AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Gyrene defense held No. 10 St. Thomas to 100 fewer yards in the second half than the first half, kept the Bobcats off the scoreboard in the third quarter and only allowed 10 points in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the Ave Maria offense had trouble getting started in the second half as well and could not capitalize on the opportunities as the Gyrenes fell 46-13 to the Bobcats.
It did not take St. Thomas very long to get on the scoreboard as they scored a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage. The Bobcats added another touchdown towards the end of the first quarter to go up 14-0.
Following the second touchdown drive, the Gyrenes were forced to punt back to the Bobcats. St. Thomas attempted to receive the kick at their own 41-yard line but bobbled the ball. Diving in for Ave Maria was Wendell Copeland who fought for possession and won the loose ball. It was the third fumble recovery of the season for the Gyrene defense.
The fumble sparked the offense for a few plays, but the Gyrenes were stuffed on the following fourth down and turned the ball over.
Both teams traded turnovers on downs before St. Thomas got back on the scoreboard with their third touchdown of the night. An Ave Maria fumble set the Bobcats up with short field position on the next drive and St. Thomas scored again to take a 28-0 lead.
After a couple of punts, Ave Maria scored their first touchdown of the night with five minutes remaining in the first half. Logan Howard, who was playing quarterback for the Gyrenes for the first time since October 25, 2025, against Warner, connected with Joshua Raphael for a 56-yard touchdown pass.
St. Thomas drained the remaining five minutes and 10 seconds off the clock with the ensuing drive and ended it with a field goal. Heading into the break, Ave Maria trailed St. Thomas 31-7.
The third quarter was the strongest defensive frame for both teams as they held each other off the scoreboard. The Gyrenes forced one punt and two more turnover downs. Nick Thome logged a huge sack that pushed St. Thomas back seven yards on the first drive that later forced the Bobcats to punt on 4
th and 17.
Ave Maria dominated the time of possession battle in the third quarter, running 21 plays and holding onto the ball for nine minutes and 27 seconds of the 15 minute quarter. However, all three Gyrene drives stalled out, and they could not chip away at the 24-point deficit.
In the fourth quarter, Ave Maria opened the second half scoring with Howard hooking up with Raphael again, this time for a 23-yard touchdown pass. For Howard, the score made Saturday the first game of his career with multiple touchdown passes. The touchdown pass also made it back-to-back games with two touchdown receptions from the freshman Raphael, who leads the team with four scores. AMU missed the PAT, keeping the score at 31-13.
Ave Marai had 12 minutes and 32 seconds to makeup 18 more points if they wanted to keep the comeback dream alive, but St. Thomas dashed those hopes a few plays later. After being held scoreless in the third quarter, St. Thomas needed just four plays to add another touchdown on the board. The Bobcats also missed their PAT, putting the margin back at 24 points.
St. Thomas kicked one more field goal and then returned a blocked Ave Maria field goal for a touchdown to make the final score 46-13.
Howard finished the day 18-of-37 for 241 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. That is a career-high number of attempts, passing yards and touchdowns for the senior.
His leading receiver was Raphael, who hauled in six receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Oliver Nieman was next on the team with four receptions for 71 yards.
The Gyrenes had a tough day on the ground, with the leading rusher being Isaiah Thomas for 25 yards.
On defense, Gregory Thomas III led the team with 11 tackles, three for a loss. The Gyrene defense racked up eight total tackles for a loss, including three sacks from Thomas III, Nathaniel Peterson and Thome.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 2-3 overall and starts conference play with a 0-1 record.
The Gyrenes are on the road for their next game as they take a trip up north to Babson Park to battle the Webber Warriors. It will be the 16
th overall meeting between Ave Maria and Webber on the gridiron, which is the longest running rivalry in program history. Webber also lost on Saturday to their cross-town rival Warner, making both teams 0-1 in conference play heading into Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
