SEGUIN, Texas- The Ave Maria University football team emerged with a decisive victory Saturday night, leaving the Lone Star State with a 27-14 victory over the Bulldogs of Texas Lutheran University. The Gyrenes ran the ball with great success on the Bulldogs, and never trailed en route to their first victory of the season.
AMU head coach Joe Patterson said the Gyrenes played with "great physicality" for 60 minutes against TLU, and spotlighted the intensity and speed of the AMU defense especially.
Texas Lutheran's first drive ended in a missed field goal, sending the Gyrene offense onto the field for the first time. Ave Maria proceeded to drive 80 yards on their first ten plays of the game, and grabbed a 7-0 lead on a touchdown pass from Drew Lege to Roman Newkirk.
After forcing a punt, the Gyrenes' lead widened to 10-0 when David Britt connected on a field goal from 33 yards out on the final play of the first quarter. The Bulldogs scored on their first drive of the second quarter, and neither team could finish off a drive for the remainder of the half, sending the game to halftime at 10-7.
With the game very much in doubt, the Gyrenes answered the bell at halftime. Ave Maria moved the ball 75 yards on nine plays to open the third quarter, capped off by the first of two touchdown runs from Bryan Stiemke, this one from four yards out. Texas Lutheran missed another field goal on their next drive, a miss that was aided by a key redzone sack from Willie Jackson.
Ave Maria again got the lead back to double figures early in the fourth quarter, ending a 14-play, 58-yard drive with AMU's second field goal of the day, this one provided by Dayllon De Paula. Texas Lutheran responded with a touchdown of their own to cut the score to 20-14, and the teams traded stops before AMU got the ball back with 5:09 to play, looking to salt the game away.
The Gyrenes did just that, as Stiemke ripped off runs of 15, 13, 15, and 12 en route to his second touchdown of the day, scoring the clincher with just 2:12 remaining on the clock. AMU forced the Bulldogs to go three-and-out on the ensuing drive, ending any chance of a miracle comeback.
The night belonged to Bryan Stiemke, who set new AMU records with 264 yards on 35 carries. Stiemke thanked God and his teammates after the contest.
"We did it together, and it was all for Him," Stiemke said. "I can do all things through Christ."
Patterson added that the tailback ran with a purpose, and hit holes created by the AMU front.
"Bryan ran with a fierce physicality behind an energized offensive line," the AMU head coach remarked.
Elsewhere, Lege completed 19 of his 28 passes for 183 yards, with Newkirk as his top target. The senior hauled in eight catches for 73 yards, including his early touchdown. Defensively, Nate Hyman and Devin Grind both had seven total tackles, while Willie Jackson caused havoc up front with three tackles for loss and two sacks.
After playing their first two games of the season on the road, the Gyrenes will now play two consecutive Saturday nights at Gyrene Field. The first of those two games comes next Saturday against the University of Fort Lauderdale, which will mark the first on-the-field meeting between the two programs. Kickoff from Gyrene Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
