Box Score LISLE, Ill. (WLCSports.com) - The Wisconsin Lutheran College football team out-scored its opponent in the second half for the third straight week, but couldn't quite overcome a 20-point deficit early on as the Warriors fell on the road at Benedictine, 40-31, Saturday afternoon at The Sports Complex.
- Final Score: Benedictine 40, Wisconsin Lutheran 31
- Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (1-5, 1-2 NACC), Benedictine (2-4, 2-1 NACC)
- Location: The Sports Complex, Lisle, Ill.
- The Warriors drove well into Benedictine territory on their first two possessions of the game, but both drives stalled on fourth down incompletions.
- The Eagles scored on each of their opening two possessions and led 13-0 after the first quarter after consecutive seven-play, 72-yard scoring drives.
- After BenU went ahead by 20 on its second possession of the second quarter, Wisconsin Lutheran capitalized on great field position and capped it with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mathieson (New Port Richey, Fla.) to Nick Charles-Crowl (Bradenton, Fla.).
- Following a Warriors strip sack on the Eagles' next drive, Sasha Bornschlegl (Rochester, Minn.) connected on a 29-yard field goal for a 20-10 halftime deficit.
- BenU took its opening drive of the second half 75 yards for a two-yard TD run, but the Warriors were quick to answer with a nine-play, 67-yard drive ending with a Mathieson touchdown pass to Alan Jackson (Norwalk, Calif.) from nine yards away with 6:11 left in the third.
- The Eagles took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score and held a 34-17 lead entering the fourth quarter.
- Mathieson threw his third touchdown pass of the game, second to Charles-Crowl, with 13:06 left in the game from 12 yards out for a 34-24 deficit.
- After forcing a pair of three-and-outs, Jake Anderson (Oak Creek, Wis.) led a 59-yard scoring drive ending in a 31-yard touchdown strike to J.K. Witkofski (Racine, Wis.), cutting the deficit to just three with 6:13 left on the clock.
- Benedictine followed with a seven-play scoring drive, all running plays, and a seven-yard touchdown run with 2:44 to play and a 40-31 lead.
- Wisconsin Lutheran drove 38 yards on nine plays on its next drive, but the drive ended at the Benedictine 38 with only 0:16 seconds left.
- Mathieson threw for 178 yards and a trio of touchdowns on 15-of-29 passing. He is tied for the league lead with 16 passing TDs. Anderson added 94 yards through the air on 6-of-12 attempts.
- Jackson averaged 4.6 yards per carry on the ground, rushing nine times for 41 yards.
- Chrystyan Woyak (Juneau, Wis.), the NACC's second-leading receiver, caught five passes for 62 yards, with three others (Jackson, Witkofski, Charles-Crowl) catching touchdowns.
- Mat Guedel (Belvidere, Ill.) tallied a game-high 13 tackles and Joe Styczynski (Coleman, Wis.) added 11 for the Warriors defense.
- Benedictine's balanced offense was led by Nick Sternad's 197 yards passing on 15-of-21 attempts and Quin Brown's 99 rushing yards on 13 attempts. Joshua Williams also ran for 96 yards and Brandon Moore caught five passes for 100 yards.
- Scottie Bobeck recorded 12 total tackles, including two for a loss to lead the Eagles on defense.
- Wisconsin Lutheran is back home at Raabe Stadium next Saturday when it hosts Lakeland (1-5, 1-2 NACC) for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. The Muskies are coming off consecutive conference losses for the first time since 2012. Live stats and video will be available for the game at WLCSports.com.
