GEORGETOWN, Ky.- The Ave Maria University football team had a tall task in their first game of the 2021 season, facing one of the top-ten winningest programs in the NAIA, the No. 13 Georgetown College Tigers. The Gyrenes could not dig themselves out of an early hole, and dropped a 42-10 decision to the Tigers at Toyota Stadium in Kentucky.
AMU head coach Joe Patterson said despite a slow start to the season opener, there were plenty of positive developments over the course of the 60 minutes.
"We played a very good team today, and we started poorly," Patterson said. "There were enough bright spots to still be excited about the season."
Georgetown, a national qualifer a season ago that returned much of its 2020 nucleus, jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first 18 minutes of the contest. Quarterback Brandon Burgess threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter, with both drives coming on a short field - one due to a long Georgetown punt return, and the other due to a shorter punt. A one-yard run by Isaiah Cobb on the Tigers' first drive of the second made it 21-0.
Ave Maria's first drive of the second quarter finally yielded points. The Gyrenes drove 62 yards on seven plays, with the biggest a 41-yard strike from Will Tate to freshman Joshua Jenkins. On second and goal, Tate found Daniel Burke for a score, cutting the Georgetown lead to 21-7.
After a stop, AMU had a chance to get within one score after driving inside the Georgetown ten, but a fake field goal was snuffed out. A 94-yard drive would give the Tigers a 28-7 lead at halftime.
On the first Georgetown drive of the second half, Shane O'Brien intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards into Tiger territory. O'Brien's pick eventually set up the first career points of Brendan Clark, who made a 35-yard field goal to make the Georgetown lead 28-10. Those would be the final points of the game for the Gyrenes, with Georgetown adding two more third quarter scores to account for the final margin.
Senior quarterback Will Tate had a solid day throwing the ball, completing 15 of his 24 passes for 210 yards and the touchdown. Roman Newkirk was the leading receiver in receptions with six, while freshman Joshua Jenkins topped 100 yards receiving in his first collegiate game with 110 yards on five grabs. Including his touchdown, Burke hauled in four passes for 72 yards.
Defensively, Connor Jewel had a standout performance, recording a team-high eight tackles. Of those eight tackles, three were tackles for loss, with two of those being sacks of the quarterback. Dylan Bryan also had eight total tackles, while O'Brien had six tackles to go with his interception, which marked Ave Maria's first takeaway of the 2021 season.
After facing one of the nation's top NAIA teams in week one, Ave Maria's focus shifts to an NCAA Division I opponent in the Stetson University Hatters. Stetson, a week one winner of 54-14 over Warner, will host the Gyrenes at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. It will be Ave Maria's first game against an NCAA Division I opponent since the 2019 season, when AMU battled the Dolphins of Jacksonville University. Kickoff next Saturday is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
