WICHITA – Benedictine Football advanced to its second straight NAIA Football Championship Series Semifinal on Saturday with a 24-18 win over Friends University.
Trey Williams deflected a pitch in the backfield and recovered the ball with 3 seconds remaining on the game on a fourth-down play by Friends to seal the win for Benedictine.
The Falcons entered the game on Saturday against the Ravens with the top rushing offense in the NAIA at 473.0 yards per game and the best scoring average in the NAIA at 57.7 points per game. The Ravens limited them to their lowest scoring total since Second Round loss to Grand View on Nov. 30, 2024. The Falcons finished with 338 yards rushing on 64 carries - also their lowest since the season-ending loss last year to Grand View.
Benedictine jumped out to a 10-0 lead over Friends by the end of the first quarter. The Ravens scored on their opening drive of 74 yards on 6 plays as Xavier Ugorgi scored on a 39-yard rush. After Christian Klobe converted his first PAT, he added a 22-yard field goals with 22 seconds in the quarter to give the Ravens the 10-point lead.
Each team scored in the second quarter, with the Ravens scoring less than a minute off the Falcons touchdown. Jackson Dooley connected on a 49-yard pass to Titan Osborn that capped off a 2-play, 56 yard drive to give Benedictine a 17-7 lead with 10:31 left in the half.
After combining for 24 first-half points, the two teams only managed 18 points in the second half.
Dooley connected on his second passing touchdown of the game, this time to Isaiah Hasten, on a 13-yard pass with 4:02 left in the third quarter. Friends answered with 15 seconds left in the third and after a successful 2-point conversion, trailed Benedictine 24-15 headed into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons scored the only points of the fourth quarter on a 37-yard field goal, and that's where the game ended offensively.
Ugorgji finished with 153 of Benedictine's 203 rushing yards to earn the Offensive Player of the Game honors. Dooley went 12 of 21 for 149 yards while Osburn finished with 56 yards on 3 receptions.
Defensively, Ben Gilliland led the Ravens with 13 tackles. Anthony Lonergan and Isaac Lopez finished with 8 tackles each with Lonergan coming up with a second quarter interception that allowed the Ravens to maintain their 10-point lead late in the quarter. For his effort. Lonergan was named the Defensive Player of the Game. Lopez also added 1 tackle for a loss while Dylan Witherspoon finished added the second. Williams finished with 6 tackles to go along with his deflection and game-sealing fumble recovery.
The Ravens advance to the NAIA Football Championship Semifinals on Dec. 13, where they will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to take top-seeded Grand View University for a chance to play in the NAIA National Championship Game in Fort Worth, Texas on Dec. 20. Kickoff time for the Ravens-Vikings Semifinal has not been set.
Benedictine traveled to Grand View during week one this season with the Vikings holding on for a 27-24 win.
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