Mid States
[Football] Ward catches three touchdowns and defense shines again
Declan McDonald threw three touchdown passes to Yemi Ward and the St. Ambrose defense was its typical dominating self as the Bees won their fourth straight game, a 24-7 decision at St. Francis (Ill.) Saturday afternoon.McDonald and Ward connected on scoring plays of 52, 25 and 27 yards. The pair also had a 51-yard touchdown pass called back on a holding penalty.It all came part of an eight-catch, 158-yard performance for Ward.And that was still overshadowed by the SAU defense.A week after allowing only five rushing yards in a 17-10 win over then-No. 18 Saint Xavier, the Bees improved on that mark against the Saints, limiting USF to just a single yard on 29 carries. Ryan Zitkus was credited with four sacks and Bernard Buhake added two as SAU posted nine total sacks. St. Ambrose also forced six turnovers, including a pair of interceptions from Liam Kelly.USF's six first-half drives ended in four punts and a pair of interceptions, one from Kelly in the end zone and another coming with the Bees holding a 7-0 lead after the first McDonald-to-Ward score by Griffin Zajac with just 1:23 left in the half.McDonald engineered a six-play, 72-yard drive that ended with the 25-yard scoring strike to Ward with 17 seconds remaining in the half to give St. Ambrose a 14-0 lead at the break.St. Francis (2-5, 2-3 MSFA) got on the board on a 58-yard touchdown pass in the later stages of the third quarter to get within 14-7. The Saints appeared poised to score again when McDonald fumbled at the USF 36-yard line on the Bees' next possession. But Zitkus came through with a big 11-yard sack on first down and the Bees forced a turnover on downs to end the threat.St. Ambrose (5-2, 4-1 MSFA) was stopped but Jackson Hunsicker's punt was fumbled and Nick Daniel recovered it at the USF 3-yard line. SAU was forced to settle for a 20-yard Tom Gillen field goal to build a 17-7 lead.Midway through the fourth, Kelly's second interception of the day gave the ball back to the Bees at the Saints 27-yard line, and on the next play, McDonald found Ward for a 27-yard touchdown with 5:26 left to seal the win.The victory gave SAU its first four-game winning streak since the 2015 season and kept the team's conference championship hopes alive.Zitkus had the four sacks and five tackles for loss among his seven total tackles. Vince Shaw also had seven tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass. Kelly was in on six tackles, and Buhake, Ethan Miebach and Jaxson Nelson were each credited with five stops. Brody Mason, Jacob Holmes and Gabe Johnson each had a sack and Anthony Brown recovered a fumble.Offensively, McDonald completed 12 passes for 188 yards and the three touchdowns. Blake Wittman had two receptions for 17 yards, while J.D. Villafuerte and Sam Kerr each had one catch.Garret Tiarks finished with 64 rushing yards on 16 attempts and T'Nahleg Hall picked up 42 yards on the ground.The Bees will close the regular season at home next Saturday against No. 21 Roosevelt.