September 24, 2011

Second Quarter Spurt Sends Ravens Past Bobcats, 47-21

PERU, Neb. - Junior QB Bill Noonan threw for four first-half touchdowns, three of those to junior wideout Geoff Akpom, to lead #13 Benedictine to a 47-21 win over host Peru State, Saturday afternoon in Heart of America Athletic Conference play at the Oak Bowl.

Noonan was 10-of-17 for 165 yards in the first half and connected on scoring throws of 6, 18 and 14 yards in the second quarter to turn a 7-7 deadlock into a 26-7 lead.

"Those guys are going to be real important for us, Akpom and also Jordan Jackson," said head coach Larry Wilcox, whose team has outscored Peru State, 79-0, in the second quarter of the last five meetings dating back to the 2007 season. "Jackson had two touchdowns last week and that's the combination that we need to be clicking."

The Benedictine offense had its defense and special teams to thank for outstanding field position in the opening half as the Ravens' worst starting position was its own 35-yard line while six possessions started inside Peru State territory.

"It's been fun to see our defense play to this point this year," said Wilcox, whose defensive unit had not allowed a touchdown in 2011 until Ryan Ludlow scored on a 1-yard run with nine seconds left in the first quarter. "They've done a lot of good things and we got a lot of kids into the game today. That first group has been solid throughout and we're doing to need that as we get further and further into the season."

The Ravens scored 26-straight points in the second quarter, including a 47-yard pass from Noonan to Tanner Cady with 34 seconds left before halftime, to take a 33-7 lead. After a scoreless 3rd quarter, Cameron Fore scored his second touchdown of the day on a 4-yard run following an interception by Chris MacLean that he returned to the Peru State 11-yard line.

Peru State showed some life in the 4th quarter, scoring a pair of touchdowns to keep things interesting. Quentin Edelman followed the Fore touchdown with a 88-yard kickoff return that the Bobcats converted into a 8-yard pass from Tyler Francis to Joel Woodhead. Francis then hit Lance Steffen from 9 yards out to make it 40-21 with 9:44 remaining.

The Ravens stemmed the tide and put the game away with their most impressive drive of the day on the ensuing possesion. A 13-play, 71-yard series that chewed up 6:02 came to an end as Javon Coleman scored from 7 yards to complete the scoring.

Noonan finished the day 11-of-23 for 169 yards with one interception before giving way to Josh Hoeft in the fourth quarter. Akpom had 7 catches for 89 yards to lead the Ravens' receiving corps while Kevon McGrew carried 18 times for 83 yards.

Francis completed 22-of-39 for 222 yards and two scores against four interceptions. His favorite target on the day was Cole Gottula, who matched Akpom with 7 catches for 106 yards.

Benedictine (3-0, 2-0) is home next Saturday, October 1 against Evangel with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m. Peru State (1-2, 1-2) is on the road at Graceland with start time set for 2:00 p.m.