INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian football team suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at Ascension St. Vincent Field, falling 31-28 against the University of St. Francis in the Franciscan Bowl. The loss snaps a six-game win streak for Marian in the series, and drops the Knights to 5-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in the MSFA Midwest.

Despite both offenses averaging over 400 yards per game entering Saturday's game, the Knights and Cougars struggled to move the ball early on as the first quarter was littered with a three combined punts from both teams. Marian punted on their first series of the day after a six-play drive, with St. Francis following suit with a kick after running five plays. The Knights attempted to add points on the board on their second series and Tristan Polk and Drew Byerly marched the ball to the 35 yard line, but a long field goal attempt of 53 yards by Kenny Curry hung short, keeping the scoreboard quiet. 

Marian survived a muffed punt as the defense continued strong play in the opening quarter, as Wyatt Woodall recorded a pair of sacks to end a pair of Cougar drives. After Woodall's second sack of his young career, Marian took over on their own 48 yard line and marched eight plays down the field, getting chunk plays from Byerly and Jake Reichard that set up a one-yard touchdown run from Tristan Polk. Leading 7-0, going into the second quarter, Marian quickly doubled their lead as Polk connected with Tirae Spence for a 69-yard touchdown reception.

Leading 14-0, Marian's defense again forced the Cougar punt team to take the field, setting up the offense at their own 27 yard line. With the combination of St. Francis penalties and a string of runs from Tristan Polk, the Knights found the end zone on a third-consecutive series, with Keagan La Belle finishing the 73-yard drive with a score from two yards out. Marian led 21-0 after the score from La Belle, and looked to add to their lead before the half as Dwight Lewis III made his third interception of the season, but with 1:16 to play Marian was denied on a fourth and one, turning the ball over near midfield. 

St. Francis quickly drove the 49 yards to the end zone before the half, needing 43 seconds to score as Lenny Bennett made it a 21-7 game. The score would stand at halftime as Marian managed just 12 yards with their final 33 seconds of the first half, and soon saw the game get closer after the opening drive of the third quarter, as the Cougars marched 13 plays before getting a Josh Kulka touchdown pass. Despite starting the ensuing series at the Cougar 38, the Knights failed to score as a fake field goal attempt was denied by St. Francis, with Kenny Curry being tackled well short of the sticks.

Momentum continued to surge on the Cougars sideline, as the visitors scored their third touchdown on as many series, driving 72 yards in eight plays as Kulka's second touchdown pass tied the game at 21-21. Marian would see their ensuing series stall out near midfield before the third quarter ended, with a Mason Miller punt pinning the Cougars at their nine yard line. The defense for the Knights finally responded after giving up three straight scores, forcing a punt to give their offense the ball back at the 50 yard line. After the punt, Polk hit chunk passes to Jameson Coverstone and Jake Reichard, with the completion to Reichard putting Marian back in the lead 28-21. 

After the 26-yard touchdown, the Cougars looked to find the end zone quickly as a DJ White kickoff return of 75 yards gave the visitors great field position, but no score came on the drive as the defense tightened up at the one yard line, getting a vicious tackle to Logan Carrington to deny Ryan Walsh of the end zone. Carrington's stop came with 8:06 to play in the game, and in response Marian was able to bleed over three minutes off the clock, but punted the ball back with 4:42 remaining, as the Cougars started north of the 50 at the Knights' 39 yard-line.

Needing a touchdown to tie the game, St. Francis tied the game on an unconventional play, as their eighth snap on the 39-yard drive was caught by starting center Jared Almeida, who caught the ball near the end zone after the Kulka pass was batted twice in the air. With the game tied 28-28, Marian was forced to punt after five plays, giving the ball right back to their rivals with 1:09 left. The Cougars took over at their own 31 yard line after a Mason Miller punt, and managed to get into field goal range after getting a pair of big passing plays, marching to their 10 yard line with eight seconds left. Austin Deleon converted a 27-yard field goal with four seconds to play, scoring the game-winning points for the St. Francis as they would win 31-28 after Marian gained just nine yards on the desperation kickoff return.

The Cougars out-gained the Knights 384-346, despite Marian getting a game-high 280 yards passing yards from Tristan Polk. Drew Byerly caught a career-high nine passes for 80 yards, and Reichard scored a touchdown and led the team in receiving yards with 108 yards on five catches. La Belle and Polk both had 18 rushes in the loss, with La Belle gaining 46 yards on the afternoon. Cade Houseman led the defense in tackles with 14 total, while Woodall made 11 tackles and had two sacks. Lewis III made four stops and had one interception, and Yassine Falke made six total tackles in his collegiate debut. 

Marian will go on the road next weekend, looking to rebound at Saint Xavier. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET.

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