Fighting Bees Continue Winning Ways
By: Ryan Holtmann - St. Ambrose University Sports Information

October 26, 2002       7:25 p.m.    

The No. 8 St. Ambrose University Fighting Bees did not take things lightly on Saturday as they stormed out scoring 48 unanswered points and going on to defeat the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers (0-4, 1-6) by the score of 55-28.  The victory for the Fighting Bees (4-0, 6-1) was the 18th in a row in the conference, continuing to set the bar higher as they have the current record.

The Fighting Bees were led by Joe Schimmel who accumulated four touchdowns on the day, two by air and two by ground. His totals for the day were 14 rushes for 115 yards, three receptions for 127 yards as well as two kickoff returns for a total of 30 yards.  

John McDowell was flawless as usual completing 11 of his 16 passes for 255 yards, three touchdowns and again no interceptions. Brandon Adolphs continued his rushing ways cumulating 159 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.  

The Fighting Bees defense did a tremendous job on the day as they did not allow a touchdown unitl there was 00:43 left in the third quarter.  Lavill Figgs led the way with eight tackles (two assisted), one of which went for a loss of two yards.  

His linebacker running mate, Mike Aussieker did record five tackles before leaving the game with a mild knee sprain in his left knee.  His status is listed as day-to-day.  

Jason Kratt also came up with a sack for a loss of seven yards and two tackles on the day.  Twenty-three Fighting Bees defensemen came up with at least one tackle on the day totaling 78 team tackles. 

Josh Embretson's services were only needed twice throughout the day.  His two punts went for 53 yards, with a long of 37 yards.  The Fighting Bee offense kept both Mark Whitlock and Matt Webster busy on the day.  Webster was seven for eight on point after attempts.  Whitlock, who handled the kickoff duties, could not even sit down on the day, kicking off nine times for an average of 52.4 yards per kickoff and a long of 65 yards. 

St. Ambrose wasted no time in getting points on the board as they scored on eight of their first 11 possessions.  The first coming on the second play from scrimmage where Adolphs rushed 64 yards for the touchdown.  

The Fighting Bees defense only allowed Iowa Wesleyan one yard on the first series of downs, quickly allowing the Fighting Bees offense back onto the field where it took eight plays and 3:54 for the Fighting Bees to score again.  This time it was Schimmel scoring on a ten yard run.  

Iowa Wesleyan showed a small sign of threat on their next possession,  but they were stopped at the Fighting Bees 42-yardline.  After a Chris Irvin punt put the Fighting Bees on their own one-yard line and a rush up the middle by Adolphs for two yards, McDowell hooked up with Schimmel for a 97-yard touchdown.  All of this in 00:57 and still in the first quarter.

The Fighting Bees would slow down a little bit in the second quarter as they only scored 14 points.  With the Fighting Bees facing a fourth down and 19 yards to go on the Iowa Wesleyan 32, Coach Todd Sturdy elected to go for it and it paid off.  McDowell dropped back and found Joe DuPage 32-yards later in the end zone.  DuPage finished the day with three receptions tallying 47 yards.  

Adolphs would score again, this time on a ten yard dash for the touchdown with 3:24 left in the first half.  After trading possessions, the Fighting Bees got the ball back with 00:45 left.  Schimmel dashed 33 yards to the Iowa Wesleyan 36-yardline, followed by another rush for eight yards to set up Mark Whitlock.  Whitlock's 46-yard attempt was just short, this sending the teams into halftime.  

Iowa Wesleyan finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter with 00:43 remaining, when Guy Bell, Jr. rushed for four yards and the touchdown.  Bell, Jr. finished the day with 48 yards on ten carries, scoring twice.  Leading the way for the Tigers was Joe Stubbs who rushed 19 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns.

With only three games remaining the Fighting Bees will enjoy the comfort of Brady St. Stadium for two of the three.  The first coming up this Saturday, November 2nd where they will face off against No. 21 St. Xavier.  The Fighting Bees will then travel to Oskaloosa, IA to face off against William Penn before returning home for a potential MSFA Midwest conference showdown against bitter rival and current No. 3 McKendree.  Both Fighting Bees home games are scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the game at William Penn is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.  

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