Benedictine returns home for Senior Day for the second straight season against (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene University.
Last season, the Ravens earned a 52-7 win on Nov. 15 to send out last year's Seniors with a Heart South Championship and automatic berth in the 2025 NAIA Football Championship Series.
This year's Seniors have plenty of work remaining with three games in Heart South play against William Woods at home (Oct. 24), at Missouri Valley (Oct. 31) and at Missouri Baptist (Nov. 7) after Saturday's match up with the Pioneers.
The Ravens lead the all-time series with the Pioneers 25-16 as the two programs meet for the 33rd time in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. The Ravens are 19-14 against the Pioneers in the Heart series.
Today's game marks the second time in the last 10 meetings that the annual meeting with MNU is being played at Benedictine for the second straight season. The last time was done was in 2018 and 2019. Benedictine won both of those meetings.
WATCH: https://www.urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/3762
LISTEN: https://us7.maindigitalstream.com/3765/
LIVE STATS: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=benc
TICKETS: https://events.hometownticketing.com/boxoffice/benedictine/L2VtYmVkL2V2ZW50LzcyNw==
GAME NOTES: /documents/2026/10/16/Football_Game_Notes_-_MNU.pdf
NEWS & NOTES:
>> Benedictine not only set a new season high with 52 points in last week's 52-14 win over Central Methodist, they wracked up the most total offense this season as well. The Ravens finished with 424 total yards on offense off 70 plays. They finished the game with a 7.1-yard-per-play average.
>> Patrick Heitert finished with 261 yards off 14 of 21 passes last week in the win over CMU. That set a new Raven single-game high for him, passing his previous high of 218 yards in the win over Grand View back on Sept. 19. His previous collegiate career high before this season, stood at 179 yards off 12 of 14 when he played for Southeast Missouri State against Tennessee Tech in October of 2023.
>> Defensively, Benedictine has forced at least one turnover in every game so far this season. They have fumble recoveries against Morningside, Peru State, William Penn and Grand View. They have interceptions against Morningside, Peru State, William Penn, St. Ambrose, Baker and Central Methodist.
>> Benedictine currently has two players in the top five in rushing so far this season on the Heart South leader board. Xiomar Hernandez leads the way with 587 yards at 5.5 yards per carry and 83.9 yards per game. Patrick Heitert is fifth at 326 yards at 4.3 per carry and 46.6 yards per game.
>> Matthew Potucek leads the Pioneers in tackles this season. Through 7 games, he has 43 tackles – which is tied for the lead in the Heart South. The Pioneers have the top four ranked defenders in solo tackles in Potucek (31), Malaki Bouchard (25), Deon Burtin (24) and Kevin Ladesma-Garcia (24). Terry Vester is ranked second in the Heart South in tackles or a loss with 6. He has a total of 19 this season.
>> Isaiah Hasten earned his second Heart Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Monday for Benedictine. Hasten recorded a blocked punt and also recovered another blocked punt and returned it for a touchdown. Headed into the game with MNU, Hasten now has 4 interceptions this season to move his career total to 16. He needs one more to tie the program's all-time record.
>> The MNU-Benedictine series has featured an NAIA record-setting performance. In the 70-58 loss to Benedictine inside Larry Wilcox Stadium back on Nov. 13, 2021, MNU's Adrian Parsons threw for 659 yards on 33 of 54 passing to set the NAIA regular-season record for passing yards.
>> A win for either team puts them in the driver's seat for the Heart South title. The Ravens and the Pioneers have competed for the Heart South title for the past four seasons. The Pioneers would have a tougher road to an outright title, as they have yet to play (23) Baker, which takes place on Oct. 31 in Baldwin City. Benedictine beat Baker the last time out inside Larry Wilcox Stadium 34-32 and the three remaining games are against opponents with a combined record of 8-9.
UP NEXT:
Benedictine remains at home next week, Oct. 24, hosting William Woods University for the annual Homecoming Game at 1 p.m.
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