AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Football team captured their first win of the 2025 season, taking down the Fort Lauderdale Eagles 36-12. The Gyrenes pounded the ball on the ground, rushing to a season-high 162 yards and two touchdowns.

Ave Maria opened the scoring on their very first drive, marching 56 yards down the field before Jake Matigian nailed a 26-yard field goal. It was the second good kick of the season for the freshman after making his first field goal in the season opener against Lindsey Wilson.

The Gyrene defense forced a quick punt from the Eagles and started their second drive in plus territory. Ave Maria only needed five plays this time to punch the ball into the end zone on a 12-yard run from Logan Howard. It was the first rushing touchdown of the season for the junior in his second start of the season.

Ave Maria found the end zone once again in the second quarter. This time, the score capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive, which ended once again with Howard finding the blue turf. Howard made some acrobatic moves on his 15-yard run, hurdling one defender and bouncing off another, before rushing into the end zone, arms wide open in front of the Dog Pound Student Section.

A missed PAT kept the Gyrenes lead at 16-0.

Following the touchdown, Ave Maria got their first of two interceptions in the game, with Brian Holmes climbing the ladder to pick off the Eagles. It was the second interception of the season for Holmes, who snagged one against Lindsey Wilson as well.

Fort Lauderdale blocked a Gyrene punt on the following possession and returned it to the end zone for their lone score of the half. Neither team lit up the scoreboard in the final five minutes of the second quarter and Ave Maria took a 16-6 lead into the break.

The Eagles started the second half with a quick three out and a short punt to set the Gyrenes up at the UFTL 39-yard line. It only took Ave Maria two plays to get back on the scoreboard, with Howard going through the air this time and connecting with Tyler Cordero for a 38-yard touchdown pass. It was the first passing touchdown of the season for the Gyrenes and put them up 23-6.

Matigian knocked two more field goals at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter from 23 and 38 yards, respectively. The freshman kicker finished 3-for-3 on field goals Saturday and remains perfect on the season.

Matigian's kick in the quarter was set up after the Gyrenes recovered a fumble off a bad Fort Lauderdale snap. Evan Bolick was the first to fall on the ball, getting the first fumble recovery of his career.

The Gyrenes got one more turnover on the defensive side of the ball on the possession following their fourth quarter field goal. Fort Lauderdale and put together their best drive of the night, gaining 72 yards on 11 plays and reaching the red zone for the first time. However, with the ball on the five-yard line, an errant pass that was initially deflected by Benjamin Thompson and wound up in the hands of Rashad Orr. The sophomore DB took it back 82 yards before finally being pushed out of bounds and set up the Gyrenes inside the red zone. It was the second takeaway of the season for Orr and his first interception of the year.

Ave Maria punched the ball in for their final touchdown of the night on the ensuing drive. Brycen Levidiotis made his collegiate debut at quarterback and found Chase Enguita for a five-yard touchdown pass that put the Gyrenes up 36-6.

After being held to no offensive touchdowns in the first 59 minutes of the game, the Fort Lauderdale offense found the end zone with six seconds left on the clock to make the final score 36-12.

"Going into the game, we wanted to try to establish a new line of scrimmage on both side of the ball and I thought that our run game was solid and certainly our defense played lights out," said head coach Joe Patterson following the win. "Throughout the game, the defense did a good job of showing up when needed and certainly the numbers speak for themselves."

Ave Maria rushed for a total of 162 yards while holding Fort Lauderdale to just 12-yards on the ground. The Gyrenes threw for another 110 to finish the game with 272 yards of total offense.

Individually, Reggie McBride led the team on the ground with 111 yards, the first 100+ yard game of his career. Howard was right behind him with 60 yards and the two touchdowns.

Howard also led the Gyrenes through the air, going 9-for-14 for 105 yards and one touchdown. His leading receiver was Joey Audia with four receptions for 38 yards.

Defensively, the Gyrenes recorded six sacks and four more tackles for a loss to finish the game with 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Elijah Douge led in that regard with two and half tackles for a loss. Holmes, along with his interception, tied with Luke Flemming for the most tackles on the team with six.

With the win, Ave Maria improves to 1-2 and 4-0 against Fort Lauderdale all-time.

The Gyrenes get a week off before beginning conference play October 4 with a trip across Alligator Alley to take on the St. Thomas Bobcats. STU was ranked 14^th in the latest Top 25 poll and went 2-1 in their non-conference schedule. Kickoff is set for noon from Miami Gardens, and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.