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."
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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 4
th and three but fumbled on the one-yard line and was recovered by the Chargers.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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BCU the next offensive possession, Stowers took a short hitch route 35 yards to move the Chargers into plus territory. On 2
nd 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.
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Early in the fourth, SAU took a 21-13 lead following a 50-yard strike to Mikey Hellwig.
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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.
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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.
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SAU were able to reach field goal range, but the attempt went wide, sending the contest to overtime.
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The Chargers were unable to match SAU's touchdown in the overtime period, falling 28-21.
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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.
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Stowers led the Cliff receivers with four catches for 99 yards and a score.
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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.
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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
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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 1Â p.m.
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#BattleOn
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