WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Ave Maria Football team concluded their season Saturday night against the No. 1 Keiser Seahawks. Ave Maria scored a touchdown in three of the four quarters but just couldn't keep up with the top team in the NAIA as they fell 52-21.
The Seahawks jumped out to an early lead scoring back-to-back on their first two drives while forcing two punts from the Gyrenes. Ave Maria found the endzone on their third possession to cut the lead in half. Quarterback Drew Lege found Ray DeSanto for a 22-yard connection and the score.
That was the closest the Gyrenes would get to the Seahawks. Keiser responded with another touchdown immediately to go up 21-7.
Things settled down in the second quarter as the only score was a Keiser field goal at the start of the frame. The Gyrene defense got two interceptions in the quarter to hold the Seahawks to just 24 points. Johnny Nedwick got the first pick in the endzone to prevent a Keiser touchdown and returned it for 25 yards. It is the freshman's first interception of his collegiate career.
The second pick was by Luis Nunez on a long ball thrown by the Seahawks trying to get into the redzone inside the two-minute timeout. For Nunez, that was his second pick of the season and fourth of his career.
For Keiser quarterback Shea Spencer, the two picks in the second quarter doubled his number of interceptions this season. The only other two teams to pick him off were NCAA DII Newberry College and St. Thomas.
Unfortunately, the two interceptions couldn't spark things offensively as the Gyrenes punted and turned the ball over on downs after each turnover.
The third quarter was much like the first with the Seahawks scoring on their first two drives. Ave Maria responded after the second Keiser touchdown with a score of their own. Lege got another passing touchdown this time connecting with Roman Newkirk for 27 yards and the score.
The fourth quarter saw the same pattern as the first and the third with Keiser scoring two touchdowns followed by an Ave Maria touchdown. The final score for the Gyrenes was yet another passing touchdown with Lege finding Schiavoni for 29 yards and six points.
Keiser ran out the last 83 seconds to end the game 52-21.
Lege had one his best games under center, matching a career-high with three touchdown passes. He also threw a season-high 26 completions for 277 yards.
Newkirk led the receiving efforts with 59 yards. Joseph Klucik had the most receptions on the team with six for 51 yards.
The running game wasn't as prominent for the Gyrenes has it had been throughout the season with team gaining just 46 yards on the ground. Reggie McBride led the run game with eight carries for 28 yards.
Defensively, Brian Holmes led the team with nine tackles. Willie Jackson led the team with one tackle for a loss, while Randy Russ and Holmes combined on the other TFL.
The two interceptions from Nedwick and Nunez give the Gyrenes 12 to end the season. That is the most picks by the Gyrene defense since 2018, when they also came away with 12 picks. Combined with nine fumble recoveries, Ave Maria had 21 takeaways this year, the most since 2016, Coach Joe Patterson's first year as head coach for Ave Maria.
With the loss, Ave Maria finishes the 2024 season 3-7 and 2-5 in conference play. The two conference wins were against Thomas and Warner while the out of conference wins was against Fort Lauderdale. All three wins were at home on Gyrene Field. Sun Conference honorees will be announced in the coming week, including All-Conference selections and individual award winners.
