LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University football team earned an opportunity to play for the Sun Division championship, thanks to a 48-23 victory over the Warner University Royals Saturday afternoon on the campus of Lakeland Christian School. The win moved the Gyrenes to 4-1 in Sun Division play, in a three-way tie with Keiser and Southeastern entering the final week of the regular season.
For the second week in a row, Ave Maria started fast, and once again got a defensive touchdown in the first half. On Warner's very first drive, Brunel Desinor intercepted a pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, giving the Gyrenes a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.
"It all started for us with that defensive touchdown," head coach Joe Patterson said. "I thought we got great momentum from Brunel's pick."
That momentum allowed the Gyrenes to build a 20-0 lead in the first half, thanks to scores on each of AMU's first three offensive drives. A pair of field goals from Brendan Clark, which broke the school record for made field goals in a season at 11, sandwiched a touchdown pass from Will Tate to John Giampietro, which marked the freshman's first collegiate score.
Leading 20-3 at halftime, the Gyrenes made some more history in the third quarter. On AMU's first drive of the second half, Tate hit Joshua Jenkins in stride for a 59-yard touchdown pass. With the TD reception, Jenkins went over 800 receiving yards on the season, making him the Ave Maria single-season leader in receiving yards. For good measure, Jenkins hauled in a 62-yard touchdown on AMU's very next play, letting the freshman finish the day with four catches for 139 yards.
Patterson remarked postgame that Jenkins has been a consistent threat for the Gyrene offense all season long.
"Clearly, he puts pressure on the defense," Patterson said. "He's got speed, he's got really good body control, and he's got sure hands."
Jenkins' third quarter touchdowns pushed the Ave Maria lead to 34-10, and a fourth touchdown pass by Tate, this one to Daniel Burke, put Ave Maria over the 40-point mark at 41-17. The Gyrenes got their final touchdown of the day, their lone on the ground, with 7:02 left on the clock, when Brian Stiemke scampered in from 14 yards out.
Tate guided the Gyrenes to their 48-point effort, completing ten of his 15 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns. Joshua Marion was the team's leading rusher, putting up 69 yards on just five carries. As a team, the Gyrenes ran for 259 yards on 37 carries, with nine different players logging at least one carry. Defensively, Joseph Melillo had a standout performance with 2.5 tackles for loss, including two sacks.
Ave Maria's final game of the regular season, next Saturday at home against the Keiser University Seahawks, will determine the Sun Division championship. The winner of that game will either share the conference title with Southeastern, or win the division outright if the Fire are upset by Florida Memorial.
Patterson said the objective for AMU is simple: play the same football that has brought them a 4-1 record in the Sun Division.
"We have an identity now, and we have to stay true to our identity: focused, disciplined, physical football," Patterson said. "We are going to treat it like a game; we have been preparing for this going on nine months."
Kickoff at Gyrene Field next Saturday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
