Poor first quarter spells doom as Pride fall to Ravens
ATCHISON, Kan. - Traveling away from Dubuque for their week two matchup against their first oppenent in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, the Clarke University football team fell to No. 7 Benedictine College 63-14 on Saturday afternoon.
The Pride started with the ball and put together a bit of momentum behind a third and six completion from Kenyon Williams to Jaquan Graham that picked up 25 yards and a first down in Benedictine territory but stalled to punt it away.
Williams found himself back behind center after moving from quarterback to receiver in the offseason as starter Brandon Mueller suffered an injury in CU's opener as the Clarke coaching staff decided to go with the ssenior who saw action in seven of the team's 11 games in 2022 and started 10 of 11 games in 2021 over Malik Inabinette, who played the entire second half last week.
The San Diego, Calif. native finished going 12-of-26 with 146 yards in the air while also rushing for a team-high 53 yards including a two-yard touchdown run while Graham caught three balls for 75 yards including a 31-yard completion on top of that 25-yard snag in the opening drive.
Sophomore running back Jaden Warren averaged over six yards per carry but only ran the ball six times with CU trailing most of the game as Warren finished with 37 yards on those six carries that included the first score of the game for Clarke with a 25-yard scamper in the second quarter.
Once they got their hands on the ball, the Ravens would show off their quick score ability as they gained 20 yards on their first pass play then completed a 63-yard touchdown from Jackson Dooley to Jacob Gathright to take a 7-0 lead in a two-play 83-yard drive.
Dooley finished with 304 yards on 13-for-17 passing with five touchdown strikes before giving way to Luke Laskowski who threw a pair of touchdowns of his own to finish with 141 yards in the air. Gathright led all players with 109 receiving yards on just four catches with his touchdown catch as the Ravens spread the ball around for six different players getting into the end zone with receptions.
Before you could blink, the Ravens would get to a 35-point lead before the end of the first quarter that included another two-play scoring drive and two one-play touchdown drives as they started those three drives in plus territory on the Clarke side of the 50 yard line.
Pride football will remain on the road next week as they'll have a Sept. 9 reunion with a familiar face when they go to Baldwin City, Kan. to face Baker University for an 11:00 a.m. CT kickoff against the Wildcats.