It all came together for the Bees in the second half as St. Ambrose defeated Trinity International 49-28 in front of a large Homecoming Weekend crowd at Brady Street Stadium Saturday.

Tied at 21-21 at the half, St. Ambrose scored the first 28 points of the second half before TIU tacked on a touchdown in the final minute as the Bees won their Mid-States Football Association Midwest League opener.

After getting gouged for several big plays in the first half, the Bee defense forced three second-half turnovers and five for the game. And the SAU offense rolled up 540 total yards, with 280 of those yards coming on the ground.

Tom Casey tossed five touchdown passes, two each to Yemi Ward and Sam Kerr, and another to Blake Wittman, in the win.

It was a 23-yard connection between Casey and Ward that opened up a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter. That came on the heels of an 8-yard Kerr touchdown reception earlier in the quarter and a 12-yard T'Nahleg Hall TD run to open the scoring in the first period.

But the Trojans used several long completions to score twice in the last five minutes of the half to pull even.

The Bees regrouped at the break.

Casey engineered an eight-play, 71-yard drive to open the third quarter, finding Ward on a 42-yard scoring strike to put the Bees back in front. 

With the defense getting interceptions from Vince Shaw and Jamari Wise, the offense struck again in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Casey tossed a short 2-yard touchdown pass to Wittman, and after the defense forced a three-and-out, Casey found Kerr for a 34-yard touchdown and a 42-21 lead.

DJ Oshin forced a fumble on a sack that Deonte Berry recovered setting the Bees up at the Trojan 21-yard line. Kaden King carried four straight times, the final time on a three-yard scoring plunge to open up a 49-21 lead with only 4:21 to play.

Casey completed 21-of-30 passes for 247 yards. Ward (93 yards) and Wittman (37) each caught six passes. Kerr hauled in five for 61 yards. Hunter Thompson had two catches for 32 yards.

Hall led the rushing attack with 95 yards on 15 carries. Cade Gorzny carried 17 times for 92 yards and Ray Bouye added 62 yards on 10 attempts.

Oshin led the defense with seven tackles, including three sacks. Drew Ackman recorded two sacks among his three tackles. Marshaun Zachary and Nick Daniel were each in on four tackles. Zachary and Brody Mason also picked off passes. Ethan Miebach and Anthony Brown also recorded sacks in the victory.

Tom Gillen was perfect on his seven PATs.

SAU will visit conference foe Judson next Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.

Video highlights courtesy SAUtv, KALA's David Meyer on the call

T'Nahleg Hall gets the scoring started with a 12-yard touchdown run

Tom Casey finds Sam Kerr on an 8-yard touchdown pass for a 14-7 lead

Brody Mason gets the ball right back with an interception in TIU territory

Tom Casey to Yemi Ward for a 23-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead

Marshaun Zachary preserves a 21-7 lead with an interception inside the 5-yard line

Tom Casey to Yemi Ward again for a 42-yard touchdown that gives SAU a 28-21 lead

Vince Shaw with an interception in the third quarter