AVE MARIA, Fla.- What a difference a year makes.

Less than a year after losing 65-0 to Southeastern University, the Ave Maria University football team stunned the Fire, 23-20, at Gyrene Field on Saturday night. The win, which came in the school's first ever football game under the lights at Gyrene Field, was AMU's second straight against a nationally ranked opponent.

"It's a new year and a new team for us," AMU head coach Joe Patterson said. "Everything has been building to this, and I'm proud that our guys got down early and didn't flinch at all."

Southeastern scored first under the lights, putting their first touchdown on the board just over three minutes into the contest. A four play, 70-yard drive was capped off on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Eli Oltean to Antwain Adams.

The Ave Maria defense took control late in the first quarter, scoring twice to give the Gyrenes the lead. On Southeastern's fourth drive of the game, linebacker John Preyer intercepted a Oltean pass and raced 73 yards for Ave Maria's first touchdown of the night. Then, in the final seconds of the quarter, Eric Scott tackled the Fire tailback in the endzone for a safety, propelling AMU to a 9-7 lead.

Ave Maria scored the only touchdown of the second quarter, accounting for the Gyrenes' 16-7 halftime lead. With 55 seconds left in the half, Will Tate launched a 45-yard touchdown pass to Devin Broughton. The deep touchdown accounted for 45 of the Gyrenes' 99 passing yards on the night, and put AMU up nine heading into the locker room.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, keeping the Ave Maria lead at nine. Southeastern struck quickly on their scoring drive, using just 23 seconds to cut the Gyrene lead to two. Bryan Bell scampered into the endzone from 51 yards away, trimming the deficit to 16-14. On the ensuing drive, the Gyrenes marched 75 yards on eight plays, culminating in a two-yard bootleg from Tate.

Thanks to a pair of punts, the Gyrenes' nine-point lead lasted deep into the fourth quarter. Southeastern moved within a field goal on a touchdown pass from Ryder Litten to Marque Northington with 2:36 to play. The Fire would get the ball back with less than a minute to play and moved into AMU territory, but a Hail Mary attempt was knocked down to ensure Ave's win, sparking a wild celebration on the Gyrene Field surface.

Tailback Quino Mauricette helped the Gyrenes control the ball for nearly 40 minutes on Saturday night, running for 96 yards on 22 carries. Kobi Bowers made seven tackles an intercepted a pass, while Preyer added a second interception to lead an AMU defense that forced four Southeastern turnovers.

AMU heads into their second bye week with a 2-0 record in Sun Division play, which is tied with Keiser for first place. The Gyrenes return to action on the road on October 20 in Jacksonville, when Ave Maria faces Edward Waters College.