AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Night Hawks opened conference play against the Ave Maria Gyrenes Saturday Night at Gyrene Field and fell 28-14 after a last-minute comeback effort was thwarted by an interception in the red zone.
The Night Hawks fell behind by a pair of scores in the first and conceded a third in the second quarter. Down 21-0 the Night Hawks broke through with an answer from a huge 56-yard connection from the arm of
Charles Britt to
James Amaker and brought the score to 21-7. Ave Maria answered right back with a score of their own on the next drive to make the score 28-7.
The Night Hawk defense held off the Gyrenes from any more scores for the remainder of the contest.
Charles Britt connected with
Blake Mays in the remaining time to cut the deficit to two scores with a score of 28-14.
The Night Hawks managed a stop after a failed onside kick attempt of their own to get the ball back with just under two minutes remaining. Britt, Amaker and
Elijah Alston managed to get the Night Hawks in the red zone with just under a minute to go. The last- minute comeback attempt was thwarted when a Gyrene defender caught an interception at the 19-yard line to put away the game for good.
Thomas totaled 13 first downs with five from rushing, seven from passing and one from a penalty. The Night Hawks had 201 receiving yards compared to the Gyrenes 69. Thomas had 324 total yards of offense compared to Ave Maria's 297 total yards.
Jarius Curry led the defense with 11 tackles for the 2
nd most in a single game and one solo tackle for loss for 11 yards for a career high day.
TQ Strozier contributed a pass break up and three tackles.
Britt led the offense with 201 passing yards, going 18-29 and adding in two passing scores. Alston led the running backs with 69 yards on 12 attempts and a long of 25 yards. Amaker led the receivers with five receptions for 84 yards and a 56-yard receiving touchdown. Mays followed with three receptions for 41 yards and 24 yards and hauled in the other Night Hawk score.
Braxton Crawford went 2-2 on extra points for the Night Hawks
Zach Davis had five punts for 188 total yards and a long of 45 yards.
The Night Hawks (0-4, 0-1 SUN) return to conference play at home against the Webber International Warriors (3-2, 1-1 SUN) Saturday at 3:30 pm for Military Appreciation Day.
