Loney Bowl recap: Saint Mary’s takes care of business to down St. Francis Xavier

2026 Loney Bowl - Picture by Mona Ghiz

When the Saint Mary’s Huskies needed a gamebreaker in the Loney Bowl, defensive back Logan Mendes rose to the occassion.

Early in the third quarter and with his squad clinging to a 14-6 lead, Mendes climbed the ladder to intercept St. Francis Xaiver pivot Deion Blackwood, shutting down the X-Men’s first push of the second half. The Mendes interception led directly to a touchdown drive from the Huskies, who came out victorious in Saturday’s AUS title game by a 28-15 score that they were in control of from the game’s early stages.

Saint Mary’s hit the upright on a Adam Johnston field goal attempt in the first quarter that would’ve given them an early 3-0 lead, but that was about the only bad luck they had all day.

The Huskies still struck first, with a drive that went all the way from their own 14 yard-line. Fifth-year rusher Reece Wyke punched in the eight-yard score, his first of two on the day.

StFX replied with a short field goal, though it’s clear to say they could’ve had more. Flags on three successive short yardage plays allowed the X-Men five shots from within the five-yard line, though they weren’t able to punch it in for six.

The Huskies marched back down for a one-yard score from Wyke, and then forced a fumble from Blackwood on their next drive to kill a response from StFX.

StFX managed a last-second field goal to keep the game as a one-score game heading into halftime, but that was about as close as they’d come for the remainder of the day.

Late in the third quarter, Wyke managed a third score on the day, again punching it in from the one-yard line to give the Huskies a three-score lead. He finished the contest with 15 carries for 71 yards, while teammate Keene Shigehiro was the game’s leading rusher with 92 yards on 17 carries.

The game was short of big plays, with the longest on the day coming from a X-Men fourth quarter trick pass that saw receiver Zach Houde find Caleb Tremblay downfield for a 35-yard gain inside the Huskies’ five-yard line. StFX punched the ball in on the next play, but still trailed by 13 with under 10 minutes remaining.

Though Saint Mary’s didn’t actually score in the game’s final quarter, they held on strong enough to outlast any push from the visitors. Aidan Simpson picked off Blackwood again in the game’s final minute to secure the victory and the conference title.

St. Francis Xavier was looking for their first win in the title game since 2023, while Saint Mary’s ended up repeating as champions. The game wasn’t quite as lopsided as last year’s result, where Saint Mary’s topped St. Francis Xavier 46-11 before falling 49-19 in the Uteck Bowl to the Montréal Carabins.

The Huskies will travel to Ontario next week, as they take on the Western Mustangs in the Mitchell Bowl for the right to play for the Vanier Cup.