SALINA ? The Benedictine football team beat Kansas Wesleyan 43-21 in the NAIA national semi-final Saturday to advance to their first ever NAIA National Championship game.
The Ravens had 162 more offensive yards than the Coyotes (491-329), a team that averaged 508 yards and 50.4 points per game entering Saturday?s contest.
Defensively, Brett Shepardson was named the Defensive Player of the Game with 11 tackles. Jalen James added nine tackles and Matt McCullough had seven tackles.
Senior Marquis Stewart was named the Offensive Player of the Game.
His 286 yards on the ground are a new single-game school record, breaking Jamie Mueller?s previous record of 257 yards against Westmar College in 1984.
The Ravens improve to (13-1) on the season and will take on No. 1 Morningside (14-0).
Morningside defeated two-time defending NAIA Champion St. Francis 34-28 in overtime on Saturday.
The NAIA football national championship will be played Dec. 15 in Daytona, Fla.
