The No. 11 Raven football team and No. 14 Ottawa University combined for 33 possesions on Saturday afternoon on O'Malley Field in the Benedictine's 2014 home opener.
Despite 463 yards of total offense and a 47-point effort, Benedictine (1-1) lost the shootout with Ottawa (1-1) as the Braves took full advantage of six Ravens turnovers in a 59-47 win.
In the first quarter alone, the two teams combined for 35 points and after just 17 combined points in the second quarter, the Ravens found themselves trailing 31-21 at halftime.
Benedictine recorded 236 yards off 51 plays in the first half while limiting Ottawa to just 145 yards off 31 plays but the Braves held the lead after scoring 98-yard kick off return and a 34-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Each team scored twice in the third quarter which allowed Ottawa to maintain the lead and despite a 12-point scoring effort in the fourth quarter, the Ravens couldn't overcome their turnovers as the Braves extended their 10-point halftime lead to a 12-point win.
Benedictine rushed for 199 yards off 46 carries led by the 134-yard effort of Tyler Henness. Henness and Tony Albomonte scored the Ravens two rushing touchdowns, both of which came on one-yard rushes.
In just his second game as a Raven, quarterback Kyle Harmyk threw for 252 yards off 22 completions with five touchdowns. Those five touchdown passes tied the current Benedictine record for single-game touchdown passes set by Dan Van Anne vs. Culver-Stockton during the 1994 season.
Harmyk connected on touchdown passes of 17 yards twice, 18-yards, 4 yards and 22 yards.
Tim Reed led the Ravens in receiving yards with 69 yards off six receptions with a touchdown. Christian Haack caught two touchdown passes and finished with 52 yards while Damian Relieford and Josh Chamberlain were on the receiving end of Harmyk's final two touchdown passes.
Defensively, Alex Hibler led the Ravens 10 tackles while Josh Montgomery added eight. Montgomery's effort moved him closer to the 100-career tackle mark as he now just four more to break 100 as a Raven.
Tyler Landuyt and DeAndre Graves each recovered fumbles for the Ravens while Bryce Barnett and Robert Wheeler added a blocked extra point and blocked punt.
Benedictine recorded 32 first downs in the loss, which also tied a Raven record for single-game first downs. The Ravens also recorded 32 first downs in games against Lindenwood (2009), Briar Cliff (2013) and Graceland (2013).
The Ravens hit the road for their next match up as they open Heart of America Athletic Conference play at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 with a trip to Fayette, Mo., to take on Central Methodist University.
