GAME NOTES
MOREHEAD, Ky. – It’s Homecoming for Morehead State this weekend and Eagle football hosts the new kid on the block, first-year Pioneer League member Marist. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday.
Morehead State is coming off of a 39-0 loss to Jacksonville. The Dolphins jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 31-0 lead at the half. The Eagles faired better in the second half, holding Jacksonville to only eight points. Jacksonville held MSU to a total of 113 total offensive yards in the contest. Marist enters the game coming off of their bye week, and prior to that they defeated Jacksonville 31-27. Marist scored the game winning touchdown with seven seconds left.
The Eagles enter the game with a 2-5 overall record and a 0-4 mark in PFL play. The Red Foxes are 3-3 overall and 2-2 in PFL action. This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
Offensively the Eagles continue to use a contingent of quarterbacks. Freshman Zach Lewis got his first start last week and completed four passes on 11 attempts for 42 yards. Evan Sawyer and Jared Phillips also played in the game, Sawyer was 5-of-16 for 40 yards and Phillips was 1-of-3 for six yards. The Eagles leading rushers this season are Jerrod Pendleton with 165 yards and Desmond Cox with 164 yards, they have one touchdown each. The leading receivers for the Eagles are Ronnie McDermott and Donte Sawyer. Thus far, this season McDermott has 21 receptions for 213 yards and one touchdown and Sawyer has caught 10 passes for 124 yards and two scores.
Defensively Morehead State continues to knock teams back. The Eagles rank first in the nation in tackles-for-loss at 10.64 per game and MSU is third in the nation in rushing defense at 65.4 yards per game. The Eagles leading tackler is Wes McDermott who had 11 tackles last week and now has 61 on the season. Andrew Doan and Derik Steiner are forces on the defensive line. Last week Steiner had five total tackles, three and half tackles-for-loss and registered one sack. Doan is ranked fifth in the nation in sacks per game at 1.14 and leads the team in tackles-for-loss at 13. Eagle safety J.D. Cecil continues to have a strong season. So far Cecil has 29 total tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, two and half sacks, two pass break ups and has recovered two fumbles. Earlier this season he recovered a fumble and ran it back 90 yards to pay dirt which broke a school record.
Marist is an offensively balanced team, the Red Foxes have rushed for 861 yards and passed for 1185 yards on the season. The leading rusher for the Red Foxes is O’Neil Anderson who has 540 yards and two touchdowns. Marist is led in receiving by James LaMacchia who has 41 catches for 655 yards and two touchdowns. Under center for Marist is quarterback Chris Debowski who is 54 of 92 for 809 yards and four touchdowns so far this season. Debowski was PFL Offensive-Player-Of-The-Week two weeks ago for his performance against Jacksonville. He threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively the Red Foxes are led by Nick Andre who leads the team in tackles with 55, as well as having nine and half tackles-for-loss and two sacks. In the secondary for Marist, is Jaquan Bryant who has seven pass deflections, five pass break ups and two interceptions.
Not only will this be the first ever meeting between the two schools, this will mark the first time Morehead State has ever played a team from New York. Morehead State will look to get it’s first PFL win this season on Homecoming. The Eagles are 7-2 this decade on homecoming having won six straight from 2000-2005.
