OZARK, Mo. – The No. 12-ranked Raven Football team drove down the field late in the game on Saturday only to have their last-second effort to tie the game come up short as (RV) Evangel University (3-0) was able to hold on for a 28-21 upset over Benedictine (2-1).
With the win, Evangel has upsets over three NAIA Top 25-ranked opponents in (22) Southwestern Assemblies of God University, (10) Grand View University and Benedictine.
After the Crusaders scored on their first possession of the game, the Ravens answered with 14 straight to end the first quarter. Marquis Stewart scored both touchdowns on runs of one yard and 80 yards – 16 yards shy of the program record for longest rushing play held by former Raven Chris Tabor against Minnesota-Morris University during the 1991 season.
Evangel added their second touchdown of the game with just under five minutes left in the second quarter to send the game into halftime tied at 14.
The score remained tied until late in the third quarter when Evangel scored their third touchdown to take a 21-14 lead into the final 15 minutes of play. They added their final score of the game with just under 10 minutes left in the game to pull ahead by two touchdowns over the Ravens.
Benedictine answered with just under four minutes remaining on a third rushing touchdown by Stewart, this time from 19-yards.
After forcing an Evangel punt, the Ravens got the ball back with just under two minutes left to play at their own 42 yard line. They managed to get down to the Evangel nine-yard line with six seconds left to play where used their final timeout. With Crusder defenders pressuring, Shaefer Schuetz was able to get off one final pass to Stewart who was stopped at the two-yard line to end the game and the Ravens comeback effort.
Stewart finished the game with 279 yards of total offense as he rushed the ball 18 times for 178 yards with five catches for 101 yards. Scheutz finished with 317 yards off 23 of 31 passing with one interception.
Defensively, Tyler Thrasher led the way with 10 tackles including one of the Ravens four for a loss. Jalen James added nine tackle with two for a loss. Dante Edwards finished with one sack while Keegan Bell added two pass breakups to go along with his eight tackles.
The Ravens are off this next week, giving them two weeks to prepare for their Family Weekend match on Sept. 22 against MNU.
