A strong defensive effort fueled the Benedictine Football's home-opening win Saturday.
The Ravens knocked off the Culver-Stockton College Wildcats 33-9.
The halftime lead was just 6-3 for the Ravens, but both the offense and the defense found the end zone in the second half.
Luke Laskowski somehow found Alex Blake in the back of the end zone in the third quarter, with Blake keeping concentration as the ball passed by two defenders for the second Ravens touchdown of the game.
On the Wildcats first offensive play on the ensuing drive, the Ravens defense forced a fumble that was recovered by Brett Shepardson. The Ravens offense drove in for another touchdown, capped off by a Laskowski bootleg rushing score to move in front 20-3.
Two Garrett Kettle rushes fully swung momentum in the Ravens favor; one to end the third quarter and the other to begin the fourth. The first was for 41 yards, then he opened the fourth quarter with a 17-yard touchdown run.
The Ravens final points came courtesy of the defense. Keon Boulware picked off a Trey Cloud pass in the end zone, then raced the length of the field for a touchdown.
The Wildcats added a touchdown late, but the Ravens had already seized control.
Each team struggled to find a rhythm against the opposing defense in the first half. The Ravens drove to the CSC 2-yard line in the first quarter, but a missed field goal kept the game scoreless through one period of play.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats drove deep inside Ravens territory and converted a short field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
After a Ravens punt, the defense forced the Wildcats to punt as well. The snap sailed over the CSC punter's head, giving the Ravens great field position. Laskowski found Austin Buteaux down the seam for an 8-yard touchdown pass. After a blocked extra point, the Ravens took a 6-3 lead into the halftime break.
CSC was coming off a game in which they controlled the ball. In their win against Evangel last week, the Wildcats ran 36 more plays than Evangel, picking up 17 more first downs. They managed a balanced attack in that game, picking up 257 passing yards and 241 rushing yards. Jordan Grant and Nathan Barnes led the rushing attack, accounting for 142 and 80 yards, respectively.
However, the Ravens held the Wildcats to -4 yards rushing. CSC managed 319 yards through the air, but it took 61 attempts to get there – a 5.22 yards per attempt average. The Ravens had six sacks, with Shepardson in on three and Eli Lilly in on two. Daveon Drayton picked off a Wildcats pass in the first half, too.
The Ravens offense featured 46 rushing yards by Kettle to go along with his 91 passing yards. Laskowski had 107 passing yards and 24 on the ground. Alex Blake caught five balls for 73 yards and Tre Adger had four receptions for 68 yards.
Next up for the Ravens is a trip to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on Grand View University on Saturday, Oct. 3.
--- BC Athletics ---