AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Football team lost to the number two team in the country Saturday night, falling the Keiser Seahawks 42-7. In three of the four quarters, the Gyrene defense held Keiser to only one touchdown, but a three-touchdown second quarter really separated the two teams.
Defensively, Ave Maria got out to a great start. On the fourth play from scrimmage, Brian Holmes recorded his sixth interception of the season. Keiser quarterback Shea Spencer tried to float a ball into his receiver's hands in the red zone, but under threw the ball just a bit. Holmes jumped the route and came away with the interception. It is the fourth game in a row with a pick for Holmes who continues to lead the Sun Conference and is now tied for the most picks this season in the entire NAIA.
On the next Seahawk drive, Keiser found the end zone for the first score of the game. However, on the following KU drive, the Gyrene defense forced a punt from the Seahawks. For their first three drives of the game, Ave Maria got two stops defensively and were only down 7-0 at the start of the second quarter.
Following the Seahawk punt, Ave Maria put together their longest drive of the night, running 10 plays in over four minutes to march down the field and into the red zone. The Gyrenes got down to the eight-yard line, but a sack pushed Ave Maria back to the 14-yard line. After an incompletion, Ave Maria tried to salvage the drive and put points on the board, but a wide kick kept it a 7-0 game.
Keiser took control of the momentum after the missed field goal and scored on their next three drives. Ave Maria on the other hand punted three times to close out the first half, with two of those drives being three-and-outs. The Seahawks took a 28-0 lead into the break.
While the players were in the locker room, Ave Maria unveiled its two newest championship banners, honoring Michael Long's outdoor 800-meter championship and Caitlyn O'Brien's indoor long jump championship.
Keiser scored a touchdown on their opening drive in the third quarter, taking a 35-0 lead.
Ave Maria responded with the second drive to reach the red zone. The big play of the drive came from Reggie McBride logging his longest run of the season for 45 yards to the Keiser 27-yard line. An unnecessary roughness penalty was tacked onto the end to put the Gyrenes at the 13-yard line. Unfortunately, just like the first drive to reach the red zone, a sack pushed the Gyrenes way back and set up a 41-yard field goal attempt that fell short.
Keiser milked over nine minutes off the clock on their next drive and scored their final touchdown of the night.
On the ensuing Ave Maria drive, the Gyrenes marched 76 yards in six plays and finally got on the board. The drive had a little bit of excitement in the middle with a pass from Jayden George to Tyler Cordero initially being called out of bounds, but head coach Joe Patterson used his challenge flag for the first time at home this season and got the referees to review it. After a second look, the call was overturned and the Gyrenes had the ball at the six-yard line. Two plays later, McBride punched the ball in for six.
Neither team changed the scoreboard in the final eight minutes of the game, ending with a score of 42-7.
At quarterback, George threw for 118 yards, his third game of the season with 100+ passing yards. Cordero was his favorite target with three receptions for 45 yards. Joseph Thibodeau had the most receiving yards with 49 on two catches.
On the ground, McBride rushed for 120 yards on 17 attempts, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. It is his second game this year with 100+ rushing yards.
Defensively, Sean Battle led the team 10 total tackles. Holmes had the only takeaway of the game for either squad with the interception in the first quarter.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
The Gyrenes are back home November 8 for their final home game of the season as they play host to the Florida Memorial Lions. Along with the game being the home finale for AMU, it will also be Homecoming and Senior Night. The game is also part of a triple header on the campus of Ave Maria with Women's Basketball and Volleyball also home that weekend. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
