Fighting Bees lose last two games of the season, miss playoffs

Nov. 18, 2004
By Dan Tomlin
Sports Editor

After the Fighting Bees defeated Loras College in the season opener it looked as though this season would be like so many others in St. Ambrose University football lore.
After defeating Iowa Wesleyan on Oct. 16 the Fighting Bees were 6-0 and it looked as though they would not only have a pretty good shot at winning a conference championship for the fifth consecutive year, but with a ranking of no. 4 in the nation hopes were high that this years team may just bring home the school’s first national championship in football.

However, as the temperature started to drop so did the Bees season. SAU lost three of their last four games, and ended up tied for fourth place in conference with Olivet Nazarene University.

St. Ambrose went into their last two games of the season needing at least one win to give themselves a chance at an NAIA tournament berth.

In the NAIA game of the week, the Bees squared off against perennial powerhouse and foe McKendree. Usually the Bees would have ended their season against the Bearcats, but this season faced the no. 8 team in the nation in the ninth week of the season.

After falling behind 17-0 the Fighting Bees went on a tear, and after a 68-yard touchdown run by Larry Williams, the Fighting Bees led 28-17 with over 11 minutes left in the third quarter. From there on out it would be all McKendree as the Bearcat defense put the clamps down and Stephen Webb kicked in his second 47-yard field goal of the day to tie the game at 28-28 with just over two minutes left.

The Bees were unable to move the ball against McKendree, having lost a net of 5 yards on the six possessions that followed the long Williams run in the third quarter.

In overtime the Bees were able to manage only a field goal, which was matched by McKendree in the first overtime. In the second overtime the Bearcats reached the end zone, and St. Ambrose was unable to respond as the Bees dropped their second conference game by the score of 38-31.

McKendree used the pass to their advantage, as they threw for 116 yards while rushing for 288. The team came into the game averaging under 70 yards a game through the air, and they passed it just enough to keep the Bees off balance allowing big runs.

With the loss the Fighting Bees dropped their second game in conference and were no longer going to be conference champions. The best they could do was hope to beat Olivet Nazarene in the last game of the season and hope that McKendree defeated Trinity, which would give the Bees a good chance at receiving a bid.

In their match-up against the Tigers of Olivet, the Fighting Bees played the first half like a team possessed, and the Tigers played the second as the exorcist.

In the first quarter both teams struggled to get anything going on either side of the ball, and it was starting to turn into a game dictated by field position. That was until Joe Schimmel started to break free.

Schimmel, who came into the game needing just 88 yards to go over the 1,000 yard mark for the second season in a row had that number by halftime thanks to several runs of 8-10 yards including a touchdown scamper from eight yards out that gave the Bees their first lead of the game at 7-0.

The other half of the running back tandem, Williams, got his first score of the day on the next Bees drive as quarterback Jeff Kietzman faked a give to the inside and tossed it outside to Williams who stepped easily into the end zone giving SAU a 14-0 lead.

Before the half ended the Bees got the ball back one more time with 1:22 left on the clock. Four plays later Kietzman hooked up with Andy Ford on a 28-yard score to give the Bees a three touchdown lead heading into the locker room for halftime.

After Matt Webster tacked on his record setting 12 field goal of the season on the Bees opening drive of the second half St. Ambrose seemed to have an insurmountable lead.
Olivet spurned on by a home-field crowd that wasn’t about to give up on their team just yet cheered on their team as the Tigers marched straight downfield and answered the field goal with a touchdown finally getting on the board and making the score 24-7.

Senior J.T. Bucy them stepped behind center and marched the Bees downfield setting up Schimmel’s second touchdown run of the game, this one a 45-yard dash, which at the time seemed to squelch and chance Olivet might have had.

Never underestimate the power of home field advantage.

Anything that could go wrong for the Bees did after that scoring drive. On their next four possessions the Bees had three fumbles, two on special teams, and one inside the Tiger five-yard line, and a punt. On each of the ensuing ONU drives Tiger quarterback Joe Boseo launched an arial attack the likes of which SAU has not seen in years. Boseo threw for just under 200 yards in the second half and score four fourth quarter touchdowns to lead Olivet to a stunning upset victory over the Fighting Bees who saw their playoff dreams vanish with the loss.

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