The Charger football team lost a overtime thriller to the Fighting Bees of St. Ambrose 28-21 Saturday evening in Davenport, Iowa.
“Im proud of the effort and perseverance our team showed tonight,” said Head Coach Shane LaDage. ” However, we had too many self inflicted wounds that didn’t allow us to stretch our 1st half lead. Give a ton of credit to St. Ambrose, they’ve improved a lot this offseason and made more plays than we did.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Fighting Bees were knocking on the Charger endzone, using a 14-play 80-yard drive to get down to the Charger eight-yard line. St Ambrose’s Tomele Staples tried making an effort towards the goal line on 4th and three but fumbled on the one-yard line and was recovered by the Chargers.
With 1:56 remaining in the half, again St. Ambrose found themselves in the redzone looking to break the tie. The Fighting Bees looked to take a shot towards the endzone, but Briar Cliff’s Tulsa Janish read the route concept and picked off Staples to force a touchback.
The Chargers on the ensuing drive marched to the 48-yard line of St. Ambrose with Saya going four-for-six passing in the span. On third and eight, Saya dropped a seam-ball off the left hash marks to Jaiden Aavery-Stowers for a 48-yard touchdown to put BCU up 7-0 before the break.
The Fighting Bees answered with a six-play 73-yard drive capped off by a 51-yard strike from Staples to Jalen Coleman to even the score.
The Cliff turned the ball over on their own goal line, and St. Ambrose took advantage with a Staples rushing touchdown on a read option to take a 14-7 lead.
BCU the next offensive possession, Stowers took a short hitch route 35 yards to move the Chargers into plus territory. On 2nd and 11 from the SAU 25, Saya laid a teardrop to Kymani Fluerme on a double move for Saya’s second passing touchdown of the night. The point after attempt failed and The Cliff trailed by one.
Early in the fourth, SAU took a 21-13 lead following a 50-yard strike to Mikey Hellwig.
With 5:43 remaining in the quarter, The Cliff needed to drive 63 yards and convert a two-point conversion attempt to tie the game. BCU drove down to the SAU nine-yard looking to tie the ball game. Steven Whiting Lined up as the lone split receiver to the left, and Saya tossed a fade ball with Whiting hauling it in over the SAU defender to cut the lead 21-19.
BCU on the two-point conversion attempt, ran a reverse to Stowers, who tossed it to a lone Saya in the endzone to tie the game.
SAU were able to reach field goal range, but the attempt went wide, sending the contest to overtime.
The Chargers were unable to match SAU’s touchdown in the overtime period, falling 28-21.
Saya finished 20-for-38 passing for 248 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Tailback Matthew Mason grinded out a tough 85 yards on 25 carries along with three catches for 32 yards.
Stowers led the Cliff receivers with four catches for 99 yards and a score.
The Charger defensive line wreaked havoc all game, with Phillip Benjamin paving the way with six tackles, two tackles-for-loss, and two sacks. Kyler Petersen, Carlos Lopez, and Alex Niederhauser all recorded a sack in the contest.
Linebacker Brayden Pommier-Williams had a busy day, leading all players with 14 tackles (10 solos) and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
“Typically teams see their biggest improvements after game one and i’m excited to get back to work with this group.” said LaDage
Briar Cliff will open up GPAC play next Saturday, as they travel to Crete, Nebraska to take on the Tigers of Doane. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
