LAGRANGE, Ga. --- The Ave Maria football team picked up their first win of the season on Saturday night, defeating NCAA Division III LaGrange College 28-21. AMU scored 21 second quarter points to jump out to a three-score lead and were able to hold off the Panthers the rest of the way.
 
Ave Maria improves to 1-2 on the season with the win while LaGrange falls to 0-3 on the year. The Gyrenes will open conference play next weekend at Warner.
 
After a scoreless opening quarter, Clayton Uecker connected with Ryan O'Rourke for a 38-yard touchdown pass and catch to cap a three-play, 43-yard drive to put the Gyrenes on the board at the 14:51 mark in the second quarter.
 
On AMU's ensuing drive for the Blue and Green, Kaleb Coffee took a short pass from Uecker 16 yards and into the end zone to make the score 14-0. Later in the quarter, Scott Jones found pay dirt on a six-yard touchdown run.
 
LaGrange found the end zone with 28 second remaining in the first half on a pass from Connor Blair to Lavell Meeks to put an end to the Gyrenes 21 unanswered point run and make the score 21-7 going into the break.
 
The Panthers began to rally in the early part of the third quarter. Blair connected with Ervens Oge for a 15-yard touchdown reception but an unsuccessful point after made the score 21-13.
 
After Ave Maria fumbled on the ensuing kick-off and the ball was recovered by LaGrange, the Gyrene defense dug in and held the Panthers on a fourth and short deep in Gyrene territory. A few plays later, Coffee broke through the right side of the line and sprinted to the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown run to put the Gyrenes in front 28-13.
 
LaGrange made a late push, scoring on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 8:16 to play. After a successful two-point conversion, the Gyrenes lead was cut to seven, 28-21.
 
After LaGrange was able to force a Gyrene turnover on a goal-to-go play for AMU, the Panthers began to drive down the field but Andre Antoine sealed the win for the Ave Maria with an interception with 15 seconds remaining in the game.
 
The Gyrenes finished with 371 yards of total offense compared to 411 total yards by the Panthers. The Blue and Green got most of their yards on the ground, rushing for a season-high 235 yards.
 
Uecker finished 10-of-18 passing for 136 yards for two touchdowns. Both touchdown passes came in the second quarter, a 36-yarder to O'Rourke and a 16-yard pass to Coffee.
 
Coffee had a career-night, rushing for 140 yards on 16 carries. He also caught two passes for 32 yards. In addition to his 16-yard touchdown reception, Coffee had what ended up being the game-winning score on a 42-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
 
Dustin Roberts had eight carries for 56 yards while Scott Jones had nine carries for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Brandon Leon finished 4-for-4 on point after attempts for the Gyrenes.
 
Andrew Wilson finished with nine solo tackles to lead the Gyrenes. Nicholas Ramirez had seven solo tackles and recovered one fumble.