WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 4-ranked Friends University Falcons saw their historic season come to a heartbreaking conclusion with a 24-18 loss to the No. 5-ranked Benedictine College Ravens in the NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS) quarterfinal round today (Dec. 6) at Adair-Austin Stadium.
Trailing from the outset, the Falcons battled back all day and drove to the Benedictine eight-yard line in the final seconds needing a touchdown and extra point to take the lead.
But an errant pitch on fourth and five was forced and recovered by Trevor Williams to allow the Ravens to hold on for the win.
Benedictine immediately went to work on the first possession of the game when Xavier Ugorji scored a 39-yard rushing touchdown to finish a six-play, 74-yard drive.
After Christian Klobe made it 10-0 with a 22-yard field goal, the Falcons got on the board on a 35-yard touchdown pass that K'Vonte Baker threaded into Austin Pratt to cut the deficit to 10-7.
The Ravens then scored 17 unanswered points, starting with a 49-yard score from Jackson Dooley to Titan Osburn that made it 17-7 at the half.
Following a fourth-down stop by the Ravens on the first possession of the second half, Dooley found Isaiah Hasten for a 13-yard score to push the lead to three possessions at 24-7.
The Falcons then started their climb back behind 49 rushing yards from Jud Cheatham to key an eight-play, 75-yard drive that Baker finished with a five yard score before converting the two-point conversion to trim the lead down to 24-15.
Benedictine then drove to the Falcon six, but was turned away and Kobe missed a 23-yard field goal to keep it a nine-point game.
The Falcons capitalized and settled for a 37-yard field goal by Truitt Bosher to climb within 24-18 with 3:21 to go.
It was then the defense's turn to keep the Falcons season alive, and they did just that by forcing a three and out on the Ravens next possession to give the offense the ball back with 2:54 left.
The Falcons moved the ball, converting a third and one on a 10-yard run by Baker, but ultimately came up just short.
Baker led the Falcons with 82 yards on the ground, with Cheatham rushing for 66 yards and Michael Lopez gaining 60 yards.
Ugorji rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown to lead the Ravens and was selected as the Offensive Player of the Game. Dooley finished with 149 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Braelyn Jay led the Falcon defense with 11 tackles, while Ben Gilliland had a game-high 13 stops for Benedictine. Anthony Lonerga had eight tackles and a big interception in the first half to be named the Defensive Player of the Game.
The Falcons have finished a season that will live forever in the history books. Under head coach Terry Harrison, Friends won a program record 12 games, advanced to the NAIA FCS quarterfinals for the first time ever and broke their own NAIA single-season record with 5,979 rushing yards. The Falcons also complete their season on top of the NAIA leaderboard in points per game (54.2 ppg) and third in points allowed per game (13.8 ppg).
Falcon Postgame Media News Conference
