Playing in its first home night game in eight years, St. Ambrose was unable to keep momentum in a 34-20 loss to No. 24 Saint Xavier on a cold and windy Saturday at Brady Street Stadium.

The Bees actually finished with more total offense and forced three turnovers but were undone by allowing eight sacks, some punting problems and a costly fourth-quarter turnover that swung momentum for the final time.

That turnover came on one of the Cougars' eight sacks after the Bees had cut what had once been a 17-point deficit to just 24-20 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.

After Jake Romani threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Champley to bring St. Ambrose to within four, the Bee defense forced a three-and-out to get the crowd back into the game. But facing a 2nd-and-10 from their own 8-yard line, Romani was stripped of the ball as he was sacked in the end zone for an SXU touchdown.

The Bees did not mount a threat from there as the Cougars tacked on a 40-yard field goal with less than five minutes left to account for the final score.

It was an SXU field goal that also started the scoring, as after a scoreless first quarter, the Cougars grabbed a 3-0 lead on a 50-yarder on the first play of the second quarter.

Punting issues also haunted St. Ambrose. The Bees had two punts blocked and averaged just 22.0 yards on their eight punts. A blocked punt and a 14-yard effort gave Saint Xavier a short field and the Cougars capitalized with touchdowns for a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Then SAU got on the board. Romani threw a 52-yard pass to Champley before connecting with Matthew Coovert down the sideline on a 29-yard score to cut the deficit to 17-7 (video below courtesy SAUtv).

The Bee defense did its job and when Greg Burnett Jr. broke up a 4th-and-2 pass, St. Ambrose took over on the SXU 49-yard line. But SAU immediately gave the ball back when on a 4th-and-7 play, Romani was sacked. The Cougars pieced together an 11-play, 47-yard drive and scored a touchdown inside the final minute of the half for a 24-7 halftime lead.

The SAU offense showed signs of life in the third quarter and Isaiah Hawkins' 41-yard touchdown run (below, courtesy SAUtv) trimmed the deficit to 24-13.

That led to Champley's touchdown reception early in the fourth before Saint Xavier closed the door.

St. Ambrose finished with 329 yards of total offense, 284 of those yards coming through the air. The Bees were limited to 45 yards on the ground, much of that due to the eight sacks totaling 43 yards. Saint Xavier (6-3, 3-0 MSFA) had 309 yards of offense.

Hawkins led SAU with 47 rushing yards while Jake Osterberger rushed for 22 yards. Romani completed 21 passes for the 284 yards and two scores. Champley caught five passes for 102 yards. Carter Himmelman and J.D. Villafuerte each hauled in four passes.

Taylor O'Donnell led the defense with 11 total tackles. Jake Schramm had eight tackles and Collin Etherton was in on seven stops. Griffin Zajac and Kobe Easley each intercepted a pass in the loss.

SAU, now 4-3 overall and 1-1 in MSFA Midwest League play, will hit the road for the final time in the regular season for a game at Robert Morris next Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.