Mustangs Fall Short in Final Moments

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The season opener for the Morningside University football team came down to a few inches at the end.

Nineteenth-ranked Benedictine College secured a 48-45 victory over the 10th-ranked Mustangs at Elwood Olsen Stadium on Saturday, with the Ravens' defense making a crucial stop on the last play of the game. 

Morningside (0-1) erased a 28-3 deficit to tie the game at 38-38. The Ravens scored 21 points right away on the Mustangs with a 30-yard interception return, a 40-yard run and a 17-yard pass play.

Morningside tied it at 38-38 with 11:33 remaining in the game on a Zack Chevalier five-yard pass to Lennx Brown, and then Griffin Kraft caught the two-point conversion.

Here's how the Mustangs closed the gap on the Ravens:

The Mustangs got on the board with 10 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter with a 29-yard field goal from Kyair Johnston.

Morningside's scoring run started with a seven-yard touchdown reception by Brown from quarterback Zack Chevalier. That ended an eight-play, 69-yard drive.

Then, Ryan Cole ended a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a two-yard run that made the score 28-17 with 1:10 left in the second half.

Benedictine (1-0) scored with another defensive touchdown early in the third quarter, but the Mustangs responded less than 2 minutes later with a 19-yard connection by Chevalier and Jakob Nelson.

The next scoring play came from Brown, as the Council Bluffs native ran the ball in from the Benedictine 1 with 6:47 left in the third quarter. That ended a six-play, 30-yard drive. That reeled the Mustangs to a 35-30 deficit.

The Ravens began the fourth quarter with a 24-yard field goal, bringing the score to 38-30. Later, with 6:59 remaining, they broke the 38-all tie with a 22-yard field goal.

Cole earned his second rushing touchdown from 2 yards out, as Morningside took its first lead. That play ended a 63-yard march that took 3:20 off the clock.

The Ravens regained the lead with a 29-yard pass from Jackson Dooley to Jacob Gathright, putting them ahead 48-45.

The Mustangs went down the field late with 55 seconds left. Chevalier was 5 of 9 passing in that drive, and Brown's penultimate run play put the Mustangs at the Ravens' 1 with 4 seconds left.

Brown tried to reach the ball across the goal line, but the Raven's front line stopped the Mustangs, and ended the game.

Morningside outpaced the Ravens in total yardage, 588-489. Most of those came in the air, as Chevalier threw for 521 yards. He completed 36 of 60 passes and three touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions.

Chevalier's top target was Brown. The quarterback-turned-wide receiver caught 11 passes for 122 yards. Drew Sellon collected the most yards with 126 yards on nine catches. Senior Zach Norton also had 105 yards on seven catches.

Cole led the rushing attack, as the senior from Plymouth, Iowa, ran for 44 yards on 20 carries. Jaylen Burch had three carries for 19 yards, while Brown had three touches for four yards.

Dijion Walls had 10 total tackles for Morningside, four of them solo. He also broke up two passes.

Morningside had three tackles for loss for nine yards.

The Mustangs' next game is at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at Concordia. Their next home game is 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, against Doane.