LAKELAND, Fla. --- The Ave Maria football team fell at No. 12 Southeastern, 30-10, on Saturday night. The Gyrenes trailed 14-10 after three quarters of play before Southeastern scored 16 unanswered in the fourth to pull away from the Gyrenes.
 
Ave Maria drops to 2-3 on the season and to 0-1 in MSC Sun Division play. Southeastern moves to 4-0 overall.
 
The Gyrenes got the ball first and drove down the field but a missed 39-yard field goal kept the game scoreless. The Fire came back with a 14-play drive capped with a one-yard touchdown run to put SEU in front 7-0.
 
On their ensuing drive, Kristian Marks found Jackson Mauricette for a 14-yard touchdown pass. A successful point-after by Derek McCormick tied the game at seven.
 
After forcing a Southeastern punt, the Gyrenes started their next drive at their own one-yard line. A personal foul on the Fire got AMU out of the shadow of their own endzone. Two plays later, a Gyrene fumble gave the Fire the ball back in Ave Maria territory.
 
The Fire capitalized on the AMU turnover, scoring seven plays later on a one-yard rush to take a 14-7 lead. It remained a seven-point lead for Southeastern into halftime.
 
The Gyrenes scored the only points of the third quarter, a 39-yard make by Derek McCormick, to cut it to a four-point deficit for AMU.
 
Southeastern scored early in the fourth quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass and then on their next drive via a 40-yard rush to take a 28-10 lead. A blocked punt by the Fire that went out the back of the endzone resulted in a safety for SEU to make it 30-10.
 
Ave Maria had a chance to put more points on the board late in the fourth but turned over the ball on downs at the SEU two-yard line with less than a minute to play.
 
Quarterback Kristian Marks finished 12-of-27 for 178 yards. He threw one touchdown and one interception.
 
Quino Mauricette was the leading rusher for AMU with 64 rushing yards on nine carries. Jackson Mauricette had two receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown. Five different receivers had at least two catches.
 
Kobi Bowers led the AMU defense with 10 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Jordan Barrow had eight tackles. Savohn Hunt and Jamari Haynes each had seven tackles. Dylan Bryan had four tackles and a sack.
 
The Gyrenes are off next week and return to action on Saturday, October 19 against Webber. It will be the first AMU home game in over a month. The game will kick-off at 7 p.m.