ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Third-ranked Benedictine Football scored 31 unanswered points on Saturday en route to a 52-21 win over Missouri Baptist University.
Benedictine finished with 316 yards rushing while limiting Missouri Baptist to a total of 284 yards. For the Ravens, the rushing total was the most total rushing yards for the team since the 2023 season when they rushed for 308 yards against CMU.
Missouri Baptist struck first, scoring on an 11-play 75 yard drive off the opening kickoff. Benedictine wasn't able to answer until the final 90 seconds of the first quarter, but when they finally broke through on a 1-yard rush by Jackson Dooley, it led to 24 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.
Xavier Ugorji scored on a 2-yard rush midway through the second quarter before Dooley connected on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Kameron Dover with 51 seconds remaining in the quarter. After Benedictine recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, they capped off the first half scoring with a 25-yard field goal from Christian Klobe.
Ugorji opened the second half scoring for the Ravens with his second rushing touchdown, this time from 5 yards.
After Missouri Baptist scored its second touchdown of the game, Benedictine answered with a 1-yard pass from Dooley to Tyler Watson and with a 19-yard rush from JJ Jackson to extend their lead to 34 points.
Derrick Overstreet capped off the scoring for the Raven with a 3-yard rushing touchdown inside the final 2 minutes of the game.
Ugorgi finished with 142 yards rushing on 24 carries with 2 touchdowns while Jackson added 88 yards on 7 carries. Dooley added 148 yards passing on 12 completions while Joseph Lagafuaina finished with 41 yards on 2 receptions.
Defensively, Benedictine recorded 3 sacks and a 8 tackles for a loss of 30 yards. Dylan Witherspoon led the Ravens with 7 tackles while Joseph Abrams added 4 tackles that included 1 sack and 2 tackles for a loss. Peyton Jobe and Xavier Hernandez recorded the other two tackles while Isaac Lopez was credited with the fumble recovery.
The Ravens hit the bye week with a 5-1 overall record and are now 1-0 in the Heart South after beating the Spartans. They return to action on Oct. 18, traveling to Fayette, Mo., to take on CMU before returning home on Oct. 25 for Homecoming Weekend and a game with William Woods University.
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