Texas Wesleyan drops playoff opener, 42-33, to Benedictine College

The Texas Wesleyan Rams lost 42-33 to the Benedictine College Ravens in the second round of the playoffs ending their season in the NAIA Football Championship Series.

Despite the loss head coach Brad Sherrod acknowledged the historic season that the Rams had.

“We went undefeated during the regular season, made playoffs for the first time in school history, won the conference outright, first time in school history. So I wanted them to understand that they kind of laid the foundation of what the expectations are around here,” said Sherrod.

Sherrod’s Rams were in the driver’s seat early in the second half of the game leading by 10 points and the opportunity to go up by three scores after forcing the Ravens to punt.

However, TWU fumbled the punt return giving the Ravens the ball inside the 5-yard line. Three plays later Benedictine scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Dalton Witherspoon, who would earn offensive MVP honors for his performance, which kicked off a 28-0 run that would put the game out of reach for the Rams.

The Rams finish the season with a 10-1 record.

Rams offense shutdown in the second half

Quarterback Carson Rodgers threw eight interceptions all season, but he struggled with accuracy against the Ravens going 26 of 43 for 355 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Rams’ offense, which was one of the highest scoring in the NAIA, showcased why in the first half, putting up 24 points and moving the ball at will, but slowed down in the second half and found themselves unable to run the ball with 29 carries for 69 yards.

Sherrod said TWU’s inability to run the ball put extra pressure on the passing game.

“Anytime you can’t run the football, that means they can put a lot of pressure on your quarterback when it’s third and long. So we have to be effective, and that’s been our theme all year, is run the football,” said Sherrod, “But when you can’t do that, what happens is it gives the defense a chance to put some pressure on the quarterback.”

In the second half, this was especially true of TWU’s passing game with three of the team’s four interceptions coming after halftime and the Rams failing to score a touchdown in the second half till the final seconds of the game.

Rams defense struggles with Ravens playmakers

TWU’s defense struggled to consistently tackle the Ravens, allowing Benedictine running backs to have ample success getting yards after contact. The Ravens averaged 5.2 yards per carry in the game led by Witherspoon’s 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Ravens head coach Joel Osborn complimented his running backs for their performance and talked about how their recovery from injury jumpstarted the team’s rushing attack.

“It starts up front with our offensive line and then our tight ends, our receivers do a great job as well, too, when we’re not running RPOs, but our two running backs are pretty solid, and Dalton Witherspoon ran behind his pads today, so did Xavier Ugorji, at different times throughout the year, they were both dinged up a little bit, but they’re not right now. So we’ve gotten back to full health. And I thought what they looked like was what we looked like running the ball week one versus Morningside and so that was a really big key for us,” said Osborn.

The Ravens’ passing offense was led by wide receiver Jacob Gathright who had six catches for 171 yards with two touchdowns in a dominating performance, that saw him set the record for most career receiving yards all-time at Benedictine College.

JaShawn Todd added three catches for 109 yards with an 89-yard touchdown that put the Ravens up two scores early in the fourth quarter.

Ravens player leaves field with serious injury

A scary moment took place in the second half when Ravens kicker Cullen Brewer had to be stretchered off the field after taking a knee to the helmet after attempting to make a tackle on the kickoff.

Brewer was motionless after the hit and his teammates immediately called over medical personnel who eventually took him to an ambulance, in which he would leave the stadium.

After the game, Osborn gave an update on Brewer’s condition.

“Cullen is going to be okay. We’re more likely not going to get him back for football. But I mean, he’s got nothing wrong with him in terms of his spine or anything like that. So he’s at the hospital,” said Osborn, “He’ll be in good spirits. He was on the field, he has a great personality. He was making the trainers feel at home on the field. So, but that was definitely a scary moment, so we’re glad he’s okay.”

The loss ends a historic season for the Rams who achieved their first undefeated season in school history and their first playoff berth since restarting the program in 2016.

Sherrod expressed pride in his team for what they accomplished in his first season as head coach.

“I don’t have the words to express how I feel about how these kids played this year,” said Sherrod, “All they focused on every week was being their best at practice and taking care of the things that give us a chance to win the ball game...I give credit to the coaches as well for emphasizing those things that help us win ball games. So it was an unbelievable experience.”