BOX SCORE

The Benedictine University football team suffered its second loss of the season on Saturday evening, losing in dramatic fashion, 34-31, against Kalamazoo College in their home opener. 

After a back-and-forth first quarter of action, the Eagles took the lead, 7-3, on a three-yard carry from sophomore running back John Borsellino. BenU struggled to hold their lead, allowing a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kalamazoo quarterback Sam Landry to Cory McCain.

The Eagles headed into the locker room at the half tied at ten, thanks to a 35-yard field goal from John Stolarski.

Kalamazoo would waste no time in regaining their lead in the second half, scoring on a 29-yard touchdown run from Dimeko Price.

For the second time in the game, the Eagles would tie it up on a nine-yard run from Borsellino. Nearly a minute later, KC's Travis Braun split the uprights with a 42-yard field goal to take the lead. 

With just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Preston Earl then connected with senior Mike Trombetta on a 24-yard touchdown pass, but not before the Hornets struck for a 99-yard touchdown pass.

Brandin Austin would get the home crowd in a frenzy with under a minute and a half left in the game. After catching a 33-yard touchdown pass, the Eagles regained the lead, 31-27.

For the third time in the game, KC's McCain caught atouchdown pass, this time a 32-yard catch from Landry to secure the Hornet victory with under a minute remaining.

Earl went 17-for-21 on the evening, throwing for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Leading the core of receivers for the Eagles was Austin, who hauled in a team-high eight catches for 112 yards. Trombetta corralled six catches for 95 yards. 

Borsellino led the BenU rushing attack, amassing 57 total rushing yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

For the Hornets, Saturday night's win was the first of the season (1-3), while the Eagles dropped to 1-2.

Benedictine will return to action next Saturday for a Northern Athletics Conference showdown with Concordia University Chicago beginning at 1 p.m. at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex.