SIOUX CITY, Iowa – No. 7 Morningside University capped off a match up with No. 3 Benedictine Football on Saturday night, scoring the game-winning touchdown with just over 2 minutes remaining in the game.
The late 60-yard touchdown gave the Mustangs a 35-28 lead and proved to be enough to spoil the comeback effort from the Ravens as they overcame a 14-7 halftime deficit to pull ahead with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.
In the end, Morningside finished off the fourth quarter with a 15-7 scoring advantage to upset Benedictine in the fourth straight season-opening match up between the two historically-ranked programs.
The first half was relatively quiet from a scoring standpoint. Morningside scored the opening touchdown of the game with just over 5 minutes left in the first quarter before Kaden Austin capped off a 7-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. The Mustangs scored inside the final minute of the half to take a 14-7 lead into the halftime break.
The Mustangs kept the momentum through halftime, striking first in the third quarter on their third touchdown pass of the game. After blocking the extra-point, the Ravens answered with a 28-yard rushing touchdown from Xiomar Hernandez and a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Austin. After the PAT, the Ravens held their first lead of the game.
Morningside's only rushing touchdown of the game, game midway through the fourth quarter to give the Mustangs back the lead. Benedictine answered on an 18-yard rush rom Patrick Heitert with 3:51 left to play and the Morningside answer just over a minute later for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
The Ravens finished with 291 yards rushing, led by Hernandez with 143 yards off 24 carries. Heitert added 114 yards off 8 carries.
Both Heitert and Austin saw time at quarterback, with Austin finishing with 111 yards on 5 of 18 passing with an interception. Joseph Lagafuaina was the Ravens top receiver with 43 yards on 3 catches while Christian Pitts had 1 catch for 42 yards and Titan Osburn had 1 catch for 32 yards.
Osburn added 121 yards on four kickoff returns.
Defensively, Kolbe Sexton led the Ravens with 14 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss. The Ravens finished with 5 tackles for a loss of 17 yards as six players combined to the total. Trey Williams added 6 tackles while Anthony Lonergan and Dylan Witherspoon added 5 tackles each. Lonergan added an interception while Brody Morgan was credited with a forced fumble. Christian McAfee and Gabe Adams combined for 1 sack for a loss of 10 yards.
The Ravens return to the road for their Week 1 meeting, taking on Peru State College in Peru, Neb. The Bobcats opened their season at home on Saturday night, falling 51-0 to No. 1 Grand View University.
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