THOMASVILLE, Ga.- The Ave Maria University football team made the most of three interceptions on Saturday night, and earned their first Sun Conference victory with a 24-13 win over the Night Hawks of Thomas University. Two of Ave Maria's three touchdown drives were started by picks from the Gyrene defense, and helped AMU end a ten-game road losing streak.

Ave Maria head coach Joe Patterson said he hopes the victory over the Night Hawks serves as a launching point for the remainder of the season.

"This was an important game for us as we started the second half of our season," Patterson remarked.

The first 16:28 of game time were taken up by just two drives - one from each team. Thomas started the game with a 17 play, 72 yard drive that ended with a 30-yard field goal. After the Night Hawks chewed up the first 8:28 of the contest, Ave Maria responded with an eight minute drive of their own. The Gyrenes moved 40 yards over the course of 15 plays, stalling out at the Thomas 32 yard line. 

From there, James Schmitt drilled a 49-yard field goal, the longest for any Ave Maria player since Kieran O'Neil hit from the same distance on October 15, 2022. Schmitt's field goal evened the score at three early in the second quarter.

Thomas started driving again, before Ave Maria nabbed the first of their two major interceptions. With Thomas at the AMU 36, Brian Holmes stepped in front of a third down pass to end the Nighthawk drive, setting the Gyrenes up with first down at their own 25. Nine plays later, the Gyrenes were in the endzone, with a seven-yard run from quarterback Logan Howard capping off a 75-yard drive. The score gave the Gyrenes a 10-3 lead they would eventually take to the halftime break.

The second of AMU's major interceptions came following that break. After a deep AMU pass was intercepted by the Night Hawks on the first play of the half, Brian Holmes once again came up big. On third and five from Thomas' own 22, Holmes logged his second interception of the day, and his return set up AMU at the Thomas 22. Four runs later, the Gyrenes had a 17-3 lead following a one-yard score from Howard, his second of the night.

The Night Hawks responded with a touchdown drive to cut the AMU lead to 17-10 late in the third quarter, but the Gyrenes responded to all but put the game away. The Gyrenes embarked on 14 play, 89 yard drive that took almost nine minutes off the clock. The drive featured a pair of third down conversions, including a 17 yard pass from Jayden George to Drew Mabrito on third and 15. The drive was capped off by Howard, who completed his only pass of the day for a 16 yard score to Wesley From, pushing the lead back to 24-10.

Thomas kicked a field goal with 3:55 to play to trim the lead to 11 points, but Ave Maria converted two more third downs in the final four minutes to salt away the Sun Conference win.

Jayden George guided the Gyrene offense to the win, completing 11 of his 18 passes for 118 yards. Reggie McBride was the team's leading rusher, logging 61 yards on 19 carries. Mabrito led the Gyrenes' receiving corps, grabbing four catches for 54 yards. Defensively, Holmes added seven tackles to go with his two interceptions.

Patterson spotlighted the play of Holmes, stating his efforts against Thomas were a culmination of his work to date.

"Brian Holmes has been playing well all season," Patterson said, "and he really gave us a spark tonight."

The Gyrenes will look to earn a second conference win next weekend, when Ave Maria hits the road for a meeting with the Royals of Warner University. AMU has won four of the last five against the Royals, but Warner has won three of the last four games played in Polk County. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.