Alec Ponder threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns and Zaire Wilcox and Tre Jenkins combined for 221 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns as St. Ambrose defeated Clarke 45-20 Saturday afternoon at Jack and Pat Bush Stadium.

The victory was the Bees' third straight, the program's longest winning streak since the team won four in a row during the season played in the spring of 2021.

It was a number of big plays that lifted SAU to victory, but it was a methodical drive that got the Bees on the board first.

St. Ambrose (4-5, 3-1 Heart) marched 70 yards over 13 plays with Jenkins scoring on a 15-yard run to open a 7-0 lead. Clarke (1-8, 1-4 Heart) answered right back with a touchdown to tie the score.

Then Ponder found Kameron Bohnsack, who got behind the defense, for a 51-yard touchdown pass to give the Bees the lead for good.

Harvey Doleman kicked a 33-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-7 late in the second quarter.

The two teams traded scores in the final 40 seconds of the half. First, Clarke pulled to within 17-13 on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds left. But on the first play on the ensuing possession, Ponder found Braden Downs, who raced down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 24-13. The Bees had an opportunity for more after the Pride fumbled the kickoff but Doleman was off the mark on a field goal attempt to end the half.

Ponder and Bohnsack again hooked up to start the scoring in the third quarter. This time, their 17-yard connection pushed the lead to 31-13.

Clarke refused to go away and closed to within 31-20 with a touchdown late in the third quarter.

St. Ambrose was finally able to pull away in the fourth. Ponder hit Joseph Spaulding with a 38-yard touchdown and Wilcox capped a big game with a 44-yard touchdown run with 2:22 left to account for the final score.

Wilcox finished with 148 yards on 23 carries. Jenkins added 73 yards on 19 attempts.

Ponder completed 16-of-25 passes for 323 yards. Four of those completions went to Bohnsack, who finished with 148 receiving yards. Spaulding had three catches for 76 yards and Downs had a pair of receptions for 74 yards. Jaylen Brazzle caught a team-best five passes for 18 yards. Jenkins and Colin Shults also had receptions in the win.

The Bees averaged better than eight yards per play in rolling up 589 yards of total offense.

Colin Gudella led the defense with 11 total tackles, including eight solo stops. Brock Mason was credited with six tackles, and Emmanuel Howard, CJ Resto, DJ Twymon Jr., and Simi Afolarin were each in on five tackles. Caden McDermott and Nolan Obert each had four tackles. Resto had two tackles behind the line of scrimmage and broke up three passes.

SAU will look to extend its winning streak to four next week with a game at Peru State.