Bees win some, lose some, still in control

Nov. 4, 2004
By Dan Tomlin
Sports Editor

The Fighting Bees went into game seven of the season hoping for their seventh consecutive victory coupled with an undefeated record in conference. Neither of these things came to pass as the St. Xavier Cougars defeated the Bees in stunning fashion by the score of 27-23.

With St. Ambrose seeming having the game wrapped up a false start on second and two set up a longer second and seven. On the ensuing play Joe Schimmel rushed forward for just one yard setting up a third and six.

What happened next could only be described as bizarre as quarterback Jeff Kietzman bobbled the snap and fumbled it. As the pigskin skated across the turf Kietzman made a futile effort to grab it, and when the pile was cleared St. Xavier had landed on it just 27 yards from the end zone.

With just 0:33 seconds left it took just one play for Cougar quarterback John Perryman to find Chris Rodriguez sprinting into the endzone for a 27 yard pass and catch for the go ahead score.

St. Ambrose would get the ball back with under 30 seconds to go but would be unable to snatch back the lead and would drop their first game of the season. This loss further complicated the road ahead for the Bees who will have to take on undefeated McKendree College on Nov. 6, and finish the season on the road against a tough Olivet Nazarene team.

After the loss the Bees droped from no. 4 to no.9 in the nation.

The loss also put the Fighting Bees tied for second place in conference heading into a showdown with the William Penn University Statesmen (2-6). Despite their record St. Ambrose came into the game leary of a team they had defeated by nearly 30 the year before.

After suffering some close defeats the Statesmen were looking to turn it around early against SAU.

The Bees would get on the board first thanks to the play by their special teams and kick returner Andy Ford who took a William Penn punt on a bounce and returned it for 63 yards putting the Bees in WPU territory at the 11. Two plays later Jeff Kietzman tossed it to Steve Parker for the first touchdown of the game, and giving SAU a 7-0 lead. It was Parker’s second touchdown of the season.

Near the end of the first quarter the Statesmen would tie the game up when quarterback Kentrell Jones threw a 75-yard bomb to James Fountaine who had freed himself of two defenders to tie the game at 7-7.

The score would stay that way until Matt Webster tacked on his tenth field goal of the season staying perfect in that category by knocking in a 23-yard attempt into a 25 mph cross wind. Webster would end the day with four more extra points as well giving him a 10-10 mark on field goals with a long of 42 yards, as well as going 37-39 on extra points.

The Bees would not score again in the first half, but William Penn would. The statesmen scored on another long pass play this time not due to a lack of coverage, but too much coverage. As Jones heaved the ball into the air Johnny Dickens and Matt Hunt converged on the play and while Dickens made the initial hit the ball was knocked into Hunts hands, through them, and into the arms of Statesmen tight end Andy Stokes who sprinted to the endzone to give WPU their first lead of the game at 14-10.

St. Ambrose went into the locker room at halftime trailing by this score, and looking for a play that would turn the game around.

That play came with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. With both teams stalemated and both offenses struggling to get anything going, William Penn was going for broke with their pass game, and the Bees defense responded accordingly. Freshman linebacker Dan Eble blitzed Jones, sacked him and in doing so forced a fumble that was gathered up and run into the endzone by senior Cale Jasper.

"His number got called and he responded," head coach Todd Sturdy said. "We've had a number of kids do that this season."

Jasper scored his first touchdown as a Fighting Bee, and the Bees fourth of the season by defense and special teams.

SAU would tack on another touchdown in the third quarter on a long third down as Jeff Kietzman avoided pressure and found Larry Williams out of the backfield who scampered 35 yards for another Bee score.

“It’s nice to have a guy like Larry that makes you look good,” Kietzman said. “I throw a 2 yard pass and he runs for 30 some yards.”

Williams would add a 26 yard touchdown run for his second of the day, and give the Bees their final tally as they routed William Penn 31-14. In the second half the Fighting Bees defense held the Statesmen scoreless and just 37 yards of rushing in the second half. SAU on the other hand tallied up 125 rushing yards in the second half, and Joe Schimmel made it over the 100 yard mark again as he rushed for 111 yards in the win.

Andy Ford was on the receiving end of five Kietzman tosses and moved up to eighth place on the Bees list of receptions in a single season. Kietzman threw for 162 yards and parlayed that into two touchdown throws.

With the win the Fighting Bees still control their own fate as they head home to take on the McKendree College Bearcats in the final home game of the regular season, Nov. 6.

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