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Fighting Bees Tangle with the Tigers

The Fighting Bee football team is coming off their worst loss in ten years, after losing 41-9 to McKendree last weekend. That result may cause some teams to crawl inside their shells, but SAU plans to keep plugging along and evaluate what they did wrong, so they don't make the same mistakes again.

"Our guys didn't play well and we got beat," said head football coach Todd Sturdy, "We just got embarrassed, but those things are going to happen in life, and the big thing is how we're going to respond. We just have to stay positive and move forward."

The loss was partly due to some uncharacteristically bad plays by the 17th ranked Fighting Bees, but also partly due to the smash mouth style of play that eighth ranked McKendree is known for.

"I'd like to think we're a better football team than that, but we didn't do much right all day and a lot of that was due to McKendree being a great football team," said Sturdy, "We came out in the second half and McKendree made some big plays, which opened up the floodgates, and we just couldn't recover."

They'll try to put that blowout behind them this weekend, when they'll face Olivet Nazarene with only one thing on their minds. Beat the Tigers.

"We're focusing on this weekend's game. We have a chance to be 8-2, and whatever happens, happens. We just want to go out with a win and feel good about ourselves," Sturdy said.

That 8-2 record will put the Fighting Bees on the outskirts of the playoff picture, but with a little help, SAU may get the berth they are looking for.

"We're at least in a position to have a chance at the postseason this late in the season, which is obviously better than not having that chance," Sturdy said..

In order to get that chance, SAU must first take care of business on their end by disposing of Olivet Nazarene, who has been up and down all season. Olivet has handed Saint Xavier their only loss of the season, but have lost to Iowa Wesleyan and William Penn, both of whom have worse records than the Tigers. When Olivet comes to town, the opponent often doesn't know which team will show up.

"Olivet's a really tough football team that can beat any team in our league and they've had a solid year," said Sturdy, "They're a scary opponent that's done some great things this year and are just a couple plays away from being in playoff contention."

For the second straight week, SAU faces a team that has the potential to light up the scoreboard.

"They do a good job on offense and put a lot of points on the board and the biggest thing about them is that they are real effective in the red zone," said Sturdy, "Defensively, they mix it up a little bit and try to put a lot of pressure on you, so we're going to have to handle the blitz well if we want to win."

This weekend will also be a celebration for seven players who have been with the Fighting Bee program throughout their time at SAU, as Saturday will be Senior Day for St. Ambrose.

"All seven seniors are great people and have done a great job in leading our program. They've learned a lot of things in our program that are going to allow them to go out and be successful after they graduate," said Sturdy, "It's a great honor for them and I just want them to go out, play well, and get the win."

A win would give the Fighting Bees eight for the season, which would be one more than they had last season. It would also mark SAU's best record in three years.

"We'd be very pleased with eight wins and that would be something to be very proud of," Sturdy said, "We'd like to win them all, but as in life, it's not always going to happen that way. We just have to go out and hope for the best."

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