The Central Methodist football team lost a 52-14 contest to No. 4 Benedictine Saturday evening at Davis Field. 

The Eagles are now 2-5 overall and 0-2 against Heart South Division foes. The Ravens set a new season high for total offensive yards and improved to 6-1 and 2-0 in conference play. 

CMU fell behind 14-0 just past the midway point of the first quarter. Facing second-and-13 on its own 16-yard line, quarterback Jordan Rowe hit Jace Terry for a 19-yard gain to the 35-yard line. Rowe went back to the pass on the ensuing play, finding Tobias Williams for 31 yards to the 34-yard line. An additional 15 yards due to roughing the passer was tacked on, moving the ball to the 19-yard line. 

Rowe hit Ja'Shon Wiliams for six yards before Darius Shakor George rumbled 10 yards to the three-yard line. Shakor George found the end zone on the next play, running the ball to the goal line on the CMU side of the field. Cristobal Salgado's extra point sliced the deficit to seven, 14-7, with 3:47 on the clock. 

The Eagles went 81 yards on six plays for the scoring drive.

But Benedictine responded with 24 straight points to close the half with a 38-7 advantage. 

Late in the game, down 52-7 in the fourth quarter, Central took over on its own 7-yard line. Shakor George ran three straight plays, pushing the ball to the 23-yard line. On third-and-nine, Rowe found Ayden Bryant for a 26-yard gain. Back-to-back first-down plays moved the Eagles to the 29-yard line. On third-and-one from the 20, Shakor George was stopped for no gain. Central quickly went for it, and Rowe found the end zone after a 20-yard rush.

For the game, Central earned 15 first downs. The squad accounted for six via the pass, eight by way of the rush, and one on a penalty. The Eagles converted three third downs and went one-for-one on fourth downs.

Central gained 250 yards of total offense, accounting for 4.5 yards per play. Rowe completed 10-of-23 passes for 132 yards on the evening. He also led the ground game with 44 yards on eight attempts with a touchdown. Shakor George had 10 carries for 33 yards and a touchdown. 

Williams led the receivers with 38 yards on two catches. Terry also hauled in two passes for 32 yards. Bryant caught a 26-yard pass, while Caleb Baker caught a 14-yard pass. 

Defensively, Ashton Fowler led the way with six total tackles (5 solo). Maximus Fonoti-Maikui had four solo stops and an assist. Avion Bass and Jonathan Milton also had five total stops. All five of Milton's tackles were solo stops. 

Bass also had a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries. Kamarrion Ferguson broke up two passes, and Julius Fletcher had one pass break-up. 

The Eagles make the short road trip to Marshall on Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff against Missouri Valley College. The Vikings are 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the Heart. MVC narrowly defeated William Woods 24-22 on the road Saturday to win its third straight game.

Central returns home next Saturday for a Homecoming game against Missouri Baptist (2-3, 0-1) on Halloween. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. on Davis Field.