Fighting Bees
Win Fourth Straight MSFA Midwest Championship
By: Ryan Holtmann
LEBANON,
Ill. -- Now they will sit and wait.
The No. 21
St. Ambrose Fighting Bees got a much needed victory over the No. 8
McKendree Bearcats (8-2, 5-2) at Leemon Field on Saturday, a 27-17
triumph.
The win
clinched a five-way tie for the MSFA Midwest crown. The Bees (7-3,
5-2) and Bearcats will share the honor with Saint Xavier, Trinity
International and Olivet Nazarene. It is the Bees fourth consecutive
title in four years.
The win does
not assure the Fighting Bees a spot in the 16-team NAIA playoffs, which
will be announced at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
"We
deserve to be there," Fighting Bees head coach Todd Sturdy said
covered in mud. "Right now, we are the best team in the
conference and we proved that today."
The players
feel the same way.
"The
nation needs to look out if the let us in the playoffs," defensive
back T.J. Sheedy said. "Just give us a shot and we could be
playing deep into Christmas break (when the NAIA Championship game is
played)."
At the
conclusion of the game, Sturdy, out of respect for the way his players
played on the field, did a belly flop into the mud pit that had been
created from Friday nights rain.
The Bees
came out of the gates and stumbled. The offense had trouble moving
the ball into McKendree territory. The defense struggled a little
bit, allowing the Bearcats two field goal attempts, one of which they
blocked.
Once the
second quarter hit, things went in a different direction for the
Bees. They scored the games next 27 points and led 27-3 midway
through the third quarter.
Bees
quarterback Jeff Kietzman led the offense with 232 yards passing on
13-of-20 passing. He added a 29-yard touchdown pass to Chris Burhans
and two rushing touchdowns of 3 and 1 yards.
During that
same span, the defense stepped up and played their best football of the
game. Bees defensive end Mike Novak, linebacker Kevin Hopkins and
Sheedyled the attack.
Novak made
the biggest impact with three big plays. He forced two fumbles,
recovering both of them and killed the Bearcats final drive with a sack.
Novak had
five tackles, two of them for a loss of nine yards and his sack went for a
loss of six yards.
Hopkins led
all tacklers with 14 on the day, while Sheedy added 12 tackles, an
interception for 21 yards and a pass deflection.
"The
defense played lights out today," Sturdy said. "They
played some great football."
"It was
a hard battle," junior defensive end Jason Kratt said.
"The D-line played great, we did our job so the linebackers could
step up and make the plays."
Bees running
back Joe Schimmel fell just shy of making it ten consecutive games with
over 100 yards rushing, as he rushed for 94 yards on 25 carries. He
did rush for his 2,000th yard of his career, brining his total to 2,068
which ranks sixth on the Fighting Bees career rushing list.
He moved up
to sixth in the single-season rushing record books, finishing the regular
season with 1,412 rushing yards.
The Bees
used a balanced attack with 148 yards on the ground and 232 through the
air, which was exactly what Sturdy was looking for.
"We
knew we had to be balanced to be successful," Sturdy said. I
could not have asked for more of my guys today.
"They
really put out a great effort."
Return to the
Football Homepage
|
