Avila wins its college football opener; Benedictine and Saint Mary each suffer losses

With far cooler temperatures than the Kansas City area has seen over the past week, local NAIA college football teams played their season openers on Saturday.

Here’s a roundup of this weekend’s opening-game action:

Avila 46, at Bethany 23: Avila fell behind 10-0 in the early going but took control of the game from there and pulled out the road victory in the opener. Avila scored 18 points in the second quarter and 28 points in the second half. Avila quarterback Eli Williams completed 23 of 37 passes for 297 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions. Trevon Williams collected two interceptions for Avila.

Morningside (Iowa) 20, at Benedictine 17: Morningside outgained the Ravens with 405 yards to Benedictine’s 222 in the win in Atchison. Benedictine quarterback Jackson Dooley, who played in high school at Lawrence High, completed 13 of 36 passes for 159 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Benedictine took a 17-13 lead on a Dooley 18-yard TD pass to JaShawn Todd with just under 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Morningside closed out the game with a 78-yard touchdown drive.

At Friends 64, Saint Mary 20: Saint Mary fell behind early 17-0 and then 36-6 by halftime. Saint Mary was the first to score in the second half but had a difficult time keeping Friends out of the end zone as Friends rolled to the victory in Wichita. K’Vonte Baker scored three TDs for Friends. Michael Gazzan rushed for 89 yards on four carries with a 82-yard touchdown for St. Mary.

Avila 45, at Bethany 17: Avila fell behind 10-0 in the early going but took control of the game from there and pulled out the victory in the opener.

MidAmerica Nazarene at Langston (Okla.), late

Ottawa at Southwestern, late