CHICAGO, ILL. – Missouri Baptist football dropped a nail-biter on Saturday evening falling 17-14 after a last-minute touchdown from (14) St. Xavier University. A 95-yard game-winning drive from the Cougars moved the Spartans' record to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the Mid-States Football Association.
 
After their first drive went just 18 yards, Josh Munn led the offense to a touchdown on three pass completions of 10+ yards followed by his one-yard touchdown run. Collin Black nailed the PAT to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead with 4:31 remaining in the first.
 
The Cougars immediately responded. A Vance McShane kickoff return for 29 yards put his team on their own 46 to start the drive. St. Xavier rushed the ball for 32 yards before a 22-yard touchdown pass by Stuart Ross tied the game.
 
Mike Iturbe collected the only points for either side when his field goal with one second left in the half put the home team up 10-7 heading into the break.
 
The Spartans' first drive of the third quarter started nicely when Munn completed a pass to freshman Kameron Sloan for 24 yards to put them near midfield. An interception on the Cougar logo stopped the drive dead in its tracks to set the next SXU drive up at the MBU 49-yard line.
 
The defense forced a punt to set up another scoring drive for Missouri Baptist. Michael Malone kicked started the drive with a 29-yard reception from Munn. Benavides helped the cause with an 11-yard run followed by a three-yard reception by Sloan. On third and seven, Munn found Tyler Ball for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Spartans up 14-10 in the third quarter. 
 
Attempting to avoid the upset, the Cougars were shut down on their first drive in the fourth quarter but rebounded with a 16-play, 95-yard touchdown drive on their second try. Amari Venerable punched the ball into the endzone with 51 seconds on the clock to put the home team up late.
 
With the game on the line, Munn completed a 4-yard pass to Ball, a 19-yard pass to Sloan, and a 7-yard pass to Darrius Morrison to set up a field goal. Unfortunately for the Spartans, a 52-yard try came up just short as time expired.
 
Josh Munn had a solid outing going 17 for 31 with 262 passing yards, a passing touchdown, and a rushing touchdown. Tyler Ball broke out with 103 yards and a touchdown as did Kameron Sloan with five receptions and 71 yards.
 
On the other side of the ball, Blake Kight led the team with 12 tackles followed by Jaylen Cowley with 10 tackles. Jeremiah Austin also had 10 tackles and combined it with his second sack of the season.
 
Next up for the Spartans is a road game on Saturday, March 20 against St. Ambrose University. This Mid-States Midwest matchup is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.