The Saint Mary’s Huskies aren’t taking Friday’s matchup with the Acadia Axemen as an extra bye week.
The Huskies (6-1) host the Acadia Axemen (2-5) tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Atlantic University Sport regular-season football finale that has no impact on the standings.
The Huskies have already clinched a first-place finish and a bye to the Loney Bowl; the Axemen will finish third and face the second-place St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the semifinal.
But Huskies head coach Steve Sumarah won’t rest starters such as quarterback Jack Creighton for fear they’ll be cold if they’re given a full three weeks between games.
“We have the bye, so we’d like to have everybody in there,” Sumarah said. “The biggest challenge is, we don’t want to at any point give games away. If we have an opportunity to play, compete and win, that’s what we want to do.”
Sumarah said Creighton, with just 11 career starts, needs all the time he can get as a young quarterback.
Dan Schutte, a third-year all-star defensive lineman, is the only key player getting tomorrow’s game off because of a knee injury, but he’ll be fine for the Loney Bowl on Nov. 14.
The Huskies haven’t lost in six weeks but have been inconsistent during their winning streak. Sumarah considers tomorrow’s game his last opportunity to correct that.
“We have a couple of good plays, then a couple of really bad plays, so that’s our biggest thing,” he said. “And defensively, the No. 1 challenge is continuing to stay consistent.”
The X-Men host the winless Mount Allison Mounties on Friday.
