Fighting Bees Lose to
Trojans for First Time Ever
By: Ryan Holtmann
DEERFIELD, Ill. – There is a
first time for everything. Unfortunately
for the No. 22 St. Ambrose Fighting Bees it wasn’t a first that they
were hoping to be apart of.
The Fighting Bees lost for the
first time to the Trinity International Trojans (4-3) by a 24-3 count at
Leslie Frazier Stadium on Saturday.
Although it was only the teams
eighth meeting overall, it was the first time that the Trojans were
successful against the Bees.
“I have no idea what it was,”
Fighting Bees head coach Todd Sturdy said in a loss for words.
“I haven’t been this disappointed in a long time.”
The loss has more than likely
killed the Fighting Bees (3-3) chance at a fourth consecutive MSFA Midwest
title as they have fell to 1-2 in the conference.
“We are playing for pride now,”
Sturdy said.
For the 14 seniors, it will be the
first time that they have not won the championship and for senior tight
end Ryan Antonik it does not bode well for him.
So much so that after Sturdy was
finished with his post-game talk, Antonik asked to speak to the players.
“I told them that we haven’t
been 3-3 since I have started here,” Antonik said.
“We haven’t had a losing record and it’s up to us seniors to
make sure that everybody has fun the rest of the way.
“I told the seniors that we only
have eight days left of practice in full pads.”
The Fighting Bees defense had one
of their better games of the season only giving up a touchdown and a field
goal until the games final minute, when they gave up a second touchdown on
the day.
They limited the Trojans to 183
yards of total offense, but mistakes by the offense and special teams hurt
the Bees the most.
“The defense really played
well,” Sturdy said. “It
was one of their better games of the season.”
Senior linebacker Mike Aussieker
led the way with nine tackles, two for a loss of five yards.
Shawn Giffin added seven tackles, one for a loss and a fumble
recovery returned for 12 yards.
But for the first time all season,
notice the trend of firsts, the Fighting Bees offense was limited to less
than 400 yards of total offense.
The Bees would rack up 329 yards of
offense, but only managed a 27-yard field goal by Matt Webster.
There would be one first that would
not take place on Saturday for the Fighting Bees.
Running back Joe Schimmel has rushed for over 100 yards in every
game this season and continued that streak on Saturday with 128 yards on
20 carries.
Things didn’t start out very well
for the Bees. The defense
forced the Trojans to punt and on the Bees very first possession,
quarterback Jeff Kietzman fumbled the snap, which was recovered by the
Trojans.
The Trojans would not capitalize on
the mistake when Kelly Tappenbeck’s 35-yard field goal attempt was
blocked.
The Bees went 0-for-2 on fourth
down conversions in the first half on a windy day in the windy city and
were sacked three times to add to their struggles throughout the game.
They also lost two fumbles and were
intercepted once.
The Trojans were the first to
strike when Mike O’Donnell returned Jon James punt 78 yards to the house
for a 7-0 lead with two minutes and 58 seconds to go in the half.
The Trojans would add a 26-yard
field goal with 28 seconds left in the half and led 10-0 at half.
They would build their lead to 17-0
just over five minutes into the second half when Alan Stokes scampered 23
yards for the score.
Trojans wide receiver Jerad English
made a leaping 24-yard catch with just over a minute remaining to cap the
scoring.
“We aren’t going to win any
football games when we commit that many mistakes,” Sturdy said.
“We had a couple of problems up front protecting Kietzman and
that didn’t help any.
“I will be back in the office
today ready to prepare for a win next week.”
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