Defense Powers Lakers In Road Win Over St. Ambrose

DAVENPORT, Iowa – The Roosevelt defense stifled St. Ambrose for four quarters to propel the 15^th-ranked Lakers to a 17-3 win over the Fighting Bees in a MSFA Midwest League contest in Davenport, Iowa.

The Lakers limited St. Ambrose to just 86 yards of total offense in the game, including just five rushing yards on 34 attempts. Roosevelt's defense was at its best on third downs, allowing just one conversion on 15 attempts, forcing 11 punts out of the St. Ambrose unit. A big reason was the pass rush as Roosevelt was able to get home for seven sacks in the contest Malik Barbee, Charlie Brooks and Dionte Moorehead each had two sacks while Justin Olokun was credited with the seventh sack of the game.

It was the defense that also scored the critical points in the game while the offense struggled to find a rhythm. On a third-and-16 from inside its own 10-yard line, St. Ambrose tried to test the Lakers' secondary with a deep pass. Yet Jalen Perkins was able to snag the pass out of the air for Roosevelt's only takeaway of the game then raced 46 yards for the pick-six to give the Lakers a two-score advantage.

Roosevelt had to rely on its defense more while the offense sputtered and failed to find a rhythm. The Lakers mustered just 299 yards of total offense with its rushing game confined to three yards per carry and the passing attack completing just under 50 percent of its attempts. The unit struggled especially on third downs, converting just four of its 18 attempts for a season-high eight punts in the game.

Much of the reason the Lakers were unable to pull away earlier were self-inflicted wounds that killed promising drives. After receiving the opening kickoff, Roosevelt was on the move with Tyler Tenner rushing his way onto St. Ambrose's side of the field before the ball was punched away. Two drives later, the Lakers converted a fourth-and-short on St. Ambrose's half of the field, but Luke Wilson's pass on the next play was intercepted near the goal line on a deep pass.

The two defenses were able to hold for much of the first half until the final drive when Roosevelt continued its march down the field. The Lakers started at their own 22-yard line with 3:31 left and methodically moved the ball inside the Fighting Bees' 10-yard line in 12 plays. After spiking the ball on first down to stop the clock, Wilson threw a pair of incompletions and Roosevelt settled for a 25-yard Andrew Bucaro field goal to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.

St. Ambrose responded to start the second half with its best drive of the day, accumulating more than 70 percent of its yards before kicking its own 25-yard field goal. Midway through the third quarter, the Lakers re-took the lead as Wilson connected with Tiron Washington on fourth-and-3 for an eight-yard touchdown. That drive was only kept alive thanks to a fourth-down conversion from Wilson to Roderick Gaskin after St. Ambrose encroached on a 45-yard field goal attempt. Those two accounted for two of Roosevelt's three fourth-down conversions in the game.

Wilson finished the day 17 of 34 for 172 yards and the touchdown to counteract his interception. Tenner rushed for 76 yards on 19 attempts and Jerrell Calhoun led the way with three catches for 55 yards. Defensively, Zavier Barnes accounted for 12 tackles, including eight solo stops, and Corties Draper added seven tackles for the Lakers.

Roosevelt hits the road for the final time in the regular season next Saturday when it travels to Joliet to face St. Francis at 1 p.m. The Fighting Saints are unbeaten in the MSFA Midwest League and are tied with No. 11 St. Xavier atop the conference.