St. Ambrose couldn't find a second second-half rally and the Bees fell to Waldorf 24-17 at Brady Street Stadium Saturday night.

The Warriors, which led 14-0 at the half, took the lead for good at 21-17 on a nine-yard touchdown pass midway through the final quarter. They added a 23-yard field goal with 1:33 remaining.

SAU marched into Waldorf territory on its final possession but Tom Casey was intercepted at the Warrior 25-yard line with 44 seconds left to end any final comeback hopes.

St. Ambrose (1-1) was unable to take advantage of several opportunities. The Bees forced four turnovers and were aided by 11 Waldorf penalties, including multiple pass interference infractions, totaling 121 yards. But SAU could only recover three of Waldorf's seven fumbles in the game. And St. Ambrose came up empty on a pair of fourth-down plays deep in Waldorf territory.

WIth the offense unable to muster much of an attack in the first half, the Bees came out strong in the second half.

On the first drive of the third quarter, SAU marched 65 yards on seven plays and got on the board when Blake Wittman hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Casey to cut the deficit to 14-7 (video below courtesy SAUtv).

The Bees were gifted the ball back as the Warriors muffed the ensuing kickoff. But facing a 4th-and-1 at the Waldorf 15-yard line, Casey's pass was incomplete.

Early in the fourth quarter, St. Ambrose appeared poised to draw even. But the team had to settle for a 22-yard Tom Gillen field goal to get within 14-10 after squandering a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line.

The defense stepped up again as Marshaun Zachary intercepted a pass to set up the Bees in Warrior territory (highlight below courtesy SAUtv).

This time the offense capitalized with Casey hitting Sam Kerr with a 3-yard touchdown toss to put SAU in front 17-14 with 10 minutes remaining (video below courtesy SAUtv).

But a big 54-yard completion sparked the Warriors who drove for the go-ahead touchdown on their ensuing possession. The Bees then coughed up a fumble, the team's second of three turnovers on the night, to set up Waldorf at midfield, leading to the late field goal. SAU's final turnover of the game followed.

Casey completed 26 passes for 238 yards. Four different Bees caught at least five passes. Yemi Ward had eight catches for 57 yards and Kerr added seven receptions for 48 yards. Justin Wright (68 yards) and Wittman (60) each had five catches.

T'Nahleg Hall carried the ball 24 times for 85 yards.

Brody Mason led the defense with seven total tackles. Bernard Buhake was his normal disruptive self with 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles (highlight below courtesy SAUtv).

Nick Daniel matched Buhake with six tackles. Drew Ackman and Jamari Wise each had five stops.

SAU will play their third straight home game to open the season next Saturday when the Bees host No. 6 Concordia (Mich.). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Brady Street Stadium.