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OSKALOOSA, Iowa – St. Ambrose Fighting Bees coach Todd
Sturdy held up a piece of paper following the Fighting Bees 31-14 come
from behind victory against a stingy William Penn Statesmen team on
Saturday afternoon at Oskaloosa Community Field. On one side of the piece of paper, Sturdy wrote 7-2. As he
showed the team, they booed. He then turned the piece of paper around and
written on it was 8-1, more pleasing to his players. The two sides of the
paper signified what the Fighting Bees record could be following next
week’s game against archrival McKendree. “We’re happy to be in the situation that we are in,”
Sturdy said. “It’s like I told (the team), a one behind the dash (in
your record) will look better than a two. “This is where we are at. We have a big football game next
week, but you always have big ball games.” The ninth ranked Fighting Bees responded to a 27-23
heartbreaking loss to Saint Xavier last week and, improved to 7-1 overall
and 4-1 in the Mid-States Football Association Midwest Division. The win
has set up what could be the game that decides the MSFA Midwest Division
with McKendree coming to town on Saturday. “After a devastating loss like that (to Saint Xavier) last
week, it is tough on the whole program,” Sturdy said. “We have had
deals like that before that we didn’t handle very well, like last year.
This time I told our boys how proud of them I was.” The win came after a scare, however. With nothing to lose, the Statesmen came out and played like
it and took a 14-10 lead into halftime. St. Ambrose scored on its second
possession to take a 7-0 lead, and led 10-7 with just two minutes
remaining in the first half. With the Statesmen facing a first-and-10 from their own
34-yard line, quarterback Kentrell Jones was forced out of the pocket and
threw up a prayer downfield. The pass was broken up Fighting Bees
cornerback Johnny Dickens and then almost picked off by safety Matthew
Hunt. Hunt batted the ball around and right into the hands of William Penn
receiver Andy Stokes, who caught the ball in full stride and scampered the
remaining 45 yards for the score. “That was a challenge to everyone mentally,” Sturdy said.
“You go into the half down 14-10, you’re sitting there saying ‘here
we go again.’ The kids handled it well; they responded. “They didn’t panic. They came out and executed.” That put the Fighting Bees down at halftime for only the
second time on the season. The other time they trailed came in the first
game of the season against Loras, a game the Fighting Bees came back to
win. The second half was a different story and the defense took
over. The Fighting Bees began to blitz even more than they did in
the first half. It paid off on the second Statesmen possession of the
second half. Freshman Dan Eble broke through the line and forced Jones out
of the pocket. Jones was unable to escape and Eble caught him. Eble hit Jones with enough force from behind to knock the
ball loose. Fighting Bees cornerback Cale Jasper picked up the loose ball
and ran 25 yards for the go ahead score. “I saw the quarterback trying to scramble, and he didn’t
see me coming from behind. I took a shot at stripping the ball from him
and it was good that Cale came along and picked it up and scored,” Eble
said of the sack and the forced fumble. The St. Ambrose defense came up big on the next possession.
Cornerback Ryne Foster picked off Jones at the Statesmen 41-yard line.
That set up quarterback Jeff Kietzman’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Larry
Williams. Williams would add another score in the fourth quarter, this
time a 26-yard run to put the Fighting Bees up by the final margin. The Statesmen were hampered by penalties all afternoon, the
majority of them coming on either unsportsmanlike conduct or personal foul
calls. Return to the Football Homepage |
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518 West Locust
Street, Davenport, IA 52803 |
