Football Falls to No. 18 Benedictine on the Road

Atchison, Kan., (Oct. 21, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College football team traveled to Atchison, Kan., for a Saturday afternoon Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division contest with No. 18 Benedictine (Kan.).  The Vikings stayed close in the first half, but fell by a final score of 31-7.

The two teams traded punts on their respective opening possession, and Benedictine started its second drive near midfield.  The Ravens worked quickly, scoring on the second play of the drive to go on top, 7-0, with just over six minutes played.  Missouri Valley followed with a first down on its next possession, but had the drive stall and result in a punt from Senior Punter Justin Bridges (Park Hills, Mo.).

Benedictine responded with a 10-play drive that covered 63 yards and moved the MVC deficit to 14-0 with less than one minute remaining in the first quarter.  Missouri Valley punted the ball away at the start of the second quarter, and the defense forced its first three-and-out of the game.

Missouri Valley took over possession near midfield, and quickly moved into BC territory on a 12-yard pass completion from Senior Quarterback Tionne Harris (St. Louis, Mo.) to Junior Wide Receiver Khaleel Dampier (Columbia, Mo.).  Later in the drive, Harris connected with Junior Wide Receiver Nate Pouliot (Clearwater, Fla.) on a 14-yard gain, and Senior Running Back Jeremiah Bryant (Atwood, Tenn.) picked up a 44-yard rushing gain to reach the one-yard line.  The drive was capped on a Harris completion to Dampier for a touchdown.  Junior Kicker Justin Keller (Shawnee, Kan.) added the extra-point, and MVC made it a 14-7 score with less than nine minutes to play in the half.

The ensuing drive for the Ravens was halted on another three-and-out, and Missouri Valley moved its next possession into Benedictine territory.  However, the drive ended on a fumble that was recovered by BC with six minutes remaining until halftime.  The Vikings defense came up with another stop, as Junior Linebacker Eddie Rankin IV (Bay Area, Calif.) and Senior Defensive Back Johnathan Bailey (North Las Vegas, Nev.) teamed up on a tackle-for-loss to help bring about a punt to end the Raven drive.

After the teams traded punts late in the second quarter, Missouri Valley started a drive at its own 17-yard line with one minute remaining.  Harris picked up a pair of first downs early in the drive, first on a 10-yard rushing attempt, then on a 14-yard completion to Senior Wide Receiver Dorian Miles (Gwinnett Co. Ga.).  The Vikings eventually reached Benedictine territory, but could not finish off the drive with a score, as time ran out, and the teams went into halftime at 14-7.

The second half started with a drive for Missouri Valley.  Harris converted on a third-down try with a 10-yard completion to Pouliot.  Later in the drive, Harris completed a pass to Miles for 12 yards, then Harris gained 13 yards on a rushing attempt.  Missouri Valley eventually faced a fourth-and-five situation at the BC 27-yard line, but the conversion attempt failed, and the ball was turned over on downs.  Benedictine followed with a touchdown, pushing its lead out to 21-7, with seven minutes played in the quarter.

Missouri Valley again moved the ball deep into Raven territory, as Bryant gained 34 yards on the grounds.  For the second-straight possession, the drive ended on a fourth down conversion attempt which failed, and Benedictine took over at its own 20-yard line with less than three minutes to play in the quarter.   The Ravens carried the ensuing possession into the fourth quarter, and took nearly nine minutes off the clock.  The drive ended with a touchdown to push the gap to 24-7 with nine minutes to play in the game.

The next Viking drive featured 10 plays, but came to an end on an interception that was returned for a touchdown to push the score out to 31-7 with just over four minutes remaining in the contest.  Missouri Valley had one more possession, and for the third time in the half, faced a fourth down situation inside BC territory.  The conversion failed, and the ball went back to the Ravens.  Benedictine ran out the remaining seconds off the clock, and the Vikings fell by a final score of 31-7.

Harris had 149 yards passing on 17 completions and one touchdown.  He added 20 yards rushing.  Bryant totaled 101 yards rushing on 18 carries.  He topped 100 yards for the fourth time this season.  Pouliot had four catches for 42 yards, and Miles had three catches for 42 yards.  Dampier finished with six catches for 40 yards and one touchdown.

Rankin IV led with seven tackles and half a tackle-for-loss.  Senior Linebacker Craig Travis (Kansas City, Mo.) totaled six tackles and one tackle-for-loss. Freshman Defensive Lineman Tametrius Hunt (Atlanta, Ga.) added four tackles and one tackle-for-loss.

Bridges finished with a 32.3 yards per punt average on four punts with a long of 40 yards.  Dampier had three kickoff returns for 39 yards.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the Heart South Division.  Benedictine improves to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the division.

Up next, the Viking football team travels to Fayette, Mo., for a Heart South Division game with Central Methodist (Mo.), Oct. 28, with kickoff at 1 p.m.

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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.