AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria University football team suffered their third defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 54-17 decision to the LaGrange College Panthers at Gyrene Field.
LaGrange scored the first touchdown of the game just over three minutes into the contest on a five-yard pass from Connor Blair to Josh Hardrick. The Panthers again drove into Ave Maria territory midway through the first quarter, but Kobi Bowers intercepted a fourth down pass and returned it 85 yards for a Gyrene touchdown. Bowers' return tied the game, 7-7, with 6:53 to go.
The Panthers scored the final ten points of the first half on a 35-yard field goal from Zachary Kudwa and, in the lone scoring play of the second quarter, an 80-yard pass from Blair to Jamarkis Holmes.
Leading 17-7, LaGrange scored the first 13 points after halftime, on two more touchdown passes from Blair. Blair found Ervens Oge and Brendan Thomas for scoring strikes in the first nine minutes of the third quarter. The scores propelled the Panthers to a 30-7 lead in the third period of action.
After a field goal by Brandon Leon and a fourth touchdown pass of the game from Blair, the Gyrenes scored their offensive touchdown of the game via a long run. Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, Nate Cameau broke off a 35-yard touchdown run, the first of his Gyrene career. Cameau's dash pulled the Gyrenes within 37-17, but LaGrange would score the final 17 points of the game to account for the 54-17 final.
Ave Maria's three running backs led the offensive charge, accounting for 184 yards between Cameau, Josh Landry and Eric Pierre. Cameau paced the Gyrenes with 91 yards on the ground, including his touchdown. Landry also put up a solid performance, running for 73 yards on nine carries. Defensively, Andre Antoine and Ramsey Bennett stuffed the stat sheet, recording nine tackles each. In addition to the touchdown by Bowers, senior Cody Chmelik also picked off a LaGrange pass.
Blair threw for 520 yards and six touchdowns in the LaGrange win, which moved the Panthers to 2-1 on the season. Twelve different receivers pulled in at least one catch for LaGrange, led by seven catches for 145 yards and two scores by Hardrick.
The Gyrenes will look for their first win of the season next Saturday, heading back on the road for a matchup with Clark Atlanta. The opening kickoff of the non-conference game is set for 6:00 p.m. in Atlanta. Ave Maria returns home in three weeks for a conference battle against Warner, which will serve as the Sun Conference opener for AMU.
