AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria football team took the No. 19 Southeastern Fire to the brink Saturday but ran out of time as they fell 23-21. Both teams left points on the board, however Ave Maria's proved to be more costly.
Saturday was senior night at Gyrene Field as it was the final home game of the season and before the game, Ave Maria honored and thanked four graduate students, 21 senior players, two senior managers and two senior student-coaches.
The Gyrenes started the game off with a textbook drive, going 75 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. On second and goal at the 8-yard line, Ave Maria reached into their bag of tricks and pulled out the Philly Special, a trick play made popular by the 2018 Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Wide Receiver Roman Newkirk went in motion and received a handoff from quarterback Drew Lege. After taking a few steps, Newkirk hit the breaks and floated a ball to Lege who had gotten behind the defense unnoticed. Lege hopped into the end zone to give the Gyrenes the first lead of the game.
Roman Newkirk came into the game with six pass attempts in his five years as a Gyrene and completed four of them. Saturday's pass to Lege was his first ever touchdown pass. On the flip side, Lege has strictly been a quarterback for the Gyrenes. Last week against Warner he recorded his first ever rushing touchdown and now adds a receiving touchdown against Southeastern.
The lead did not last long though. On the ensuing kickoff, Southeastern took the ball back 93 yards for a touchdown, evening the game up at seven.
The Fire got an interception on the next Ave Maria drive that led to another Southeastern touchdown. SEU didn't get a full touchdown lead on the Gyrenes however, because on the PAT after the touchdown, the Fire kicker doinked the ball off the upright, keeping the score 13-7.
With a little momentum back, Ave Maria drove down the field again but was stymied inside the 5-yard line. The kicking team came out to try and make it a three-point game but faced the same fate as Southeastern. The kick went wide right meaning both teams missed a kick that left points on the board and kept the score 13-7.
Compared to the exciting first quarter, both teams tightened up in the second. Southeastern scored the only points in the frame off a 20-yard field goal to give the Fire a 16-7 lead.
Out of halftime, the Gyrene defense kicked into another gear and responded with great physicality to the Fire. Ave Maria forced a turnover on downs from the Fire on their first drive in the third quarter, with Nate Hyman getting a sack on third down to a force a fourth and long. SEU tried to go for it on 4
th and 17, but only got nine yards as Ave Maria took over.
On the following possession, Ave Maria turned in another long, sustaining and successful drive, going 77 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Lege found Ray DeSanto for the score, that brought Ave Maria within two. For DeSanto, it was his second touchdown of the year.
Southeastern got the ball two more times in the third quarter, and the Gyrene defense forced two more punts to keep it a two-point ballgame.
Unfortunately, the Gyrenes couldn't take advantage of a nulled Southeastern offense. Following those two punts, Ave Maria fumbled the ball back to Fire on one possession and was forced to punt on another.
In the fourth quarter, the Gyrene defense got their lone turnover of the game. DJ Van Horn started the play off by ripping the ball out of the hands of the Southeastern running back, which sent the ball flying down the field. Multiple players fell on the ball, but it was Adam Denver who secured the ball and the turnover for the Gyrenes.
Southeastern responded with a turnover of their own though, picking off the Gyrenes for the second time on the following drive.
The Gyrene defense forced another punt, but again the next Ave Maria possession ended with another turnover. This time it was fumble inside their own 20, setting up the Fire in the red zone.
Southeastern punched the ball in for their lone score in the second half, taking a nine point lead with under two minutes left to play in the game.
With 86 seconds remaining and needing two scores, the Gyrenes kicked into high gear and scored their third touchdown of the game, this time with a 40-yard strike from Lege to Newkirk. The score put Ave Maria back within two of the Fire with 47 seconds remaining.
The Gyrenes tried for the onside kick, but the Fire recovered the ball, dashing the hopes of a comeback. Southeastern ran out the rest of the clock to end the game.
"I thought the team played with great effort and toughness," said Head Coach Joe Patterson following the game. "My heart breaks for them regarding the final score. That was one of the strongest and most resilient defensive performances I have seen. They are playing a very talented and powerful offense, and they matched them throughout the game."
Southeastern only had one drive longer than 20 yards resulting in a touchdown. The Gyrene defense got one turnover and forced three punts from a team that came into the game averaging 42 points per game against non-ranked teams.
Offensively, Lege hit season-highs with 296 yards and two touchdown passes.
On the ground, Bryan Stiemke led the team with 54 yards on 12 carries. That brought his career total up to 2358 yards, which is now the most in Ave Maria history.
Through the air, Drew Mabrito hauled in six passes, tying a season-high for any Gyrene receiver this season. DeSanto led the team with 68 yards.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 3-6 on the year and 2-4 in conference play.
The Gyrenes have one more game on the schedule as they travel across to West Palm Beach to take on the Keiser Seahawks. KU are the reigning national champions, are a perfect 8-0, and are the No. 1 team in the country. Ave Maria looks to play spoiler to the perfect season and end the season on a high note. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
