DELAND, Fla. — The Ave Maria Football team played a strong first half against the NCAA Division I Stetson Hatters, but fell apart in the second half, losing 41-3.
The opening 30 minutes of the game was a lowing-scoring defensive tussle between the Gyrenes and Hatters, with Stetson having to hit a last second field goal to take a 6-3 lead into the break.
"We played a really good half of football," said head coach Joe Patterson. "And even in that one half of football, we missed a couple of opportunities where I thought we could have established the lead. But you got to play four quarters, not two quarters, and so I think that we have a really good sense of what we need to work on."
In the first quarter, neither offense could get anything started. The Hatters punted twice, with the Gyrenes punting once.
In the tail end of the opening frame, the Gyrenes marched down the field and into redzone. Starting at their own 34, Ave Maria made it to the Stetson 12 yard line in 10 plays before the first quarter came to an end. Most of the yards were picked up in the air, with Drew Lege completing four passes for 50 yards on the drive.
When they resumed play in the second quarter, Ave Maria tried to punch it in, but only got six yards bringing up a fourth and four. James Carlini trotted out for his first game in a Gyrene uniform, and the freshman kicker nailed the 22-yard kick to put AMU up 3-0.
The kick gave Ave Maria their second ever lead over a NCAA Division I opponent in school history, with the first also coming against Stetson back in 2021.
In the second quarter, the Gyrene defense continued to rattle the Hatters. Ave Maria got to the quarterback three times in the quarter, with senior Wille Jackson accounting for half of those sacks.
On the ensuing drive after the Ave Maria field goal, Jackson and Elijah Douge teamed up for the first sack of the game. Stetson was still able to get into field goal range and knock the kick through to tie the game at three.
After an Ave Maria three and out, the defense got their second sack of the game. This time it was transfer Nick Thome and junior Luke Sands teaming up for the loss. Stetson still got into field territory on that drive as well, but this time clanked the kick of the uprights to keep the game tied at three.
The Gyrenes took over at their own 20 and made it pass midfield, but the drive stalled out as they turned it over on downs with under a minute to play.
With just 55 seconds left in the half, the Hatters moved down the field. Jackson got another sack on this drive, this time a solo tackle for a loss of nine yards, but the Hatters were able to get into field goal territory for the third time in a row. Stetson didn't miss this one as they nailed a 45-yard kick to take a 6-3 lead at the half.
"I thought that the defense did a great job once their offense got threatening into our redzone," said Coach Patterson. "We had our best ball at that point, and I thought there was just really good physicality really on both sides of the ball."
A three-point deficit at the half is the tightest the Gyrenes have ever played a Division I opponent in program history. However, in the second half, the Hatters ran away from the Gyrenes.
Stetson found the endzone on their first five possessions of the second half, while the Gyrenes were forced to punt four times. The only drive the Hatters didn't score on in the second half was their final possession of the game when they ran out the clock.
Ave Maria totaled just 96 yards of offense in the second half but lost 33 of those yards on negative plays.
The Gyrenes gained most of their yards through the air Saturday against the Hatters, throwing for 144 yards. Drew Lege and Logan Howard split reps under center, with Lege going 12-for-17 for 98 yards and Howard going 7-for-8 46 yards. On the receiving end, Roman Newkirk hauled in six receptions for 54 yards.
On the ground, the Gyrenes rushed for just 71 yards, but lost 41 of them on negative plays.
With the loss, the Gyrenes open the new season with 0-1 record. Ave Maria now gets a week off before opening their home schedule September 14 against the Fort Lauderdale Eagles. AMU opened the 2023 home season with the Eagles and cruised to a dominating 50-6 win. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
