LISLE, IL - The Benedictine University football team piled up 321 yards on the ground in a 48-13 win over Rockford on homecoming.

Rockford scored on the first drive of the game, marching 75 yards down the field on 12 plays to open a 6-0 lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass. Benedictine seized control with a long drive at the end of the first quarter, ticking over seven minutes off the clock during a 15-play drive that spanned 69 yards. Kiandre Morris scored the go-ahead touchdown from three yards out on the second play of the second quarter to give Benedictine a 7-6 lead, the first of 41 unanswered points including 27 in the second.

Both teams battled the strong south win the entire contest and Rockford saw a bad snap on a punt eventually blocked by Kaiden O'Connor to hand Benedictine the ball at the Rockford 36-yardline. Quarterback Tyler Jarnagin made the most of the short field by connecting with Alex Lopez on an eight-yard touchdown with 8:55 left in the half. A pair of big pass plays from Jarnagin helped Benedictine jump ahead 20-6. Jarnagin hit Joshua Williams for a 27-yarder and Dylan Leschewski for 33 yards on consecutive plays. Lopez dragged a foot falling into the back of the endzone for a score to extend the lead with 3:51 remaining.

Dominic Cadetto forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Williams scooted in from 17 yards away to push the lead to 27-6 heading into the half. Williams ran for over 100 yards in the opening 30 minutes of play.

Receiving the ball to begin the second half, Jarnagin escaped for a 16-yard touchdown scramble to cap another long drive on a fourth down play as Benedictine led 34-6. Another bad snap on a punt allowed Benedictine to take over on the Rockford 17 and four plays later Williams dove in from a yard out for his second touchdown of the day.

Rockford struggled to move the ball after the first drive until an 88-yard drive late in the fourth. Geoff Mazur scored the final Benedictine touchdown on a one-yard dive with 2:59 left.

Benedictine totaled 44 yards and held the ball for 36:36 of the game. The team ran the ball 58 times for an average of 5.5 yards per carry while only throwing the ball 16 times. Williams ran for 174 yards with two touchdowns on 25 attempts. Mazur gained 65 yards on 12 tries. Lopez reeled in five passes for 55 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jarnigan threw for 123 yards and ran for 36, accounting for three touchdowns.

The defense limited Rockford to just 254 yards, over 150 of which came on the two scoring drives. Danny Wood paced the defense with nine tackles. Blake Davis and Scottie Bobeck each posted seven.

Benedictine (3-2, 2-0 NACC) travels to Wisconsin Lutheran next weekend.