AVE MARIA, Fla. — It was an all-around win for the Ave Maria Football team Saturday evening as the Gyrenes beat the Warner Royals 44-7. The blowout win saw touchdowns from all three sides of the ball, with the offence scoring 23 points, the defense cashing in two touchdowns for 14 points, and the special teams taking a kickoff to the house for the fifth touchdown.
The first quarter could not have gone smoother for the Gyrenes as Ave Maria scored on their first drive of the ball game. Bryan Stiemke got the game started with a breakout 32 yard run on the first play from scrimmage, immediately putting Ave Maria in Warner territory. After three more first-down gaining plays, quarterback Drew Lege punched the ball in himself for the first touchdown of the game. It is Lege's first rushing touchdown of his Ave Maria career.
Fired up from the opening score, the Gyrene defense forced their first of four turnovers in the night with Owen Campione knocking the ball loose and Dray'sun Bonney scooping up the fumble.
Ave Maria hit a field goal off the turnover with freshman kicker Thomas Lily nailing a career-long 47 yard kick to put the Gyrenes up 10-0.
Still in the first quarter, the Gyrene defense got their second turnover of the frame and took it to the endzone themselves. The Royals had been driving and got into the red zone, but senior linebacker John Suran knocked the ball loose, scooped it up and returned it 91 yards for the touchdown. Not only was it the first fumble recovery for a touchdown since 2023, but it was also the longest fumble return in program history. For Suran, it was his second fumble recovery of the season and the first touchdown of his career.
The Royals scored their only touchdown in the second quarter to get back within 10 points of the Gyrenes. However, the score was completely overshadowed by the following kickoff.
After receiving the ball at eight yard line, Roman Newkirk got past the first wave of Royal defenders and had a lot of open turf in front of him. Newkirk then showed off the speed, racing past the kicker at midfield and sped into the endzone for a kickoff return touchdown. The score put Ave Maria back up 17 points just seconds after Warner's lone score.
The return was the longest of Newkirk's career and Ave Maria's first kickoff returned for a touchdown since 2020.
The fireworks weren't over yet as just two plays later, the defense put Ave Maria back on the board. Bonney scooped up his second fumble of the game, this time in the endzone for the second defensive score of the game. Like Suran, this was the first scoop and score in Bonney AMU career.
Going back to the Warner touchdown, 21 points were scored between the two teams in just four plays. Those were the final points scored in the first half and the Gyrenes took a 31-7 lead into the break.
Neither team found the endzone in the third quarter, the Gyrenes lit up the scoreboard again in the final frame.
Lily hit his second field goal of the night at the start of the fourth quarter, connecting from 41 yards out.
After a Warner punt, the Ave Maria offense scored the fifth and final touchdown of the night. In the red zone, Lege fired a bullet across the middle to tight end Michael McGrath who then dove through three defenders for the touchdown. McGrath, who started the first seven games of the season on the offensive line, made his return to tight end Saturday night and scored his second career touchdown.
Lily nailed one more field goal for good measure in the final minutes of the game and Ave Maria walked off the field with a 44-7 win on homecoming.
"It was a great team win," said head coach Joe Patterson after the game. "All three phases scoring touchdowns. There's great energy from the beginning, people flying to the ball and good things happen."
Saturday was the second straight year Ave Maria won their homecoming game, combining with their win over Webber in 2023.
"I thought that the team did a good job feeding off the energy and not letting it be a distraction. There is just something special about representing this university and representing this town," said Patterson.
Lege finished the game 15-21 for 150 yards and one touchdown, his best performance of the season.
Bryan Stiemke led the team in rushing with 72 yards. That brings his career total up to 2,299 yards, 20 away from passing Quino Mauricette for the all-time leading rusher.
McGrath led the team with four receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown. Josheph Thibodeau led the team with 43 receiving yards.
Defensively, the Gyrenes recorded seven sacks, the most since October 30, 2021. Willie Jackson led the team with 2.5 sacks for 15 yards. Jackson also led the team with nine tackles. Suran and Bonney each had fumble recoveries for a touchdown, Bonney with two. The fourth and final takeaway from the Gyrene defense was a pick from Adam Denver, the first of the freshman's career.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
The Gyrenes stay in Ave Maria for their next game on Saturday, November 9. It is Senior Day for the Gyrenes as it is also the final home game of the season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
