St. FX comes back to win Loney Bowl in final seconds

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men are still smiling after their nail-biting 14-12 win over the Mount Allison Mounties in the Loney Bowl on Saturday.

A favourable bounce off the goal post from St. FX kicker Jonathan Heidebrecht won the game for his team in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter after a Mounties’ timeout.

“Usually for me, the more time I have to just get down and focus, then I prefer that actually, so when they (called a timeout), it was actually quite helpful,” said Heidebrecht.

“Seemed like after the time out, the wind picked up even more, so we (thought we) really can't catch a break here,” said St. FX head coach Gary Waterman.

Heidebrecht’s kick hit the upright of the goal post and bounced over for the winning three points.

“Probably really fractions of seconds of how long it took, but it felt like a long time,” said Waterman.

The only person who didn't see the bounce was Heidebrecht, who fell flat on his back after the kick.

“As I was getting up, I heard a cheer and I didn't know which bench it was, if it was the Mount A bench or our bench,” said Heidebrecht. “I looked over towards Taber and he turned and started running at me with his arms in the air.”

“I couldn't believe that that's what happened. That it first off bounces off in, but it was like the perfect bounce.”

St. FX fans were going wild, including athletic director Leo MacPherson who was at the game with his wife – a Mount Allison grad.

“As soon as I saw that kick hit the upright and bounce over, I turned to her and said, ‘You know what? This is a catholic bounce,” said MacPherson.

Mount Allison went into the final minute of the game with a 12-11 lead.

“Both defences were outstanding,” said Waterman. “The weather conditions, the wind was tough going one way but all year, both defences have been playing really, really well.”

The Loney Bowl is named after St. FX football legend Don Loney, but this is the first time the X-Men have won the game since the name was adopted.

It's also their first Atlantic conference title since the team made it to the Vanier Cup final in 1996.

“It's been a long time coming.” said MacPherson. “The coaching staff and the players work so hard. Not just this team, but the folks that came before this team too. Those since the 1996 Vanier Cup team.

St. FX will now focus its attention on the semifinal of the Uteck Bowl Saturday where they'll take on the University of British Columbia on their home turf.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.