AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria football team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon, outlasting the visiting Concordia College (Ala.) Hornets 16-12. The Gyrenes sit at 1-4 overall heading into next week's matchup at NCAA D1-FCS Abilene Christian.
Dustin Roberts and Kaleb Coffee led the Gyrenes' ground game against the Hornets. Roberts rushed for 104 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Coffee finished with 42 rushing yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.
Clayton Uecker started the game for the Gyrenes and completed 5-of-11 passes for 78 yards. Matthew Kreichman directed the offense for most of the afternoon and completed 1-of-5 passes. As a team, the Blue and Green passed the ball just 16 times compared to 51 rushing plays.
Nick Dorgan led the AMU defense with two solo and 10 assist tackles. He also had 1.5 tackles for a loss and one sack. Joe Prichard had three solo and eight assist tackles for the Gyrnes.
Coffee got the scoring started for the Gyrenes, finding the end zone on a seven-yard rush early in the first quarter. The touchdown came on the end of a 10 play, 67 yard drive.
A few minutes later, Concordia got on the board with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jarva Brewer to Michael Browing. On the point after attempt, R.J. Rowland broke through the Concordia offensive line and blocked the kick to keep the Gyrenes in front 7-6.
With the score still 7-6 going into the second half, AMU was able to force a fumble on the kickoff and recover to set up a 25-yard touchdown run by Roberts. After Brandon Leon's point after, the Blue and Green led 14-6.
With the Gyrenes driving, Concordia forced an AMU fumble and returned the ball for a touchdown to cut the lead to two, 14-12. AMU held the line on the two-point attempt conversion to maintain a slim lead.
On the ensuing drive for the Gyrenes, AMU went three and out and was forced to punt. On the punt, Matt Ruhnke kicked a low line drive that rolled deep into Concordia territory before being downed at the one-yard line. A few plays later, a holding penalty in the end zone resulted in an AMU safety to give the Gyrenes some breathing room at 16-12.
On the final Concordia drive, the Ave Maria defense was able to come up with a fumble to seal the victory.
The Gyrene defense held the Hornets to 144 yards of total offense.
AMU hits the road next week to take on Abilene Christian. The game is slated to start at 2 p.m.
