Fighting Bees Break Record with Victory
By: Ryan Holtmann - St. Ambrose University Sports Information

October 19, 2002       5:57 p.m.    

Seventeen straight conference victories.  No other team in the history of the Mid-States Football Association Midwest Conference has accomplished that feat.  That was true until Saturday when the No. 8 St. Ambrose University Fighting Bees (3-0, 5-1) defeated the Trinity International Trojans (0-3, 3-4) by the score of 19-7.  The streak began way back on September 30, 2000, where the Fighting Bees defeated the Olivet Nazarene Tigers 23-14. The former record of 16  was held by Findlay, Ohio (1995-1997).

"That was outstanding, I was proud of the kids and the seniors who have been a part of this for the past three years.  That's a pretty good feat, I think, shoot, we're pretty happy with it," head coach Todd Sturdy said after realizing the accomplishment.

The Fighting Bees jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on their first offensive possession.  John McDowell found Matt Walker for the 3-yard score with 9:03 left in the first quarter.  The point after attempt was blocked to give the Fighting Bees a 6-0 lead.  

McDowell finished the day with ten completions on 19 attempts, throwing for 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Walked finished the day with 41 yards on three receptions. 

The Fighting Bees and Trojans would trade possessions for the rest of the first quarter and shortly into the second quarter until Brandon Adolphs rushed six yards for the score to put the Fighting Bees up 13-0.  Adolphs had another outstanding day, refusing to be tackled, as he rushed for 122 yards on 20 carries.

"We worked on keeping my base wide and my feet moving all week during practice and that really pays off during the games," Adolphs said of his performance.

The Fighting Bee defense came up huge, not allowing a Trojan offensive touchdown the entire game, despite giving up 203 yards on the ground.  The majority of those yards came from Masaki Matsumoto who rushed 33 times for 151 yards on the day.  

Trojan quarterback Rob Rominger had trouble finding open receivers as the Fighting Bees secondary had tremendous pass coverage.  Rominger threw 20 passes only completing seven of them and threw for 76 yards.  

The lone Trojan touchdown came at the start of the fourth quarter when Fighting Bees quarterback John McDowell dropped back to pass and threw for the sidelines only to be picked off by Blake Burgess who ran the ball 28 yards into the end zone.

"We were very pleased, we made some mistakes and gave them a couple of drives that changed their (Trojan offense) field position a little bit in the second half, but overall we are happy with the effort," defensive coordinator Rich Wright said after the game.

Leading the defense were two familiar names, Lavill Figgs and Mike Aussieker.  Figgs and Aussieker both had total tackles accumulate to 11 (Figgs had seven assists and Aussieker had nine).  Aussieker had two tackles for a loss, a sack and two near interceptions.  Figgs also had a tackle for a loss.  

"I tell you what, those two guys have done a great job stepping in and they're getting better every week.  These guys will tell you that you have to give a lot of credit to the defensive line because our defensive line has really come along as well," Wright said.

Figgs and Aussieker seem to have a battle going on for number of tackles recorded this season as the race is close.  Figgs is leading the way with 68 total tackles on the year and Aussieker is not far behind with 64.

"The defensive line is keeping blockers off of us and we both just keep making plays, that's all that it is.  Mike's a good linebacker, I am glad to play with him," Figgs said of the friendly competition.

The Fighting Bees special teams unit faired well.  Josh Embretson had seven punts go for 266 yards, averaging out to 38 yards per punt.  Embretson also had a punt go for 57 yards in a day where he battled the gusty wind that whipped through Brady Street Stadium.  Mark Whitlock continued to boom kickoffs deep into Trinity territory.  Matt Webster was one-for-two in point after attempts (one was blocked).

Next weekend the Fighting Bees will travel to Mt. Pleasant, IA to face off against Iowa Wesleyan at 1:30 p.m.  The Fighting Bees return home the following weekend for a NAIA Top 25 showdown against St. Xavier. The game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Brady Street Stadium.

Return to the Football Homepage