KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On the heels of their best offensive output of the season, Benedictine Football moved up to No. 3 in the latest STADIONIC-NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll on Monday.
Benedictine moved to 2-0 in the Heart South and 5-1 overall with a 52-14 win over Central Methodist on Saturday and finished with a total of 494 yards on offense at an average of 7.1 yards per play in the win.
The top five this week went through a little shake-up with College of Idaho remaining at No. 1 and Keiser (Fla.) remaining at No. 2. After Benedictine, Grand View was next at No. 4 followed by Montana Tech at No. 5. Indiana Wesleyan dropped from No. 3 to No. 10 after suffering a loss to current No. 8 Marian (Ind.) which allowed the Ravens and the Vikings to move up this week.
The Ravens and the Vikings are the top ranked programs out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. William Penn University dropped from No. 18 to No. 21 this week, while Baker University moved up to No. 23 this week from No. 24. MNU continues to be listed in the receiving votes category. The full Top 25 can be viewed at https://www.naia.org/news/football/five-climb-within-top-10-as-college-of-idaho-remains-no-1-in-stadionic-naia-football-top-25/.
Headed into Saturday's Heart South game with MNU, the Ravens are currently ranked eighth in the NAIA in total points with 256. They are averaging 42.7 points per game while holding opponents to just 15.9 points.
Through 7 games, Patrick Heitert ranks third in the Heart in passing yards with 985 and is fourth in both passing touchdowns (8) and passing efficiency (144.6).
Xiomar Hernandez and Heitert are both ranked in the top five in rushing. Hernandez leads the Heart South with 587 yards while Heitert is fourth with 326. Hernandez leads the Heart South with 7 rushing touchdowns while Heitert ranks third with 5.
Titan Osburn ranks fifth in the Heart South in receiving with 302 yards while he ranks third in the Heart South in all-purpose yards with 643. Hernandez ranks second in all-purpose yards with 799.
Defensively, Kolbe Sexton is third in the Heart South with 42 tackles. Isaiah Hasten ranks second in the Heart South with 4 interceptions.
Benedictine and MNU are both 2-0 in the Heart South as the kickoff at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Larry Wilcox Stadium.
