Box Score CHICAGO – In a battle of NAIA Top 25 football teams, 18th ranked Roosevelt University lost a heartbreaker to 23rd ranked St. Xavier University by the score of 21-20 in a MSFA Midwest League match-up at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field on the south side of Chicago. The loss was the first of the year for the Lakers, dropping their overall record to 3-1 and their league record to 0-1.
Both teams were forced to punt on their opening possessions and St. Xavier threatened on its next drive, moving the ball to the Lakers' three-yard for first and goal. However, the RU defense held strong on the next three plays, forcing fourth and goal with the Cougars deciding to go for it, but the Lakers stopped them again to gain possession on downs.
Unfortunately, the Lakers could not get anything going offensively on the ensuing possession, while the Cougars used good field position at the RU 30-yard line to put together a five-play touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead with 11:57 to play in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter, Roosevelt's Bennie Harris forced a St. Xavier fumble and the Lakers recovered the ball at the SXU 25-yard line for a chance to get the offense going. Unfortunately, two plays later, the Cougars intercepted a Luke Wilson pass in the end zone to end the RU threat.
After the RU defense held SXU, the Lakers were pinned inside their own 10-yard line and Wilson was intercepted again to give the Cougars the ball at the Lakers' five-yard line. Two plays later, Matthew Chavers rushed the three yards for the touchdown to give the Cougars a 14-0 lead, which they took into the locker room at the half.
With just over four minutes to play in the third quarter, the Lakers finally got on the board when Wilson connected with Alex Tran on a 45-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 14-7. On the second play of SXU's next drive, Jalen Perkins picked off a pass to give RU the ball at the Cougars' 38-yard line. Four plays later, Wilson hit Tran again, this time on a 21-yard touchdown toss to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lakers kept up the momentum, going on a 13-play, 41 yard drive, which was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Tyler Tenner to give RU a 20-14 advantage after the point after attempt failed with 5:20 to play.
The RU defense once again came through on the next series, holding the Cougars to a three and out, but the SXU defense did the same to the Lakers' offense on the next series, getting the ball back with 1:54 to play at the RU 40-yard line.
St. Xavier completed a six-yard pass on third and three to continue its drive and then connected on a 13-yard touchdown pass with just 38 seconds remaining to tie things up at 20-20 before converting the point after to lead 21-20.
The Lakers started the final drive of the game at their own 17-yard line with 28 seconds left to go, moving the ball to their own 48-yard line with just three seconds to play. Wilson then hit Blaize Griffin for a completion, but the receiver was stopped at the SXU 42-yard line as time expired.
KEY STATS
- Zavier Barnes made 10 tackles in the loss, including an eight-yard sack
- Luke Wilson threw for 243 yards & two TD's on 17-31 passing with three interceptions
- Tyler Tenner carried the ball 24 times for 70 yards & a touchdown
- Alex Tran caught two passes, both for touchdowns, for 66 yards
- Thomas Shorack had seven tackles & a pass breakup
- Clarence Davis & Bennie Harris had six tackles each
- RU had 317 yards in total offense to SXU's 274
- The Cougars had a slight 17-16 first down edge
NEWS & NOTES
- RU came into the game ranked 18th in the NAIA Top 25 Poll, while SXU was 23rd
- RU is now 1-2 all-time versus SXU in the all-time series, including a forfeit loss in 2021 due to COVID
- Click here to view the MSFA Midwest League standings
NEXT UP
The Lakers host Missouri Baptist University in a MSFA Midwest League contest on Saturday, October 8 for Homecoming at Morris Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 7pm and fans can watch the game live here.
