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The St. Ambrose football team is in the midst of the stretch run of their season. After defeating William Penn 43-10 last weekend to move to 7-1 and 4-1 in the Mid-States Football Association, the Fighting Bees now will play, what many may consider a make or break game at McKendree. The tenth ranked Bearcats come into the game with an identical 4-1 conference mark, which is tops in the conference with Saint Xavier. The three way tie will be broken this weekend as the number nine ranked Fighting Bees come into town, trying to avenge last year's 38-31, double overtime loss to McKendree at Brady Street Stadium. The conference is deadlocked this season like it seems to be every year," said head football coach Todd Sturdy, "There's some big games in our conference down the stretch and this week will be one of them." McKendree won the MSFA Midwest division last season with a perfect 7-0 record, and are looking to repeat that feat this year, but that won't happen if the Fighting Bees have anything to say about it. "There's great teams in our conference and every year there's going to be a handful of teams that are all up at the top. It's anybody's title, with two weeks to go, but there's a lot of football left and we'll just have to see how it all plays out," Sturdy said. This game will be especially tough for SAU's offense, which has been very explosive this season, averaging 455 yards a game and 37 points per contest. McKendree will be the biggest test so far for the Fighting Bees, as the Bearcats come into the game with the number one ranked defense in the MSFA. "They're well coached and very athletic, which is a pretty bad combination for us," said Sturdy, "The linebackers and Defensive backs are all extremely quick and athletic and they make up ground quickly, so if they do make a mistake, they can recover due to their quickness and pursuit to the football." The Bearcats are allowing just 8.4 points a game, which includes three shutouts. They also allow only 249.5 yards per game, including 130 passing yards every time out. On offense, McKendree is, and always has been a pound it down your throat type of team, and this year is no different. The Bearcats are averaging 265 yards rushing this season, which ranks second in the MSFA. This should be a challenge for an SAU defense that has been solid as a rock all season long, allowing 65.5 yards on the ground, which is tops in the conference, but this style of running is something that may be different than the Fighting Bees have seen all season. "They're going to be real physical and bring a style that we're not accustomed to and the big thing for us is to get used to the speed and tempo of what's happening and just make sure that we get out of the gates and adjust quickly to that," Sturdy said.
McKendree's defense and running game are their
two strengths that will act as an obstacle for the "We're going to do what we do well, which is control the ball and play good defense. We have so many new people in there that we can't really change our gameplan, so we just have to go out and execute it," Sturdy said. The reason for the new personnel is once again the injuries that continue to pile up. Leading receiver Brandin Smith was injured last week, as well as fellow wide out Shane Jones and running back Adam Norland. All three are questionable for this weekend's game. "Our depth was thin before we had injuries to those guys, but we still have a lot of players who are playing good football right now and we'll find a way to get it done," Sturdy said. Return to the Football Homepage |
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518 West Locust
Street, Davenport, IA 52803 |
