No. 2 Benedictine Football team turned another dominant performance Saturday afternoon at Larry Wilcox Stadium, rolling past William Woods University 67-0 in Heart South play.
The Ravens (8-1, 4-0 Heart) scored touchdowns in all four quarters, building a 33-0 halftime lead before adding 34 more points in the second half. The Raven defense kept the Owls (4-5, 1-3 Heart) off the scoreboard throughout the contest – marking the second shutout of the season – while the offense finished with a new high of 628 total yards.
Quarterback Patrick Heitert led the offensive attack, completing 17 of 28 passes for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns. Benedictine had 11 players contribute to their ground attack, rushing for a new season high of 299 yards on 39 carries. While the offense was rolling, the defense forced 3 interceptions, forced 3 fumbles and limited William Woods to 164 yards of total offense – a season low.
The Ravens opened the scoring on their first possession as Brendan Haisenleder capped a seven-play, 41-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. Christian Klobe added the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 11:07 remaining in the first quarter.
Benedictine doubled its lead later in the quarter when Heitert connected with Titan Osburn on a 33-yard touchdown pass, pushing the Ravens ahead 14-0.
The Ravens continued to build their advantage in the second quarter. Xiomar Hernandez scored on a 4-yard run to cap a 13-play, 62-yard drive before Heitert found Joseph Lagafuaina for a 35-yard touchdown on the first play of Benedictine's next possession.
Cooper Hajek added a 3-yard touchdown run with 4:39 remaining before halftime, giving Benedictine a commanding 33-0 lead at the break.
Benedictine carried that momentum into the second half, scoring on its opening possession of the third quarter. A 47-yard completion from Heitert to Lagafuaina helped set up Haisenleder's second rushing touchdown of the afternoon, this time from 1 yard out, extending the lead to 40-0.
The Ravens added another touchdown later in the quarter when Edward Swisloski recovered a fumble in the end zone following a Benedictine rushing play. Kylar Haarhuis converted the extra point to make it 47-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
Benedictine added three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Robbie Sharp scored on an 8-yard touchdown run before Brody Morgan returned a blocked punt 15 yards for a touchdown. Carter Salzman capped the scoring with a 46-yard touchdown run, capping off the Ravens scoring efforts.
Benedictine averaged 9.1 yards per play and recorded 36 first downs en route to their season-high offensive efforts.
Hernandez led the Ravens rushing attack with 63 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Heitert added 65 yards on five carries, while Haisenleder finished with 50 yards and two touchdowns on eight attempts.
Lagafuaina led the receiving corps with four catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, while Osburn added three receptions for 66 yards and a another score.
Defensively, Benedictine held William Woods to just 70 rushing yards and 94 passing yards. The Ravens three interceptions came from Anthony Lonergan, Dylan Witherspoon and Luis Vasquez.
Xzavier Woods led Benedictine with seven tackles, while Ben Gilliland and Witherspoon finished with five tackles each.
Saturday's win marked the end of the home portion of the regular-season schedule for the Ravens. They head out on the road for the next two weeks before a bye on the final Saturday of the regular season. The first road trip is to Marshall, Mo., next week against Missouri Valley College.
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