FAYETTE, Mo. – (18) Benedictine Football opened up Heart South play with a convincing win over Central Methodist University on Saturday.
The Ravens wracked up 565 total yards on offense, while defensively holding the Eagles to 225 total yards en route to a 59-21 win.
The offensive attack was as balanced as it had been all season, rushing for a new season-high 308 yards. While the Ravens rushing attack came up big, the Ravens rushing defense answered the call as well, holding the Eagles to negative yards rushing. CMU rushed the ball 23 times, losing 44 yards on those carries to finish in the red on the ground.
Benedictine opens the game with 28 straight points. Jackson Dooley started the scoring with a 2-yard pass to Tanner Zimmerman, followed by a 38-yard pass to Jacob Gathright. Shawn Wara added a 1-yard rush before Kaden Austin connected with Zimmerman on a 5-yard pass to make it 28-0 just inside 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Wara added his second rushing touchdown in the final seconds of the half to give Benedicite a 35-7 lead at the break.
CMU opened the second half with a pair of touchdowns that were answered by 24 points from Benedictine to finish off the Eagles.
Wara scored on a 42-yard rush to open the second-half scoring run. The next two scores came through the air as Dooley hit Gathright twice on a 21-yard and 35-yard pass. Harry Balke capped off the scoring with a 38-yard field with 2:50 remaining in the game.
Wara finished with 142 yards on 12 carries while Dalton Witherspoon added 112 yards on 17 carries. Dooley went 12 of 17 for 200 yards while Austin went 7 of 12 for 57 yards. Gathright led the receivers with 162 yards on 7 receptions, averaging 23.1 yards per reception.
Defensively, the Ravens finished with 12 tackles for a total loss of 44 yards. Javhi Bloomquist and Carson Anderson finished with 5 tackles each. The duo combined with Jared Herron, Cole Johnson, Blue Caplinger, Tim Glaser, Zachary LaCombe, Xavier Hernandez, and Health Baker to record a tackle for a loss. Anderson, Johnson, Glaser, and Baker combined for 3 sacks for a loss of 19 yards while Joel Mewis added an interception with a 34-yard return that set up the Ravens final touchdown of the game.
Benedictine returns to O'Malley Field on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. as they host Missouri Valley College as part of the annual Homecoming Weekend.
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