Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Benedictine University found itself on the wrong end of a non-conference road loss to nationally-ranked North Central College, 55-0, on Saturday evening. The Eagles (0-2) were between a rock and a hard place versus the No. 15-rated Cardinals (1-1).

Benedictine was minus its top two runningbacks, as well as starters at receiver, center and defensive tackle due to injury. Thats a tall order to contend with on a normal day, let alone versus one of the nation's elite teams.

Consequently, the Eagles found themselves dominated not just on the scoreboard but statistically against the veteran NCC squad. The Cardinals held a 549-174 yards advantage in total offense, while also doubling up on BU in first downs (24-12).

NCC tallied 21 points in each of the first two periods, good for the 42-0 halftime advantage, and never looked back.

Benedictine quarterbacks Dave Klinger and Matt Brown were a combined 13-for-24 in the game, good for 136 yards to account for the bulk of the Eagles' ball movement.  Receiver Matt Jenkins had four catches for 40 yards.

The BU rushing game was held in check, producing just 38 net yards.

Safety Mike Hatfield led all tacklers in the game with 11 stops and also had a pass break-up to his credit. Linebacker Ryan Kozicynski added eight tackles and cornerback Tim Shanahan booked seven.