Sweet 16
By: Ryan Holtmann - St. Ambrose University Sports Information

October 12, 2002       11:04 p.m.  

The victory was sweet for the No. 12 St. Ambrose University Fighting Bees (4-1) as they stormed out to a 35-14 victory over the St. Francis (IL) University Fighting Saints (1-4).  It was the 16^th straight conference victory for the Fighting Bees and it came on a night where the rain would not stop pouring and neither would the yards for the Fighting Bees.  They would amass a total of 418 yards, 203 on the ground and 215 in the air. 

Brandon Adolphs led the way with 203 all-purpose yards as he grabbed one John McDowell pass for 41 yards and rushed for 162 yards on the ground, scoring two touchdowns.  It was also a “sweet” day for Adolphs as his average rush was 16.2 yards per carry.

  “Brandon (Adolphs) did a great job running the ball today, there were times when he should have been brought down behind the line of scrimmage but they (SFU defenders) tried tackling him up high and that’s just not going to work.  He kept his feet going and once he gets out in the clear he’s gone because he is pretty fast,” Sturdy would say of Adolphs’ performance.

  McDowell had a stellar day again as he completed 11 of 23 passes for 197 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.  McDowell was not surprised with throwing the ball as much as he did despite the weather conditions. 

  “The weather really wasn’t a factor for us tonight, they (SFU game personnel) did a good job at keeping the footballs dry,” McDowell said.

The Fighting Bees jumped out to a quick lead as they scored on their first possession, as Joe Schimmel rushed eight yards up the middle for the touchdown.  Schimmel finished the day with 44 yards rushing on 11 carries and a kickoff return of 21 yards. 

The Fighting Bee defense, led by defensive coordinator Rich Wright, did its job again as they held the Fighting Saints to only 290 yards of total offense.  Leading the way on the field were Mike Aussieker and Lavill Figgs.  Aussieker, who had 12 total tackles (8 assists), two of them going for losses as well as an interception, one pass deflection and a sack.  Figgs also had 10 tackles (5 assists) plus a couple of big hits that will leave some St. Francis players in pain tomorrow. 

Matt Webster did another fine job making all of his PAT’s and Mark Whitlock had some booming kickoffs that helped keep the Fighting Saints deep in their own territory.  Despite an eight-yard punt, punter Josh Embretson still came away with four punts going for 124 yards, that averaging out to 31.0 yards per kick.   McDowell also contributed to the specials teams as he had a punt go for 18 yards. 

The Fighting Bees were in SFU territory facing a fourth down when it appeared that they were going for it.  McDowell set up in the shotgun formation took one step to the right and booted the ball to the St. Francis 17 yard line. 

“Kids played great on the road, bad conditions, sloppy day, sloppy field, the kids just played great,” Sturdy said of the Fighting Bees performance.

The Fighting Bees will return home after this two-game road trip to face off against Trinity International University.  The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the gates will open at 11:30 a.m.

“We can carry on from this week, we (Fighting Bees) keep getting better and better every week and if we can execute in all three phases of the game again, we can come out with a victory.” 

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