JOLIET, Ill. --- University of St. Francis built a pair of first-quarter leads, but Olivet Nazarene scored on four of five possessions in the second and third quarters combined as part of a string of 28 unanswered points and the Saints were never able to recover in a 45-28 Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) Midwest League setback this Saturday (Oct. 19) afternoon at ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium.
 

Two of Olivet Nazarene's three touchdowns in the second quarter came from the arm of quarterback Jordan Lawton, who finished the day with four touchdown passes, all of which went to four different receivers. For the game, Lawton found ten different targets as part of a 22-for-35, 343-yard passing day. Three different receivers – Brian Jennings (5 recp.-73 yards), Brady Walling (3-88) and Jalen Dunnigan (3-78) – finished with at least 73 yards and a score.
 

The Tigers (3-4, 2-1 MSFA) also had six different players tote the ball for another 137 yards with the majority of those ground yards coming from LaShaun Rule (12 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD). For the day, Olivet Nazarene amassed 480 yards of total offense.
 

The Saints (2-5, 1-2) countered with a pair of 100-yard rushers in Major Dedmond (FR/Freeport, Ill.) and Dwayne Milton (SR/Machesney Park, Ill.) en route to 363 total yards of offense. Dedmond registered three separate career highs with his 25 carries, 151 yards and three touchdowns. Milton produced St. Francis' other touchdown as part of a 19-carry, 100-yard day for him.
 

Dedmond also threw for another 104 yards on 12-of-22 passing with one interception. His favorite target was Brandon Ruffin (SR/Peoria, Ill.), who hauled in seven passes for 59 yards.
 

The day started off well for the Saints, who opened the game with a 66-yard kickoff return by Ruffin. That eventually set up Dedmond's first touchdown of nine yards. After Olivet Nazarene knotted the score at 7-7, the Saints regained the edge just before the end of the opening quarter on Milton's 21-yard touchdown run.
 

Over the next 21 minutes, the game belonged to Olivet Nazarene with the Tigers putting up 275 yards of offense to USF's 14 resulting in the 28 points and a 35-14 advantage on the scoreboard for the guests.
 

The Saints finally countered with Dedmond's 13-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to make it 35-21. He also scored from two yards out with five minutes remaining in the game, sandwiched in between a Bryce DeGuira 29-yard field goal for Olivet Nazarene and Walling's touchdown to close out the scoring.
 

Mike Gruben (SR/Joliet, Ill.) led the Saints defensively with a career-high 15 stops.
 

The task gets no easier for the Saints next week when they travel to Chicago to face NAIA No.13 ranked Saint Xavier University. Kickoff is 1 pm.