MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | Florida Memorial University dropped its second-to-last game of the regular season against Ave Maria 41-24, at Betty T. Ferguson Stadium. The Lions opened the game with a 12-point lead, but struggled for the remainder of the contest, falling to 5-5 on the year and 3-3 in conference play.
Wide receiver
Elijah Hopkins opened the game with a bang when, on the opening kickoff, he returned the rock for a 95-yard touchdown to put the Lions up 6-0. The hot start continued when defensive back
Khari Fields scored his record-breaking fourth interception of the season (a single-season FMU record), which resulted in a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior
Manny Reyes to tight end
Henry Calixte. The Gyrenes went on to score 31 unanswered points up until the fourth quarter, when freshmanÂ
Thomas Winston threw a 17-yard pass toÂ
Tremaine Hughes to make the score 31-18. Ave scored twice more after that before the Lions finished the game with a five-yard pass toÂ
Zion Matthews.
Reyes started the afternoon under center, going three-of-seven for 39 yards, one touchdown and two picks, while rushing three times for 12 yards. Winston got the majority of snaps as the signal caller, going 11-of-27 for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, running back
Nygel Osborne led the way with 35 yards on 12 carries. In the air, Matthews and Hughes co-led with 30 yards. Senior
Jalen Holly finished with 20 yards, which was enough to break the single-season receiving record for an FMU receiver at 691.
On defense, sophomore
Jermaine Dalias led the group with 13 tackles, including one tackle for loss and half a sack, and a pass breakup. Linebacker
Cardiea Harris had eight sacks, while linebacker
Jonathan Powers finished with six tackles.
The Lions return to action on Saturday, November 14 at 1 p.m. for Senior Day against No. 1 St. Thomas at Betty T. Ferguson Stadium. Purchase your tickets using the
link here and students who show their student ID get free entry.
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