A foothold on the Heart North title was on the line on Saturday afternoon as the No. 11-ranked Raven football team hosted No. 6 Grand View University on O'Malley Field.
Benedictine (8-2, 3-1 Heart North) overcame four turnovers to launch a fourth-quarter comeback that came up short as Grand View (9-1, 4-0 Heart North) was able to hang on for the three-point win, 30-27.
The Ravens outscored the Vikings 30-10 in the second half but were unable to overcome the 14-point second quarter by Grand View that allowed the Vikings to hang on for the win.
While Benedictine did turn the ball over four times - one fumble and three interceptions - the Vikings were unable to directly capitalize on any of the turnovers they caused.
Defensively, the Ravens were able to limited the Vikings to two field goals in the first quarter as they took a 7-6 lead into the second off a touchdown pass from Shaefer Schuetz to Alex Blake.
Grand View's two second-quarter touchdowns came on a pass and rush, the last of which came inside the final minute as the Vikings took a 20-7 lead into the half.
After the Vikings struck first in the third quarter, Benedictine launched their comeback.
Marquis Stewart scored on a 4-yard rush to start the comeback. Schuetz connected on a 33-yard pass to Jameel Kirkland for the Ravens first square of the fourth quarter before the Vikings added a 24-yard field goal, their third of the day.
Schuetz found Blake for the second time on what proved to be Benedictine's final points of the game, this time on a 10-yard pass to pull the Ravens within three.
The Ravens finished the game with 113 yards off 30 carries while Schuetz added 213 yards off 15 completions. Kirkland finished with 129 yards off 6 catches while Blake added 29 yards off four catches.
Defensively, Tyler Thrasher led the Ravens with 11 tackles while Jalen James added 9. Tanner Lueckenhoff recorded the Ravens lone sack on the day while as a unit, the defense finished with six tackles for a loss of 16 yards.
Benedictine will wrap up the regular season next week with a trip to Peru, Neb., to take on the Peru State College Bobcats in the historic Oak Bowl on the Peru State campus. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.
