Gaiters mistakes costly against Mounties under the lights
The Bishop’s Gaiters outgained the No. 8 Mount Allison Mounties by 134 yards but turned the ball over eight times and were only able to put up three points against the best football team in the AUS. Bishop’s fell 26-3 in their inaugural homecoming game under the lights in Lennoxville on Saturday night.
Mount Allison wasted no time and showed now ill effects of the nine-hour trip from Sackville, N.B. They turned a Gaiters bad snap on special teams into three points to open the contest. On the very next drive the visitors picked off Gaiters’ pivot Shane McDonald (Uxbridge, Ont.). It took them just three plays to find the end zone and take a 10-0 lead before many of the Gaiters faithful even found a seat at Coulter Field.
The Gaiters miscues continued throughout the night. In total they fumbled six times, losing five and threw three interceptions for eight total turnovers while forcing their opponents to just a single fumble.
Despite the errors Bishop’s hung around. They were down 13-3 at halftime and 14-3 with slightly over two minutes remaining the third frame. Mount Allison put their second major of the day on the board with 2:03 left in the quarter and tacked on a field goal early in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
“We made too many mistakes,” said Gaiters head coach Kevin Mackey. “You can’t win football games with that many turnovers and penalties.”
Bishop’s finished the game with 419 yards of offense to the Mounties 285. McDonald was 21-for-34 for 242 yards through the air however did not have major and was picked off three times. On top of the eight turnovers the Gaiters also committed 14 infractions penalizing them 133 yards. Mount Allison had 11 penalties for 85 yards.
The Gaiters (0-4) find themselves in tough race for the playoffs. They will have time to regroup during a bye week before playing a crucial game against the McGill Redmen (0-4) on Thursday, October 9 in Montreal. Both teams sit two games behind Sherbrooke (2-2) for the final spot in the postseason but each have a contest remaining with the Vert et Or.
