In a game featuring more than 900 yards of offense, 16 total punts and six turnovers, St. Ambrose came up on the short end of a 38-20 decision in the Bees' home opener against Central Methodist Saturday afternoon.

The opening kickoff at Jack and Pat Bush Stadium was a sign of things to come for SAU. Kameron Bohnsack returned that kick into Central Methodist territory only for it to be called back on a holding penalty, pinning the Bees at their own 8-yard line.

St. Ambrose (0-3) struggled early, gaining just two first downs over its first seven possessions. That allowed the Eagles to build a 17-0 lead late in the first half.

The offense finally showed signs of life late in the half.

Alec Ponder found Bohnsack for a 71-yard touchdown to get the Bees on the board with 2:22 left until halftime. SAU had two opportunities to get more points in the half, but Harvey Doleman was wide on a 40-yard field goal attempt, and on the Bees' final possession of the second quarter, after getting to the CMU 42-yard line, back-to-back holding penalties ended any scoring hopes.

Central Methodist (1-2) immediately snatched back momentum to start the second half.

A 75-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage pushed the Eagle lead to 24-7. After a 3-and-out for SAU, CMU tacked on a 23-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 31-7.

Despite the deficit, the Bees still seemed to be in the game after Maximo Vasquez scored from 10 yards out to cut the margin to 31-13 late in the third. Zaire Wilcox bullied his way in for a one-yard touchdown run to trim the score to 31-20 just over a minute into the fourth quarter.

But CMU again had the answer, coming up with a five-play, 57-yard drive, capped with a 13-yard scoring pass, to rebuild a 38-20 lead. A fumble on SAU's next drive all but ended any Bee comeback hopes.

Ponder completed 18-of-45 passes for 356 yards and the one touchdown. Nine different Bees caught a pass, led by Bohnsack's four receptions for 101 yards. Jaylen Brazzle (84 yards) and Braden Downs (45 yards) each had three catches, and Wilcox and Joseph Spaulding had two catches apiece. Brennan Wilson, Brandan Tillman, Colin Shults and Vasquez also hauled in passes in the loss.

Wilcox led the ground attack with 36 yards on 13 carries. Vasquez picked up 27 yards on 11 attempts.

St. Ambrose finished with 453 yards of total offense, but committed three turnovers and was successful on just 1-of-5 fourth-down tries. SAU was also whistled for 12 penalties totaling 118 yards.

The Bee defense, which was on the field for nearly 36 minutes of game time, forced three turnovers but allowed 463 yards of offense, including 255 yards on the ground.

Caleb Ballard and Rolando Sepulveda led the team with seven tackles each. Destiny Ekwebelan was credited with six tackles and Emmanuel Howard had five. DJ Twymon Jr. and Simi Afolarin were each in on four stops. Ballard, Ekwebelan, Howard, Afolarin and Cooper Starks each came up with two tackles for losses. Ballard had the Bees' two sacks and also forced two fumbles. Howard, Nolan Obert and Payton Walker recovered fumbles.

The Bees will play William Woods under the lights at Jack and Pat Bush Stadium next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.