Sept. 23, 2004
By Dan Tomlin
Sports Editor

When the dust had settled, and the referee had pulled the last body off the pile Jason Lynch held the ball in the air like a man holding a sword leading an army into combat.

Loras College’s last attempt to steal the game away from the Bees had been futile as an onside kick with less then 30 seconds left was recovered by St. Ambrose, and sealed the fate of the Duhawks.

For the first time in a quarter of a century the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees would be taking home the victory bell trophy. The trophy had been in the possession of Loras College since their last meeting in 1983.

In their first meeting in over two decades, over 5000 came to watch the two teams, separated by only 70 miles, duke it out on the gridiron.

“What a neat environment to play in, it’s just great to have such a natural rivalry,” SAU coach Todd Sturdy said. “I’d love to see the contract renewed so we can play each other every year.”

The first half was dominated by defense on both sides, with Loras getting an early score on their first possession of the game. They would not score again until their last possession of the game en route to a 16-14 loss.

The Fighting Bees defense and special teams would win the day as Andy Ford broke a 54 yard punt return to set up a Matt Webster field goal just before half time giving the Bees their only points in the first half, and cutting the Duhawk lead to just four at halftime.

In the second half, defense was the story as Chris Burhans blocked a Loras punt. This set up a 21 yard touchdown pass from Jeff Kietzman to Burhans. That score would give SAU their first lead of the game at 10-7.

In the fourth quarter Larry Williams scrambled into the end zone from 27 yards out to score the game winning touchdown as well as go over 100 yards for the day.

The nine point lead would be all the defense would need as they allowed Loras to advance into the red zone on three different occasions in the fourth quarter only to be stymied, once by a Mike Novak sack, and a second by a Johnny Dickens interception.

For Dickens the interception made in the end zone was his second of the day, as he made an immediate impact as a first time starter.

“It was my coming out party,” Dickens said, who celebrated his 23 birthday with a couple turnovers. “When I saw the quarterback directing traffic with the ball I just went with it and timed it up in the air and came down with it.”

In a defensive struggle the Bees went the entire game without giving up a turnover, while forcing three from the Duhawks.

St. Ambrose All-American Joe Schimmel was held to just 46 yards on 21 carries as the Loras defense buckled down on the star running back.

While Schimmel struggled to find open space his presence on the field created openings for Williams who was the recipient of several big gains on counter and misdirection plays.

For the Fighting Bees (1-0) it was an opening game rich with college tradition, and the passion of this rivalry was not lost.

“I love playing in front of all these fans,” Dickens said. “There’s nothing better then coming into somebody’s house and beating them.”

In the second game of the season the Fighting Bees didn’t know exactly what to expect from a Waldorf team they annihilated 70-0 last season, but was 2-1 early on in the 2004 campaign.

The Fighting Bees showed no signs of rust as in the first matchup against Loras. St. Ambrose scored three times in the first quarter alone, and after the first 15 minutes of football, SAU already held a 21-0 lead.

Waldorf would get their only score of the game on a one yard run after an interception was returned to the Ambrose one yard line.

In the first half the Fighting Bees allowed just 46 yards of offense, with 34 of them coming on a late run on a broken play by the Warrior quarterback.

The Bees controlled the game from kickoff to the final gun, and walked away with an easy 71-7 victory over the Warriors from Waldorf.

In the game, Joe Schimmel rushed for over 180 yards while collecting his first touchdown of the season. Larry Williams added two more touchdowns, and Matt Webster was perfect with his leg going 8-8 on extra points, and adding three field goals.

On the defensive side, Johnny Dickens once again had an amazing performance and collected another pair of interceptions. In two games Dickens has already picked off four ill fated passes.

SAU next takes on Taylor University (0-2).

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