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LORETTO, Pa.—Turnovers doomed Morehead State football in the Eagles 31-0 loss to St. Francis Saturday afternoon at a wet and misty DeGol Field. It marked the first time since 2004 a MSU team has been shut out.
The Eagles (1-1) committed five turnovers, four in the first half plus a blocked kick that led to three Red Flash scores. The trouble started when
Donte Sawyer fumbled a late first quarter punt and Ryan Revtai recovered the loose ball on the Morehead 28-yard line. SFU went four plays to end the quarter with an 18-yard touchdown pass from John Kelly to Jude Yearwood. The Eagles next drive ended with Josh Bentley intercepting an
Evan Sawyer pass that St. Francis turned into a 44-yard pass and touchdown on the first play following the pick off.
“We didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the ball, we weren’t very physical and we didn’t execute very well,” MSU coach
Matt Ballard said.
MSU was in good shape on the next drive, moving the ball 44 yards to the St. Francis 18 before the drive stalled, prompting a field goal try. The Red Flash blocked Rainer Duzan’s 35-yard attempt and Bentley scooped up the deflection and sprinted in front of the Eagle players for a 56-yard touchdown and a 21-0 halftime lead.
“In 16 years at Morehead State, that’s the first field goal we’ve had blocked and returned for a touchdown,” Ballard said.
Morehead did a better job handling the ball in the second half, but MSU’s one interception resulted in the Red Flash’s only second-half touchdown, a one yard scramble by Kelly that capped an 11-play 35 yard-drive. SFU scored a field goal in the fourth quarter following a failed fourth and four attempt by MSU.
Offensive struggles compounded the MSU performance with 24 yards rushing spread among six players. Quarterback
Jared Phillips led the ground game with 18 yards on four carries. The Eagles had some success through the air with Sawyer connecting on 14-of-28 for 128 yards. Morehead made two drives into the SFU red zone, but one resulted in the blocked field goal and the other was a field goal attempt that sailed wide left.
“We have a strong rich tradition of inching back into a game when we’re behind and we thought that was coming today and it never did develop,” Ballard said.
Defensively Josh Ballard was the MSU standout, totaling a game-high 10 tackles, two for losses.
Andrew Doan finished with nine tackles and a sack.
Wes McDermott caused early havoc for the Red Flash by blocking Josh Theil’s first field goal attempt.
It was St. Francis’ first win over Morehead State in five tries. The Red Flash (1-1) tallied 180 yards of total offense, 138 of which came through the air.
The Eagles will be on the road again next week, travelling to Durham, N.C. to face North Carolina Central at 1:30 pm
