Mid States
[Football] Bees let chance for Senior Day win slip away
It all just fell apart.After a muffed fair catch by Roosevelt led to a Garret Tiarks 1-yard touchdown run and a 17-3 lead in the third quarter, St. Ambrose watched the No. 20-ranked Lakers score the game's final 21 points to escape with a 24-17 win at Brady Street Stadium Saturday afternoon.The loss spoiled the final game of 17 St. Ambrose seniors, who were recognized in Senior Day festivities prior to kickoff.The Bees dominated the first two-and-a-half quarters.A steady rain throughout the majority of the game slowed both offenses, but Tom Gillen got the Bees on the board with a 21-yard field goal late in the first quarter.Relying on the ground game, St. Ambrose turned to Tarks and T'Nahleg Hall. Tarks had back-to-back runs of 28 and 24 yards and Hall punched in a touchdown on a third-and-goal play from the 3-yard line to cap an 87-yard drive to put the Bees up 10-7 in the second quarter.Roosevelt (6-1, 5-1 MSFA) closed to within 10-3 on a 45-yard field goal inside the final minute of the first half.When Jackson Hunsicker's 42-yard punt was mishandled and Brody Mason recovered it at the Laker 3-yard line, and two plays later, Tiarks powered in for a one-yard score, St. Ambrose appeared well on its way to its fifth straight win.But then everything changed.The St. Ambrose offense would pick up just 81 more yards and four additional first downs over the final 24-plus minutes. And the SAU defense that had limited Roosevelt to just seven rushing yards and 53 yards of total offense to that point would surrender 222 yards the rest of the way.The Bees, who had allowed six combined rushing yards over the previous two weeks, allowed touchdown runs of 23, 5 and 64 yards on consecutive drives in the second half of Saturday's loss. The 64-yard score gave the Lakers a 24-17 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.SAU would get into Roosevelt territory with a chance to tie late, but the Bees turned it over on downs at the Laker 39-yard line. SAU's final possession also ended with a turnover on downs inside the Bee 30-yard line.Tiarks finished with 119 rushing yards on 20 carries. Hall added 60 yards on 10 attempts.Declan McDonald completed eight passes for 71 yards. Blake Wittman caught three passes for 43 yards and Yemi Ward had two receptions for 14 yards.Drew Ackman led the defense with nine total tackles. Zak Alberts and Jaxson Nelson each had seven tackles. Nelson and Ryan Zitkus were each credited with 2.5 tackles for loss.St. Ambrose finished the season 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the MSFA Midwest League, good for third place in the conference.