Huskies suffer close-call loss on home turf
By: Mark Moffatt
On Saturday, September 15, 2012 the Saint Mary’s Huskies’ had their first home football game of the season against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in a non-conference game. The Huskies fans created a raucous atmosphere at the Stadium by showing up dressed and painted in their school colours; cheering their home team on to victory from start to finish. The Huskies caught the opponent off guard with an onside kick to start the game, and recovered it leading to a field goal for the first score of the game. Saint Mary’s kicker/punter Brett Lauther had an outstanding game going five for five on field goal attempts, while punting the ball ten times with a 41.2 yards per punt average. Defensive end Rob Jeuvenville stood out on defense for the Huskies, forcing the two fumbles in the game, one of which was recovered in the 2nd quarter by linebacker Marvin Golding who returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. The other fumble was recovered by linebacker Kyle Norris, who had an outstanding game recording 10 solo tackles, including one QB sack as well as breaking up one pass. Defensive Back Kayin Marchand-Wright had an up and down performance that reflected the narrative of the Huskies home coming game, recording seven solo tackles but unfortunately late in the 4th quarter was flagged twice on one drive for defensive pass interference, the second one taking away a would be game sealing interception for St. Mary’s. Offensively the Huskies only managed 133 total yards to Sherbroke’s 426, but their Defense won the turnover battle, which combined with the super special teams performance lead by Lauther and return man Jahmeek Taylor, had the Huskies leading by 9 points up until the last 2 minutes in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately those mental lapses late on defense, perhaps caused by the intense atmosphere of the game and the roaring of the fans, cost the Huskies their first win, losing 23-22. All in all it was a valiant effort and an excellent showing from both the Huskies football fans and athletes, who all remained optimistic about the chances of the team going forward.