MARSHALL, Missouri – Former St. Ambrose University quarterback Tomele Staples came back to bite the Fighting Bees on Saturday.
Staples, who transferred out of St. Ambrose after one season in Davenport last fall, threw for 249 yards and four touchdowns in rallying his Missouri Valley Vikings to a 30-28 Heart of America crossover victory over the Fighting Bees.
“It always stinks to lose, I don’t care who it is to,” said SAU coach Vince Fillipp after his club dropped its second straight game to fall to 1-5.
As much as what Staples did to the Bees, it was also a case of the Bees being their own worst enemy. SAU had two field goal attempts blocked.
“We battled; it was a tough game,” said Fillipp. “There were two blocked field goals on their end that really changed the game – took points off the board for us and led to touchdowns for them on those drives.”
Fillipp blamed “bad execution” on blocking for the blocked field goals on Harvey Doleman attempts from 32 yards in the second quarter that was returned to the SAU 15 and 22 yards in the third.
Both of those MVU possessions ended with 11-yard Staples touchdown tosses.
“We just have to continue to preach to these guys that every snap during the course of a game matters,” said Fillipp. “You don’t know when it is, but they all add up.”
SAU held a 28-27 lead over the hosting Vikings at Gregg-Mitchell Field on Saturday afternoon before things bottomed out.
Tre Jenkins (38 carries, 193 yards) scored his second touchdown for SAU with 4:24 left in regulation that gave the Bees a 28-21 lead after Doleman’s point-after kick.
Staples, who completed 20 of 30 pass attempts, then connected on a 40-yard scoring strike that left the score 28-27 after Colin Gudella blocked the PAT kick.
On SAU’s ensuing possession, Jenkins ran for two first downs before the drive stalled and ended with Doleman’s 46-yard punt resulting in a touchback with just 1:32 left.
Mo-Valley converted a 4th-and-1 situation to keep the drive alive before a 20-yard pass and runs of 17- and 13-yards set up a first-and-goal at the SAU 4-yard line. Staples grounded a pass to stop the clock to get the field goal unit on the field.
Bruno Kincaid then booted a 21-yard field goal to give the hosts a 30-28 lead with 00:08 remaining that held up through the kickoff and Hail Mary incomplete pass that ended the contest.
“We just couldn’t get a stop on that last drive there,” lamented Fillipp.
SAU quarterback Alec Ponder, who missed some snaps while having an injured ankle attended to, completed 14 of 22 passes for 145 yards, including two touchdown tosses to Jaylen Brazzle, who finished with eight catches for 93 yards. Ponder, who came back in the game after having the ankle rolled up on, according to his coach, was picked once.
SAU has a week off before returning to action on Oct. 18, hosting Graceland in a Heart of America North Division contest at Jack and Pat Bush Stadium at 1 p.m.
“It’ll be good just to get these guys off their feet and get some guys healthy,” said Fillipp, “that’ll be really good for us.”
Mo. Valley 30, St. Ambrose 28
St. Ambrose;14;7;0;7;—;28
Missouri Valley;0;7;14;9;—;30
First quarter
SAU – Jaylen Brazzle 28 pass from Alec Ponder (Harvey Doleman kick), 12:24
SAU – Tre Jenkins 9 run (Doleman kick), 5:24
Second quarter
MVU – Markus Stepanoff 11 pass from Tomele Staples (Bruno Kincaid kick), 3:39
SAU – Brazzle 26 pass from Ponder (Doleman kick), 00:20
Third quarter
MVU – Khalil White 31 pass from Staples (Kincaid kick), 11:02
MVU – Nate Pouliot 11 pass from Staples (Kincaid kick), 2:38
Fourth quarter
SAU – Jenkins 6 run (Doleman kick), 4:24
MVU – White 40 pass from Staples (Kincaid kick blocked), 3:43
MVU – Kincaid 21 FG, 00:08
;;SAU;MVU
First downs;31;19
Rushing-yards; 56-258;25-99
Passing yards;166;249
Passes (C-A-I);17-27-1;20-31-1
Total offense;83-424;56-348
Punts;4-41.8;5-32.8
Fumbles lost;1-0;0-0
Penalties;5-36;7-47
Poss. Time;37:08;22:52
Individual statistics
RUSHING – SAU: Jenkins 38-193, Maximo Vasquez 14-60, Ponder 4-13; MVU: Silas Morton 11-54, Bryce Jackson 4-26, Devonte Armstrong 1-17, Staples 8-2, team 1-0.
PASSING – SAU: Ponder 14-22-1, 145 yards; Caleb Swanson 3-5-0, 21 yards; MVU: Staples 20-30-1, 249 yards.
RECEIVING – SAU: Brazzle 8-93, Joseph Spaulding 2-29, Braden Downs 2-5, Kameron Bohnsack 1-15, Mikey Hellwig 1-9, Colin Shults 1-9, Brennan Wilson 1-8, Vasquez 1-(-2); MVU:
White 5-124, Adonis Whitley 4-63, Jesse Johnson 3-0, Pouliot 2-18, Eddie Strong 2-15, Stepanoff 1-11, Morton 1-7, Zyan Royal 1-6, Jackson 1-5.
TACKLES – SAU: Rolando Sepulveda 4-4-8, Nolan Obert 6-1-7, Andre Cobige 7-0-7, Colin Gudella 3-2-5; MVU: Noah Carr 8-2-10, Octavious Griffin 7-2-9, Nick Carlisle 6-1-7, Jeremiah McNair 2-5-7, Jayden Maggert 1-6-7, Eric Potts 5-1-6, Daniel Moreno 4-2-6, Ryan Greenwood 1-5-6, Robert Williams 4-1-5.
TACKLES FOR LOSS – SAU: Obert 2.5-13, Simi Afolarin 1.5-7, Sepulveda 1.5-2, CJ Resto 1-2, Gudella 1-1, Jon Grant .5-1
MVU: McNair 1.5-2, Potts 1-4, Augustus McKoy 1-4, Moreno 1-3, Royce Adenniken1-3, Carr .5-2, R. Williams .5-1, Jayson Williams .5-1.
SACKS – SAU: Obert 1.5-9, Afolarin 1.5-7.
INTERCEPTIONS – SAU: Emmanuel Howard 1-0; MVU: R. Williams 1-0.
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TJ Johnston
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