[Football] Turnovers hurt Bees in loss at Lawrence Tech

Four turnovers, all coming in the second half, proved to be too much for St. Ambrose to overcome as the Bees dropped their first road game of the season 29-24 at Lawrence Tech Saturday afternoon.

SAU had led 17-7 on a 46-yard Joe Namio field goal late in the first half. But the Bees would not score again until John Benckendorf broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run with 5:36 left in the game. That cut the Lawrence Tech lead to 29-24.

St. Ambrose got the ball back on its own 19-yard line with 3:44 remaining, and Benckendorf and the Bees advanced to the LT 35-yard line. But facing pressure, Benckendorf was intercepted at the 11-yard line. The Blue Devils were able to run out the clock to close out the win.

The second-half struggles came after the Bees had built a 10-point lead.

Cade Gorzny scored on a 68-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7. And Tom Casey connected with Yemi Ward on a 28-yard scoring strike to give SAU a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

The defense forced its first of four turnovers as Bernard Buhake forced a fumble on a sack, and Namio extended the lead to 17-7 with his first field goal of the year coming with 3:22 left in the second quarter.

St. Ambrose nearly saw the lead disappear before the half. Lawrence Tech (3-0) struck quickly with a 59-yard touchdown pass, and after an SAU three-and-out, the Blue Devils marched to the Bee 1-yard line in the closing seconds. But St. Ambrose got back-to-back stops, the last coming when DJ Oshin and Brody Mason combined for a tackle at the 1-yard line to end the half.

But two costly turnovers - an interception that was returned to the SAU 9-yard line and a fumble that was recovered at the SAU 9-yard line - led to a pair of quick LT touchdowns, and the Bees were never able to recover.

The loss overshadowed another strong game from Gorzny. The senior rushed for 133 yards on just 15 carries to top 100 yards for the third time this season.

Casey completed eight passes for 80 yards and Benckendorf finished up by completing three passes for 14 yards. Sam Kerr and Blake Wittman each finished with three receptions.

Nick Daniel led the defense with 10 tackles. Mason had seven and Drew Ackman and Brentin Erickson were each in on six stops. Buhake was credited with two sacks.

The Bees are next week before returning home to host Trinity International on Oct. 2 as part of Homecoming Weekend.