Football Falls to No. 7 Benedictine on Homecoming

Marshall, Mo., (Oct. 26, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College football team hosted No. 7 Benedictine in a Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division contest for Homecoming Saturday afternoon inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.  The Vikings scored a pair of late touchdowns in the first half, but fell by a final score of 38-14.

Benedictine opened with the game's first possession, and moved into the Viking side of the field.  However, the defense forced a punt, and MVC started the team's first drive deep in their own territory.  Senior Running Back Rondarius Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.) picked up 28 yards on four rushing attempts on the drive, but the possession stalled and Senior Punter Justin Bridges (Park Hills, Mo.) got off a 36-yard punt.  The Missouri Valley defense forced a three-and-out, helped by a tackle-for-loss from Senior Defensive Back Taylor Hunt (Roxie, Miss.).  The two teams traded punts through much of play in the quarter, until BC started a drive near midfield with less than two minutes remaining.

The drive featured two plays for the Ravens, and ended on a 38-yard touchdown pass to put MVC in a 7-0 deficit.  The Vikings moved into BC territory on its ensuing drive, which went into the second quarter of play.  The team picked up a pair of first downs, but eventually punted back to Benedictine.  A 36-yard punt from Bridges pinned the Ravens back at their own 10-yard line.  Benedictine worked quickly, and ran off five plays to go the length of the field, and increase the team's advantage to 14-0 at the 10-minute mark.

After another Missouri Valley punt, the Ravens gained possession at their own 28-yard line.  The team ran off seven plays that covered the 72 yards and put the Vikings in a 21-0 deficit with under five minutes to play in the half.  The Vikings committed the game's first turnover on their ensuing drive, as a fumble was recovered by BC and taken back to the Missouri Valley 14-yard line.  However, the Ravens were unable to take advantage of the short-field, and a pass towards the endzone on the drive's second play was deflected and intercepted by Senior Defensive Back Kobe Windham (Petal, Miss.).  Windham returned the interception 98 yards for a touchdown.  Freshman Kicker Bruno Kincaid (Spain) added the extra-point, and MVC cut its deficit to 21-7 with just over two minutes remaining on the clock.

The next drive for Benedictine featured another three-and-out stop by the Viking defense, helped by a tackle-for-loss from Senior Defensive Lineman Ethan Towers (Chicago, Ill.).  Taking over near midfield, Missouri Valley put together a drive.  Freshman Quarterback Cole Robertson (Kansas City, Mo.) connected on a pair of pass plays.  The first was a 33-yard reception from Freshman Wide Receiver Malik Brown (Tampa, Fla.), followed by a seven-yard reception from Sophomore Wide Receiver Adonis Whitley (St. Louis, Mo.), and put the team at the opponent's eight-yard line.  Robertson ended the drive on the next play, scrambling for eight yards into the endzone for a touchdown.  Kincaid added the extra-point, and the gap was cut to 21-14.

With one minute remaining until the break, the Ravens strung together a late scoring drive, using up what was left on the clock, and adding a 42-yard field goal as time expired to extend the team's advantage.  Missouri Valley went into halftime trailing, 24-14.

Missouri Valley received the kickoff to open the third quarter, but was stopped on a third-down conversion attempt.  Lining up in punt formation at its own 34-yard line, Sophomore Defensive Lineman Noah Carr (Kissimmee, Fla.) took the snap, and the team converted on fourth down, using a fake punt, as Carr gained 17 yards.  However, the drive stalled from there, and MVC punted to Benedictine, which started a drive at its own 14-yard line.  The Ravens used a big pass play to tack on another score, as a 70-yard reception led to a touchdown and made it 31-14 with just over five minutes played in the quarter. 

The teams traded scoreless possessions through the rest of the third quarter.  Hunt intercepted a pass near midfield to help start a Viking drive, but the possession ended when a fourth-and-one conversion attempt was stopped at the BC 29-yard line.  Missouri Valley picked up multiple first downs on a drive late in the third quarter.  Robertson connected with Sophomore Wide Receiver Eddie Strong (Middletown, Ct.) on a 16-yard completion to convert a third-and-long situation.  Later in the drive a personal foul penalty on the defense pushed the team to the BC 19-yard line.  The Vikings settled for a 38-yard field goal, but the attempt went wide of the uprights, and the team continued to trail, 31-14 at the start of the final quarter of play.

Benedictine extended its lead midway through the quarter, capping an eight-play, 46-yard drive.  Missouri Valley was unable to work down its deficit through the rest of play, and eventually fell by a final score of 38-14.

Gregory totaled 83 rushing yards on 21 attempts, and added four kickoff returns for 85 yards to sit with 168 all-purpose yards in the game.  Robertson had 183 yards on 16 of 28 passing.  Brown finished with three receptions for 76 yards and Strong added four receptions for 38 yards.

Defensively, Senior Defensive Back Bryan Sarente (Sacramento, Calif.) led with seven tackles, while Windham had six tackles and the 98-yard interception return for a touchdown.  Senior Defensive Back DJ Dailey (Ocala, Fla.) and Senior Linebacker Keaton Fitzgerald (Sikeston, Mo.) each added five tackles.  Hunt had two tackles and one interception.  For his play in the game, Windham was named the Ted Chittwood Award winner as the Most Outstanding Senior in the Homecoming game.

Bridges finished with a 34.8 yards per punt average on nine punts, pinning three punts inside the 20-yard line.  Kincaid made both extra-point attempts.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Heart South Division.  Benedictine improves to 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in the division.

Up next, the Viking football team travels to St. Louis, Mo., for a Heart South Division contest with Missouri Baptist.  Kickoff is 1 p.m., Nov. 2.

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About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.