JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis football program's most successful season in six years came to a heartbreaking end Saturday afternoon at Joliet Memorial Stadium when Saint Xavier University's Amari Venerable tight roped his way down the far sideline for a 25-yard touchdown run in the first overtime to send the Cougars to a 26-20 Mid-States Football Association Midwest League victory and a berth in next week's NAIA Football Championship Series.

The loss also put an end to USF's six-game winning streak, denied the Saints their first shot at a postseason bid since the 2011 campaign and left St. Francis having to share the league title with Saint Xavier.

The matchup between the No.14 ranked Cougars (8-2, 6-1 MSFA) and the 20th-ranked Saints was all that it was billed to be with the two teams matching each other in every possible way. Both teams exchanged leads, blocked punts that led to points and missed field goals in the fourth quarter.

The Saints opened with a 10-0 advantage in the game's first 15-plus minutes. Sam Tumilty's 66-yard run on the fourth play from scrimmage set up Perre' Barbarin's three-yard plunge into the end  zone on the opening series. 

USF would extend the lead two series later after Michael Whitney blocked a Saint Xavier punt that settled at the SXU 16-yard line and Brian Maday turned it into three points with his 29 yard field goal to start the second quarter.

Saint Xavier got back into the game in the second quarter and eventually took a 14-10 lead into the break. The Cougars followed up USF's blocked punt with one of their own to set up the first of two Venerable touchdowns.

Two series later, the Cougars made the Saints pay twice, first forcing a fumble on a first-down play with St. Francis driving at the SXU 27-yard line and then scoring the go-ahead touchdown six plays later.

The rest of the scoring in regulation came just over a five-minute span beginning late in the third quarter. Using better than nine minutes on the clock, the Saints drove 63 yards in 18 plays on their first possession of the second half to make it a one-point game on Maday's second field goal of the afternoon, this time from 34 yards out.
Saint Xavier, however, was quick to respond, marching the same distance down the field in just six plays and 2:18 to take its biggest lead of the afternoon on Justin Pringle's 34-yard reception from Stuart Ross (16-of-21, 106 yards, 1 int.). The Cougars' advantage would hold at 20-13 when they failed to convert the PAT.

Like a prizefighter, the Saints got right back off the canvas on the next series to deliver their own blow – a 29-yard touchdown pass from Tumilty to Ravon Johnson – and Maday followed with the PAT to knot the score at 20-all.

Both teams did have the chance to win it in regulation after that with the Saints missing a 36-yard field goal with 9:15 to play and Saint Xavier doing the same from 47 yards out on the last play of regulation.

In the overtime, USF had the first possession, but its 33-yard field goal attempt was blocked. SXU then closed out the fifth contest in the last seven meetings of the series to be decided by seven points or less.

Besides the final score, USF won all of the offensive number battles finishing with more first downs (20-17), yards rushing (280-192), yards passing (134-116) and total yardage (414-308) with Tumilty again being the main weapon. He accounted for a season-high 43 of the Saints' 60 rushing attempts to net 235 yards. It marked his fourth 200-plus yard rushing effort of the season. He also completed 8-of-23 passes for 134 yards with the one touchdown.

Scott Tumilty and Chris Johnson led USF's defensive effort with 14 and 13 tackles, respectively, with Johnson also producing a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss. Other big-impact players on Saturday included Whitney, who totaled eight tackles, including two for loss, besides his blocked punt. Angel Mata added to his team-high interception total with his fourth pick of the season.

The Saints end the season with a 6-3 overall mark and a 6-1 record in league play. The six regular-season wins are the most since the 2015 campaign when the Saints won eight games. The six MSFA wins were the most since 2011 when that team also went 6-1 in the conference.

SIDELINES
Sam Tumilty finished the regular season as the second-leading rusher in the NAIA averaging 152.3 yards per game. Keiser Marques Burgess won that title with his 155.8 yard average.

Tumilty's 1,371 yards rushing on the season were the second-most in school history, falling 86 yards short of the record 1,457 yards gained by Dwayne Milton in 2019.

The Saints totaled a season-high 23 third-down plays, converting ten of them.

Prior to the game, the Saints recognized the 12 senior members of their program, manager Peyton Dummitt and players Perre' Barbarin, Justin Bradley, Carlos Castillo, Kevin Gorski, Chris Johnson, Ravon Johnson, Adrian Paige, Chris Peters, Jose Sanchez, Scott Walsh, and Derek Wentworth.