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Fighting Bees Roll Into
Conference Season
For the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees, each week
has seemed to get easier. That may stop now, as they prepare to enter the
Mid-States Mid-west conference season, where each game is knock down, drag
out fight to the finish.
SAU is playing as good as they have all season, at just the right time,
disposing of Taylor University
56-7 last Saturday.
“Our team seemed like it executed at a very high level last week. We had a
lot of guys who were concentrating and they all executed as a result of
that,” coach Sturdy said.
Most of the Fighting Bee’s are new to the varsity level and are just
getting their feet wet, but each week seems to come easier than the
previous one.
“We had a lot more plays last week where all eleven guys were getting
their job done,” said Sturdy, “Every situation is new to us and our
players have done a good job of handling the things that come their way
and hopefully we’ll be able to continue to do that.”
With this week being SAU’s 2005 Homecoming celebration, some players may
have a tougher time concentrating on the game due to all of the
extra-curricular activities going on at the St. Ambrose campus.
“The kids will be excited because we’ll have a bigger crowd, so that’s a
positive,” Sturdy said. “However, that’s just something we’ll have to
address this week.”
One of Sturdy’s jobs this week, besides game planning for St. Francis,
will be keeping his team focused on the task at hand.
“We still have a game Saturday and we have to stay focused,” Sturdy said,
“Our goals are always the same as far as what we want to get done going
into the game.”
Anytime there’s a team that wants to win for their students and alumni,
the team across the field wants to spoil the party just as badly.
This week, St. Francis is that team. The Fighting Saints come into Brady
Street Stadium with a 2-2 record. Like SAU, St. Francis is a relatively
young team that began the season with two victories. Unlike St. Ambrose,
SFU is currently going through a two game losing streak.
“They’re a young team also, with a new coach. Any time a team has a new
coach, there’s a lot of excitement in that program,” Sturdy said.
That new coach is 28-year-old Mike Uremovich, who is in his first head
coaching job of his career and is almost as young as some of his players.
“He’s done some good things with their program,” Sturdy said, “They’re
better than they have been in recent years and I think they’re going to
have some success this season.”
One aspect of St. Francis that has given them hope for the future, has
been the big play potential of their defense. The Fighting Saints have
come away with eight interceptions already this season and hold a turnover
ratio of plus-six.
“They do a lot of different things on defense, including doing a lot of
blitzing,” Sturdy said, “That causes teams to get rid of the ball before
they want to and they throw it to the wrong guy once in a while.”
As good as the St. Francis defense looks, St. Ambrose’s ‘D’ has looked
even better this year. The Fighting Bees have allowed just 12.7 points per
game, which is second best in the MSFA. They also have a plus-six turnover
ratio, which was helped by the five turnovers they recorded last week
against Taylor.
“We’ve played very consistent on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve
gotten better each and every week and hopefully we’ll continue to do that
and stay healthy,” Sturdy said.
St. Francis’ offense may be in for a rough game. The Fighting Saints are
averaging just 91.2 passing yards a game and are averaging 225.8 yards of
total offense every time out.
St. Ambrose will be looking to keep those stats right where they are,
behind a defense that intercepted four passes last week, including two
that ended up in the hands of Justin Thompson, who was named the MSFA
Mid-west Defensive Player of the Week for his effort.
One side note to this weekend’s festivities is the induction ceremony of
five athletes into the St. Ambrose Athletic Hall of Fame, one of which
will be coach Sturdy.
“It’s a big honor for me to go into the Hall of Fame here. I think the
world of this place and to go into the Hall of Fame is one of the greatest
honors I’ve had in my life,” Sturdy said, “I’ve been here since I was a
freshman in college, and I’ve never left. I’m just very grateful and I
think it’s an awesome honor and it means a lot to me and my family.”
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