Jake Romani threw for a career-high 330 yards and accounted for all four St. Ambrose touchdowns as the Bees opened Mid-States Football Association Midwest League play with a 33-19 win at St. Francis (Ill.) Saturday afternoon in Joliet, Ill.

Romani and special teams play sparked SAU to 23 straight points in the second half after the Fighting Saints had grabbed a 13-10 lead.

His one-yard touchdown run with 4:05 left in the third quarter put the Bees in front for good. Romani added an 11-yard scoring strike to Carter Himmelman, and after Tom Gillen booted a 33-yard field goal, Romani threw a 40-yard touchdown to Matthew Coovert to build a 33-13 lead with 1:28 to play in the game.

St. Francis (1-4, 0-1 MSFA) scored on the final play of the game to account for the final score.

Romani completed 24-of-36 passes for his 330 yards, the second time this season he has topped 300 yards in a game.

Eight different Bees caught a pass, with seven of those receivers each hauling in at least two receptions. Isaiah Hawkins caught five passes for 38 yards, including a six-yard touchdown pass from Romani that gave St. Ambrose a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.

Gillen tacked on a 31-yard field goal in the opening minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 10-0.

The Saints kicked two second-quarter field goals to trail 10-6 at the half and took the lead on a 72-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter.

On the Bees' go-ahead drive, Romani completed 3-of-4 passes - a 14-yarder to Hawkins, a 36-yard completion to Hunter Thompson and a 34-yarder to Vince Vignali - and rushed for 10 yards, including the one-yard touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, Boyd Roberts recovered a fumble deep in USF territory. Back-to-back completions of 25 yards to Vignali and 11 yards to Himmelman extended the lead to 24-13.

The SAU special teams came up big again as Coovert recovered an on-side kick but the Bee drive fizzled as Romani fumbled as he was sacked at the St. Francis 7-yard line.

But a quick three-and-out gave the ball back to the Bees, who capitalized with Gillen's second field goal of the night to build a two-touchdown lead.

Vignali and Tom Macari each caught four passes, while Vignali also rushed for 53 yards on three attempts. Jake Osterberger rushed for a team-leading 54 yards on 20 carries.

Kobe Easley and Taylor O'Donnell led the defense with 10 tackles apiece. Sam Kabureck had 1.5 of the team's five total sacks.

SAU returns home for just its second home game of the season next Saturday to face a No. 6 Marian team, who defeated No. 1 Saint Francis (Ind.) Saturday night. Kickoff at Brady Street Stadium next Saturday is slated for 1 p.m.