Saint Francis (Ind.) was able to grind out three long touchdown drives over the second and third quarters to hand St. Ambrose a 28-9 setback at Jack and Pat Bush Stadium in Davenport, Iowa, Saturday afternoon.

The scores came after Joe Namio had given the Bees a 3-0 lead on a 33-yard field goal in the opening seconds of the second quarter. But after stopping the Cougars on their first four drives - forcing three punts along with a Jon Guch interception - the SAU defense couldn't get off the field.

Saint Francis (1-2) went 77 yards over nine plays to take a 7-3 lead. Then after St. Ambrose went three-and-out, USF marched 83 yards over eight plays to go in front 14-3.

The Bees had a chance to cut the deficit, but Namio's 53-yard field goal on the final play of the half came up short. It was one of two misses for the Bee kicker, who also bounced a 39-yard attempt off the left upright in the opening quarter.

The Cougars took the second-half kickoff and chewed up more than half of the third quarter (7:43) with an 87-yard touchdown drive that pushed the score to 21-3.

USF added a fourth touchdown early in the fourth quarter. SAU found the end zone late in the game as Tom Casey connected with Jalen Coleman on a 15-yard touchdown pass to end the scoring.

Casey completed 22 passes for 254 yards and the one score. The Bees were limited to just 51 yards on the ground. Kaden King led the way with 41 yards on 11 carries. Jeffery Elms added 21 yards on seven rushes.

Seven different Bees caught at least two passes. Kyle Yehling hauled in five catches for 33 yards. Yemi Ward (96 yards) and King (37) each caught four passes. Mikey Hellwig (3-29), Coleman (2-23), Elms (2-18) and Terrell Smith (2-18) also had multiple receptions.

While St. Ambrose finished with 305 yards of offense, Saint Francis rolled up 468 yards, including 229 yards on the ground.

D'Mauryon Hunter led the SAU defense with nine total tackles. Jake Strater came up with seven stops while Djabril McNabb, George Litgen III and Colin Gudella were each in on five tackles. Strater, McNabb, Micheal Robinson, Rolando Sepulveda, De'Viann Titus-Porter and Donte Sibley were each credited with a tackle for loss.

Tyler Locke continued his strong season, averaging better than 41 yards over his six punts.

SAU (0-5) will open MSFA Midwest League play next Saturday at Roosevelt.