Fighting Bees
Lose in Most Unbelievable Way
FT. WAYNE, Ind. - All of the
4,000 plus fans that were in attendance at Bishop John M. D'Arcy Stadium
on Saturday sure got their money's worth.
In arguably the best game that
the NAIA could see all season, the No. 12 St. Francis (IN) Cougars
defeated the No. 11 Fighting Bees 45-40 on the most bizarre final play.
After fighting back from down
18, the Bees took a 40-39 lead with 1:43 remaining in the game. Bees
running back Joe Schimmel rushed 19 yards untouched into the end zone to
give the Bees the one-point edge. Quarterback Jeff Kietzman failed
to connect with a receiver for the two-point conversion.
The Cougars took over with
plenty of time to get themselves to within field goal range. Bees
kicker Matt
Webster booted a 57-yard kickoff to the Cougars eight-yard line where
Lewis Fuller returned the kick 24 yards to the 32.
Nine plays (including two
third down conversions) and 64 yards later the Cougars found themselves at
the Fighting Bees four-yard line with three seconds to go.
According to the Cougars radio
announcers, the Cougars had not attempted a field goal in over two years and
Cougars kicker Clint Bontempo had already missed an extra point early on
in the game. But head coach Kevin Donley sent out his kicker anyway.
The Fighting Bees used their
last timeout to try and "ice" Bontempo and came out of the
timeout lined up in the "Speed Block" formation (a formation that has all 11
players attempting to block the kick). The plan worked perfectly with
Aaron Washington the first to break through the line and stuffing Bontempo's
attempt.
Game over? Not so fast.
Bontempo picked up the loose
football and started rushing to the left side of the field only to be met
by Bees defenders.
Game over? Bees Win? NO!
After being hit, Bontemp
tossed the ball, which flailed through the air and ended up in the hands of the
holder Andy Papagiannis who had been trailing the play. Papagiannis
would then continue the play, diving just inside the pylon for the
touchdown.
Ball game over and celebration time
in the end zone for the Cougars as the entire team piled onto Papgiannis
after he scored.
On the other side of the field
the Fighting Bees stood there
in total disbelief of what had just happened, pinching themselves in hopes
of waking up from a dream.
"That has to be one of
the craziest things that I have ever seen," Bees head coach Todd
Sturdy said.
Although this is not the first
time Sturdy has seen something like this.
"We got beat like that in
1993 against University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. On a fluke field
goal, they bobbled the snap, we (almost) had 'em tackled from behind, the
ball popped up in the air, the guy caught it and beat us.
"I didn't
think it would happen again in my lifetime but it did," Sturdy said
in utter shock, still trying to figure out what had happened.
"It hurts. We are a
good team and they are a good team...it hurts."
So what does a coach say to
his players after something like that? Not too much according to
Sturdy.
"I know there is nothing
that I can say that is going to make this any better for the kids,"
Sturdy said. "But there is one thing that I challenged them
with is this: one day they are going to get married and perhaps be
fortunate enough to have kids, but when there is a bad day like this, what
are they going to tell their kids? What are they going to expect out
of their son in this same situation?
"It's easy if it is just
you, to lose focus and be all mad, but what would they tell their son in
this situation? Keep their head up, be positive, how quickly and
positively are you going to make adjustments, keep fighting, are you going
to try harder next time?
"You have to be able to
come back tomorrow and get the job done, that's the way it has to
happen. We'll have a mourning period I am sure, but we'll come back
to work and be ready to win and get back at it."
The Fighting Bees offense
entered the day as the league's top offense (and third overall in the
nation of all college football teams NCAA Division I included) and
continued their offensive dominance racking up 400 yards.
Leading the onslaught was
Schimmel who racked up 100+ yards for the third consecutive game this
season rushing for 103 yards on 16 carries, two for touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Jeff
Kietzman had a tremendous game, completing 16-of-26 for 226 yards and two
touchdowns. He also rushed ten times for 47 yards and a score to cap
his day, much to the pleasure of Sturdy.
"I am proud of my
quarterback," Sturdy said. "He didn't have to throw it as
much in the first couple of games and they (St. Francis newspaper) said
that we hadn't played any competition and all these things but, that's
fine. We're going to be a good football team.
"Jeff played his butt off
today, he really did a great job. I was proud of him. He
battled."
The Cougars came out of the
gates roaring, scoring the games first 12 points seven minutes and 22
seconds into the game, as well as converting on three third downs.
The one thing that both the Cougars (second to last in the MSFA on third
down conversions) and Fighting Bees (last in third down conversions) have
had trouble doing this season.
"That killed us,"
Sturdy said. "I am not going to sit here and point fingers at
anyone, we are just going to have to evaluate some things."
Cougars halfback Luther
Stroder was the first to strike with a four yard touchdown run, his first
of three on the day. Bontempo missed the ensuing extra point and the
Cougars led 6-0 early.
The Fighting Bees then went
three and out and were forced to punt. This time the Cougars only
used 50 ticks to score again. Quarterback Chris Brammell found Greg
Seiss for a 72 yard score. Next thing you know, the Bees were down
in a hurry.
Brammel had an outstanding
day, completing 20-of-31 for 310 yards, two touchdowns and an
interception.
But the Bees never gave up, a
theme throughout the day. Bees running back Larry Williams started
the Bees scoring with a six-yard run and after Webster added the extra
point, the Cougars lead was cut to five.
Then the Cougars struck twice
in a row again. Stroder rushed nine yards for six and sophomore
running back Mike Ledo hauled in a 37-yard pass from Brammell to put the
Cougars up 25-7.
Stroder finished the day with
12 carries for 47 yards while adding three receptions for 27 yards.
His counterpart, Ledo racked up a game high 104 yards on 19 carries.
Ledo also had four cathces for 71 yards.
The Fighting Bees lived up to
their nickname, fighting their way back with two scores of their
own. Shimmel rushed in from three yards out right before the end of
the half and receiver Joe DuPage hauled in a 33-yard pass on the first
drive of the second half, bringing them within four at 25-21.
The Cougars scored twice, sandwiched
around Kietzman's 11-yard touchdown run, and led 39-28 with
9:10 left in the game.
The Bees then would fail to
convert on fourth and six with just under seven minutes remaining, almost
taking the wind out of their sails. But, they continued to fight.
The Fighting Bees defense
forced the Cougars to punt after three consecutive rushes by the
Cougars.
The Bees would send everyone
in efforts of trying to block the punt. Enough defenders broke
through the line to force Cougars punter Cam Smith to take an 18-yard
loss, being brought down by Luke Perry at the Cougars 15-yard line.
Two plays later and the Bees
were back in business. Kietzman's pass was completed to tight end
Ryan Antonik for the six-point score. The two-point conversion was
unsuccessful.
Antonik led the Bees receiving
core with six receptions for 60 yards and the score.
The ensuing Cougars drive
would be brought to a halt when defensive back T.J. Sheedy intercepted
Brummell's pass at the Cougars 36-yard line, setting up the final set of
plays.
"This is a game when it
is just a darn shame that one team has to win and one team has to
lose," Donley said in as much shock as Sturdy. "These are
two great football teams and it could have gone either way.
"We didn't make it (the
field goal) and we still found a way to win."
"This is what it's all
about, we got to play in a great football game," Sturdy said.
"We grew up a lot today. I think obviously this is going to
make us better.
"Give them credit, they
had a good game plan and played really well."
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