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BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The tears fell for 24 seniors on the
St. Ambrose Fighting Bees football team on Saturday afternoon. They were
not tears of joy, rather tears of sadness as the Fighting Bees season
ended on Saturday with a 35-31 loss to Olivet Nazarene. The loss will end the Fighting Bees four-year reign in the
NAIA playoffs, as a 7-3 record will not be good enough to qualify for the
16-team field. After dominating for three quarters of the game, the Fighting
Bees couldn’t buy a break and Olivet Nazarene caught a bunch. Trailing 31-7 late in the third quarter, the Tigers were
forced to punt. Tigers’ punter John Scardullo’s punt sailed short of
St. Ambrose punt returner Andy Ford, who waved off his teammates. The ball
bounced just behind the foot of St. Ambrose defensive back Johnny Dickens
and appeared that it did not touch him. The ball was then whistled dead by officials when Olivet
Nazarene players picked up the ball. The St. Ambrose offense took the
field, but the officials met to discuss the call. After a brief
discussion, the referee signaled first down for Olivet Nazarene at the St.
Ambrose 29-yard line. “(The officials) said it hit us. That’s a brutal call;
that’s just not right,” Fighting Bees coach Todd Sturdy said. Olivet Nazarene scored on the first play of the fourth
quarter to capitalize on the Fighting Bees mistake when quarterback Joe
Boseo’s plunged in from a yard out. On the ensuing kickoff, Tigers’
kicker Matt Soulia skied the kickoff to the St. Ambrose 33-yard line. Linebacker Matt Seidel went to field the punt for St.
Ambrose, but the ball bounced off his chest pads and was recovered by the
Tigers’ Jon Lochner. The next play Boseo fired a strike to Seaun Edmonds
to cut the St. Ambrose lead to 31-21. The Fighting Bees handled the next kickoff and began to move
the ball like they did the entire first three quarters and got all the way
down to the Tigers 1-yard line. Running back Larry Williams hauled in a pass from quarterback
J.T. Bucy and was ruled out-of-bounds before he crossed the goal line. The
next play, Williams was stripped of the ball, which the Tigers recovered
at the 3-yard line. The Tigers then marched 97 yards on 11 plays in 3:36 to pull
within a field goal. On the next series, the Fighting Bees were forced to punt and
punter Jon James buried the Tigers inside their own 5-yard line. But the Tigers offense marched down the field yet again. The Tigers ate up just over five minutes on the game clock
and took a 35-31 lead with 4:01 remaining when running back Jon Lochner
powered through the line on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yards line. “When momentum starts, it’s hard to put brakes on that
thing,” Newsome said. “I told (the players at halftime) that I
didn’t care what the score was after the game, I just didn’t want
another half like that first one.” The Fighting Bees had a chance at a win, but their drive was
stopped short when quarterback Jeff Kietzman’s pass was picked off by
cornerback Roger Manley. “We had chances to win the game and we didn’t get it
done,” Sturdy said. The Fighting Bees out-gained the Tigers 444-415 large in part
to running back Joe Schimmel, who rushed for 186 yards to put him over the
1,000-yards mark for the season. The loss was especially hard on the seniors and defensive
lineman Jason Kratt summed it up best. “The hardest part is that we had high expectations and we
lost three close games that could have gone either way. It’s just
tough,” Kratt said. “I love every one of these guys, I would do
anything for them. I have friends for life. Some of these guys are my
friends on and off the field. I see these faces more than I see my own
family. They are like brothers. I am going to miss them.” Return to the Football Homepage |
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