DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On paper, No. 1-ranked Morningside College was the clear favorite headed into Saturday NAIA National Championship game against No. 7-ranked Benedictine College Football.
Games aren't played on paper and despite falling 35-28, the Ravens showed they belonged on the biggest of stages and that they were up to the challenge presented by the Mustangs.
Benedictine struck first on their first possession of the game when Shaefer Schuetz connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Jackson. Morningside answered on their first possession scoring on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Trent Solsma to Conner Niles. At that point, the game looked poised to be a shootout.
That's when the defenses took over. An interception of Schuetz led to the second touchdown of the game for Morningside. Marquis Stewart capped off a 14-play, 78-yard drive to pull Benedictine back even with the Mustangs before a pair of Solsma interceptions led to pair of Jacob Young field goals – 24 and 34 yards respectively – to give Benedictine a 20-14 lead at the half, marking the first time this season the Mustangs found themselves trailing at the half.
Benedictine – the nation's leader in third-down conversion percentage – started strong, converting 8-of-12 third-down attempts in the first-half. While Morningside only went 3-for-7 in the first half.
Benedictine's halftime lead was short-lived as Morningside opened up the second half with two straight scoring drives to pull ahead 28-20 as the Mustangs two third-quarter touchdowns accounted for all of the scoring in the quarter.
Trailing by eight points and with Morningside driving, the Ravens defense stepped up again to get the ball back. The Mustangs went for a deep pass on a 4th and 11 play that was broken up by Jacob Boyd, giving the Ravens the ball near midfield with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Frank Trent punched in a one-yard rush with 5:49 left in the game, which was followed by a 2-point conversion pass from Schuetz to Alex Blake which tied the game at 28-28.
Morningside capitalized on a special teams miscue by Benedictine, which gave the Mustangs the ball deep inside Raven territory. Solsma found Niles for what proved to be in the game-winning touchdown on a 16-yard pass with 1:29 left to play in the game.
Benedictine finished with 436 yards off 86 plays as they rushed for 227 yards while passing for 209. Stewart finished with 168 yards off 27 carries with a touchdown while Jackson added 108 yards off five catches and a touchdown. Schuetz connected on 16 of 41 passing as he accounted for all 209 yards.
Jalen James and Brett Shepardson led the Ravens with 10 tackles each. Keegan Bell and Matt McCullough recorded an interception each. Shepardson, Dante Edwards and Konner Walker recorded the Ravens two sacks while Shepardson, Shephard, Edwards and Walker combined for the ravens four tackles for a loss.
Benedictine's rushing total was the most allowed by Morningside since their season opener when William Penn rushed for 285 yards while the Ravens 436 yards of total offense where the most given up by the Mustangs this season.
The Ravens finish their season at 13-2 setting a new program high for single-game wins.
