OLATHE, Kan. — After trading punches for a half, Benedictine just couldn’t keep up with MidAmerica Nazarene in a 42-30 loss Saturday.

The Pioneers drove 70 yards on their first possession of the third quarter, and running back Ashford Johnson leapt over the goal line from a yard out to put MidAmerica ahead 21-17.

The Pioneers never looked back.

Benedictine was left with its third straight Heart of America Athletic Conference loss and a 2-3 overall record, a disappointing mark at this juncture for a Raven team that features an offense with 10 returning starters.

The loss all but eliminates Benedictine from postseason contention, a familiar course of events for junior starting quarterback Ryan Kelly, who’s been the man behind center since his redshirt freshman year. Benedictine lost seven games in 2007 and four last year.

“It’s a lot easier said than done to move on, but if there’s anyone that can do that, it’s this group,” Kelly said. “The last two years have been just as frustrating as this one, but you’ve got to just keep remembering why you play this game: you love it, and you’ve just got to go out and continue to try and get better, and that’s all you can really do."

Kelly and the Raven offense were hard-pressed to establish any kind of rhythm against the Pioneers. A couple of his passes went over his receiver’s heads. A few were thrown short. And a few went right off his targets’ hands.

“There were a few times I felt like (MidAmerica) had pretty good coverage, and sometimes if you’re covered well, there’s nowhere to throw the ball,” said Kelly, who finished with 213 yards on 16-for-37 passing. “We’ve just got to find a way to maybe go back to the basics, and I need to do a better job of throwing the ball.”

Kelly constantly was flushed from the pocket as MidAmerica sent two or three linebackers almost every play. He was sacked three times.

Benedictine coach Larry Wilcox said the Ravens knew there would be that kind of pressure.

“We knew they were a blitzing defense, and that was our focus offensively throughout the week to try to manage and handle that,” Wilcox said. “We did that on occasion, but when they’re blitzing five and six guys — and they’re really quality players at the linebacker positions for them — we just were mismatched on a couple of key situations.”

The Ravens mustered just 93 yards on the ground.

The big play bug bit the Benedictine defense again, as Pioneer quarterback Tyler Herl, a transfer from NCAA Division II power Northwest Missouri State, hooked up with receiver Jared Elmore for three touchdown passes. Elmore finished with 202 yards receiving.

Aside from Elmore’s stellar performance, MidAmerica utilized middle screen and draw plays to Johnson and fellow running back Demerick Chancellor, carving up the middle of Benedictine defensive interior.

"To be honest, they’re more athletic than we are, and they were able to get some of those athletes involved in some key plays and some big plays,” Wilcox said of MidAmerica. “You have to counter great athletes with effort, and I don’t think it was for a lack of effort (Saturday).”

The lack of a consistent pass rush that’s been apparent in Benedictine’s losses this season plagued the Ravens again. Herl had all kinds of time to find his receivers and used his feet a couple times to scramble for first downs.

The loss of defensive tackle Travis Weidenkeller to injury for Saturday’s contest didn’t help either.

“We’re probably not at the depth that we would hope to be, but those guys we’ve got in there are giving it an effort,” Wilcox said. “That’s all you can ask is for them to give what they’ve got and they did that."

The defense had plenty of real estate to seize momentum. Three of MidAmerica’s six scoring drives began inside the Pioneer 30 yard-line.

All told, the Raven defense surrendered 588 yards, including 323 through the air.

For Benedictine, it was a disappointing outcome of a game that looked even through two quarters. On MidAmerica’s first possession, Benedictine linebacker R.J. Nill stripped the ball out of Chancellor’s hands and took it back 50 yards to put the Ravens up 7-0. That score held until midway through the second quarter when MidAmerica knotted things up on a 15-yard pass from Herl to tight end Juan Redmond.

Kenji Holloway took the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for his second return touchdown of the season. Elmore’s first and longest touchdown reception came moments after.

Alex Vaca nailed a 24-yard field goal to give Benedictine a 17-14 lead at the half.

Elmore scored two straight touchdowns after Johnson’s 1-yard dive that opened the third quarter. Running back Marvin Hill put up Mid-America’s final touchdown on an 8-yard run midway through the fourth.

Kelly and Benedictine running back Omar Diaz both ran for touchdowns in the fourth quarter to tighten the final gap.