Football bounces back with 45-14 win over St. Ambrose University

DAVENPORT, Iowa – No. 14 Benedictine Football renewed its series with St. Ambrose University for the first time in the modern era of Raven Football on Saturday afternoon.

Benedictine (3-1) scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Dooley to JaShawn Todd on their first offensive play of the game en route to a 45-14 win in the first meeting between the Fighting Bees and the Ravens since 1959. Benedictine now sits at 4-2-1 against St. Ambrose with four straight wins.

The Ravens set a new mark for total offense in the win over the Bees with 555 yards on 73 plays. They finished with 473 yards through the air as St. Ambrose couldn't find an answer to keep the Ravens air attack grounded. Benedictine completed passes to 14 players, and Dooley finished with 451 yards on 23 of 40 passing.

Not to be outdone by Todd's 75-yard touchdown play to open the game, Jacob Gathright caught an 83-yard pass from Dooley late in the first quarter to push Benedictine's lead to 17-0. Todd caught his second touchdown pass of the first half early in the second quarter to send the Ravens into the locker room leading 24-0 at halftime.

The Ravens scored three more touchdowns in the second half. The two third-quarter touchdowns came through the air as Dooley connected on a pair of 11-yard touchdowns to Lebron Jackson and Ethan Peratt. Dooley finished on a touchdown pass shy of the Ravens single-game record.

Dalton Witherspoon capped off the Ravens scoring for the day during the fourth quarter with a 1-yard rushing touchdown that capped off a 9-play, 41-yard drive.

Todd finished with 112 yards on 2 catches while Gathright added 108 yards on 2 receptions.

Harry Balke connected on a 35-yard first-quarter field and converted 6 PATs.

Defensively, the Ravens finished with 7 sacks for a loss of 60 yards and a total of 8 tackles for a loss of 64 yards. The sack total was the most for the Ravens since the 2020 season. Jared Herron led the Ravens with 7 tackles as he led the team with 2 tackles for a loss and a sack. Fabian Njika added 4 tackles, recording a sack and tackle for a loss. 

The Ravens will take on their third NAIA-ranked opponent at home on Saturday for Family Weekend as they host No. 17 Baker University at 1 p.m. at Larry Wilcox Stadium.

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