Mid States

[Football] SAU loses at No. 3 Saint Francis (Ind.)

Playing its third ranked opponent in as many weeks, St. Ambrose stayed with No. 3 Saint Francis (Ind.) into the fourth quarter before falling 31-13 in Fort Wayne, Ind.The Bee defense forced four turnovers, including Jeremiah Jackson Sr. picking off his fourth pass of the season, to help SAU keep close.Jackson also forced a first-quarter fumble that Parker Henderson recovered and Griffin Zajac intercepted a pass late in the second quarter. Zajac returned his interception 28 yards to give the Bees the ball at the USF 33-yard line in a 17-0 game. But on the very next play, John Benckendorf's pass was picked off in the end zone to end the SAU threat. That was the second of three Bee turnovers in the game.Benckendorf got St. Ambrose right back in the game on the first possession of the second half. He marched the Bees 79 yards on nine plays, using his feet (28 yards rushing) and his arm (42 yards passing). His final completion of the drive was a 36-yard touchdown pass to Blake Wittman to trim the deficit to 17-7.St. Ambrose twice got into Saint Francis territory later in the third but came up empty both times.The Cougars (3-0) took advantage and took a 24-7 lead on a 64-yard touchdown pass in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. On their next possession, they scored on a 28-yard pass for a 31-7 lead.Benckendorf engineered another long scoring drive late in the game. A 16-yard touchdown pass to Garret Tiarks on the game's final play capped a 13-play, 96-yard drive that ended the scoring.Benckendorf finished 14-of-25 for 135 yards and the two touchdowns. Dino Borrelli completed two passes for 11 yards.Eleven different Bees finished with at least one reception, but no Bee had more than two catches. Wittman (48 yards), Tiarks (24), J.D. Villafuerte (13), Yemi Odugbesan (9) and Vince Vignali (5) each had two receptions.Vybert Greene Jr. led the defense with eight tackles. Jackson had seven, and Zajac, Collin Etherton, Jaxson Nelson and Ryan Zitkus were each in on five. Zitkus also recovered a fumble to stop a third-quarter Cougar drive.After an off week, SAU (1-3, 0-1 MSFA) will return to MSFA Midwest League play at Olivet Nazarene on Oct. 12. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.