JOLIET, Ill. --- Another record-setting performance by Dwayne Milton (SR/Machesney Park, Ill.), two touchdown receptions from Brandon Ruffin (SR/Peoria, Ill.) and a punt return for a score by Dionte Rodgers (FR/Glen Carbon, Ill.) all spelled out a 49-34 Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) Midwest League victory for the University of St. Francis over Missouri Baptist University at ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium on Saturday (Nov. 2) afternoon.
Five weeks after breaking his own previous record for rushing yards in a game with 256 against Lawrence Technological University, Milton obliterated that mark on Saturday with his 34 carries totaling 316 yards and four touchdowns. The last score – a 65-yard run with 1:41 to play – sealed the win for the Saints, snapping a season-high three-game losing streak.
And, the 65-yard run wasn't even his longest on the day. That came on the Saints' first play from scrimmage when he raced down the middle of the field for 75 yards to set up his one-yard touchdown to begin the game's scoring.
Milton's other touchdowns went for 6 and 36 yards with the latter coming just one series before his 65-yard scamper.
The 65-yard run also allowed Milton to break another one of his own records on the day, the single-season mark for rushing yards. Producing 1,119 yards in ten games last year, Milton eclipsed that on Saturday, sitting at 1,168 now with still two games to go.
Milton also put himself in position to tie or break the record for most rushing touchdowns in a single season, which is 14. With his four on Saturday, he now has 13.
Ruffin, meanwhile, provided the Saints (3-6, 2-2 MSFA) with a lead they would never relinquish courtesy of his two first-quarter touchdowns to turn a 7-7 tie into a 21-7 lead after the opening 15 minutes. The first one, an 88-yard score, was the longest reception of his illustrious career, while the second one was an acrobatic one-handed catch from 19 yards out on a fourth-and-11 play. Both came from Major Dedmond (FR/Freeport, Ill.), who only attempted seven passes on the day, completing three.
On the ground, the Saints totaled 350 yards from 58 plays (6.0 yards per play) and finished with 462 yards of total offense.
Missouri Baptist (2-7, 1-4) matched the Saints offensively with 447 yards on 71 plays, dispersing their yardage evenly on the ground (205) and through the air (242). Chris Baldwin led the rushing game with 91 yards on 15 carries, while John Lux was 18-for-36 for 242 yards through the air. He also threw for two scores, but that was offset by four St. Francis interceptions.
While the Saints won the first quarter, the Spartans claimed the second with only a failed point-after touchdown separating the two teams at the break as the hosts took a 21-20 lead into halftime.
USF regained its two-touchdown advantage in the third quarter thanks to a pair of long punt returns by Rodgers. His first one – a 42-yard return – set up Milton's six-yard scoring run with his second producing his first collegiate touchdown. It came from 47 yards out.
Missouri Baptist, however, would not go down without a fight. The Spartans scored the first points of the fourth quarter to make it a 35-27 contest and then got as close as the St. Francis 34-yard line on their next possession before a costly delay of game penalty stalled the drive.
Milton then finished off the Spartans with his two long touchdown runs before Missouri Baptist closed out the scoring on a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jordan Benavides with 89 seconds to play.
Defensively, the Saints received big efforts from Mike Gruben (SR/Joliet, Ill.), Re'John Williams (JR/Brooklyn NY), Michael Johnson (FR/Hillside, Ill.), and Mason DeLong (JR/Bourbonnais, Ill.). Gruben led the way with 11 tackles, while Williams registered nine stops, two breakups and an interception that thwarted a Missouri Baptist scoring drive late in the first half that could have given the Spartans their first lead of the game.
Johnson provided another eight stops, including 1.5 for loss, with DeLong authoring seven tackles and a 29-yard interception return to set up Milton's 36-yard score.
USF's other interceptions came from Chris Peters (JR/Frankfort, Ill.) and Heithon Hurdle (JR/Monee, Ill.).
The Saints play their final road game of the season next Saturday (Nov. 9) when they travel west to face MSFA Midwest League foe St. Ambrose University at 1 pm.
