University of St. Francis (III.)

JOLIET, Ill. --- Marian University (Ind.) showed its dominance as one of the best football teams in the NAIA by scoring on nine of its 11 possessions in a 63-14 Mid-States Football Association Midwest League victory over the University of St. Francis on Saturday afternoon at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The NAIA No. 6-ranked Knights (8-1, 3-0 MSFA) wasted little time in putting up their points, too, requiring just six plays or less on seven of the touchdowns.  Six of the scores also took less than two minutes.

Marian also had a chance at a tenth scoring opportunity, but Matthew Perry blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt late in the first half.  That ended a string of six straight scoring possessions to put the Knights up 42-7 at the break.

USF (2-7, 1-2) could only counter with John Wesolowski's 26-yard touchdown off a fumbled punt return.  That came just one series after another Marian muffed punt return gave the ball to the Saints at the Marian 24-yard line.  Head coach Joe Curry's club, however, could not take advantage of that miscue, missing on a 38-yard field goal attempt.

Marian finished the day with 515 yards of total offense with 310 coming on the ground.  Eight of the Knights' nine touchdowns came on rushing plays, including three from backup quarterback RJ Griffin (12 carries, 56 yards). 

Uriah Buchanan and Ryan Thembulembu both had big rushing days for MU with Buchanan averaging 15.3 yards per carry.  He had just nine carries – two for scores – but totaled 138 yards.  Thembulembu had five carries for 87 yards, the majority of which came on a 67-yard touchdown.  He averaged 17.4 yards per carry.

USF managed just 85 yards on the ground with quarterback Jalen Webb-Starkey accounting for 55 of those yards on his 13 carries.  The grad student struggled on the passing side, throwing three interceptions and completing just 11 of his 27 passes for a season-low 95 yards.

Playing without their top two receivers in Connor Engstrom and Mason Hackman, the leading receivers on Saturday were Jedidiah Adjayi with 25 yards and both Jonny Sorensen and Michael Fritz with three catches each.

The Saints finished with just 180 yards of total offense, turned the ball over four times and were just 1-for-11 on third down.  They also failed on one fourth-down attempt.
Marian, meanwhile, was 9-of-12 on third-down plays.

USF's only offensive score came midway through the fourth quarter when the Saints amassed 74 of their 180 yards.  Aaron Larkins capped the nine-play drive with his four-yard run.

A total of 53 players between the two teams made tackles in the game with Wesolowski leading all others with his 12 stops, including one for loss.  Daniel Rouse was the only other player with double-digit tackles, finishing with 10.

Other Notes: Wesolowski's touchdown was his first at the collegiate level … Marian became the third opponent this season to finish with over 500 yards of total offense … USF was held under 200 yards for the fourth time this year … Marian added to its plus-15 takeaway total with a plus-two mark on Saturday.  The Knights have totaled 26 takeaways in just nine games, falling just one takeaway short of averaging three per game.

Up Next
The Saints wrap up the home portion of their season with a 1 pm kickoff against Olivet Nazarene University next Saturday (Nov. 7) at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.