Benedictine plays its second straight home game inside Larry Wilcox Stadium as the welcome back No. 23 Baker University to open up Heart South play.
Today's game is the Heart-UEN Clash of the Week as the Ravens are featured in the pairing for the third time this season. They beat William Penn 40-7 back on Sept. 12 in their first appearance, and followed that up the next week on the road, beating Grand View University on Sept. 19, 21-17.
This is the first time the Wildcats will be featured in the Clash of the Week this season as they enter at 4-0 and coming off an impressive 56-14 win over Heart North opponent Culver-Stockton College. Baker played in two Heart-UEN Clash of the Week games during the 2025 season and went 0-2 in both games.
WATCH: https://www.urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2717 - BRSN feed courtesy of UEN.
LISTEN: KAIR 93.7 https://us7.maindigitalstream.com/3765/
LIVE STATS: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=benc
Today marks the annual Football Alumni Day game with teams from 1976, 1991, and 2001 being honored during a special halftime ceremony. The Ravens return to the road next week, traveling to Fayette, Mo., for a 6 p.m. game against Central Methodist University for the second Heart South game of the season.
FULL GAME NOTES: /documents/2026/10/2/Football_Game_Notes_-_Baker.pdf
NEWS & NOTES
>> Benedictine earned a shutout last weekend on O'Malley Field, the first of the 2026 campaign under head coach Joel Osborn. That marked the first shutout for Benedictine in the previous 20 games dating back to the end of the 2024 season when they beat William Woods 86-0.
>> Under Coach Osborn, the Ravens have "pitched a shutout" a total of five times. In October of 2022, they beat Central Methodist 47-0. During the 2021 season, the Ravens recorded two shutouts – Sept. 8, 68-0, over Clarke and again on Nov. 6, 34-0, over former Heart member Evangel.
>> Headed into Heart South play, Baker is second in the NAIA in defensive scoring. Through four games, the Wildcats have limited their opponents to just 6.8 points per game. Benedictine is also ranked in the top 10 in the NAIA, entering the game with the Wildcats at No. 7. They have held opponents to 13.0 points over their five games.
>> Baker quarterback Sam Heggeman is the current Heart Offensive Player of the Week. Heggeman went 23 of 30 for 373 yards with 5 touchdowns. He also rushed for 18 yards off 3 carries. Headed into play with Benedictine, Heggeman leads the NAIA in passing efficiency at 204.4.
>> Baker's Adrian Seals has become Heggeman's top target this season. Seals ranks fifth in the NAIA in receiving yards with a total of 529 in four games. He is averaging 132.3 yards per game with an average of 6.8 per catch and has 6 touchdown receptions.
>> Benedictine's Xiomar Hernandez continues to have a solid season on the ground for the Ravens. He has rushed for 436 yards (NAIA No. 11) on 82 carries at 5.3 yards per carry. He has a 6 rushing touchdowns so far this season and is coming off rushing for 70 yards off 11 carries in last week's win over St. Ambrose where the Ravens finished with 207 yards off 39 carries.
>> Isaiah Hasten recorded his second interception of the season last Saturday in the win over St. Ambrose and is currently tied for 14th in the NAIA with 2 interceptions this season. He now has 14 career interceptions with his next moving him into a tie for fourth all time with former Raven Bryon Hughey (1999-2003). The career record for interceptions is held by Scott Miller (1987-1990) at 17.
>> Among the NAIA leaders in red-zone scoring, Benedictine is 22 of 27 at 81 percent heading into Heart South play. Baker is 16 of 20 for 80 percent. In comparison, the leaders in the category are College of Idaho at 18 of 20, (90 percent) and Dakota State (SD) at 20 or 22 (90 percent).
www.ravenathletics.com | #UnelashGreatness | www.benedictine.edu
