little time getting going in this one as they used a bad snap on a Bishop's punt to give them good field position early.  Ryan Lambert was able to connect from 37 yards to give the Mounties an early 3-0 lead.  On the Gaiters next possession All-Canadian safety Kwame Adjei intercepted a Shane MacDonald pass and returned it all the way to the Bishop's 26 yard line.  Three plays later running back Chris Reid found the end zone from 7 yards out giving the Mounties a 10-0 lead.  Bishop's responded with a field goal of their own in the 1^st quarter and were threatening with another short field goal attempt but Mounties special teams came up with a field goal block to keep the score at 10-3 at the end of the 1^st quarter.  Ryan Lambert would add a 2^nd field goal half way through the 2^nd quarter, this time from 27 yards to make it 13-3 for the Mounties.

After a Lambert missed field goal made the score 14-3 for the Mounties, the Mounties specials teams went back to work, this time 5^th year Mountie Josh Blanchard returning a punt 43 yards to the Bishop's 19 yard line.  On the next play Mounties QB Brandon Leyh found Rod Joseph in the end zone from 19 yards out to make the score 21-3 for the Mounties.  On Bishop's next possession 2^nd year Mountie Devante Sampson intercepted MacDonald and returned the ball 46 yards to the Gaiters 5 yard line.  From there the Mounties would eventually settle for another Lambert field goal to stretch their lead to 24-3.  Fittingly, the Mounties defense got in on the scoring, forcing a Bishop's team safety to round out the scoring at 26-3.

Leading the way defensively for the Mounties was Sampson with 2 interceptions and 2 tackles.  Adjei chipped in with 1 interception while freshman Nate Rostek led the team with 7.5 tackles and freshman Shaun Robinson had 5 tackles including a sack.  Offensively, Chris Reid was once again the story, carrying for 175 yards on 30 carries and 1 touchdown.  Brandon Leyh was 11-24 for 140 yards, 1 touchdown and no interceptions.  Josh Blanchard had 6 catches for 85 yards while Rod Joseph had 2 catches and 1 touchdown.

The CIS 8^th ranked Mounties now sit alone in 1^st place in the AUS at 4-0.  StFX, who lost 47-0 at home to Montreal, is in 2^nd place at 2-2 while Acadia is 1-3 and Saint Mary's sits winless at 0-4.  The Mounties will travel to Halifax to take on Saint Mary's Saturday, October 4^th at 2PM.