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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Eagle football team returns home to the friendly confines of Jayne Stadium for the first of their final two home games of the season. MSU will host Pioneer Football League foe Valparaiso for Military Appreciation Day this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and Veterans and active military will receive FREE admission to the game with a valid ID. The game is being sponsored by MSU Army ROTC and Sleep Outfitters.
Last year in their season finale, the Eagles defeated the Crusaders 29-6 in Valparaiso. That win snapped a seven game losing streak and ended the 2009 season on a high note. MSU leads the all-time series 12-3, winning the last three.
Morehead State is coming off a disappointing 34-0 loss at San Diego. The Eagles were held to 133 yards of total offense, their lowest production of the season. MSU will look to get back on track offensively this week against a Valparaiso defense that gives up an average of 47.7 points per game and gives up just a shade under 500 yards of offense per game. Sophomore quarterback
Zach Lewis will look to stoke the fire this week against the Crusaders, Lewis has thrown for 14 touchdowns and has accumulated 2259 yards passing this season. Junior running back
Ronnie McDermott continues to pace the Eagles on offense with 528 yards receiving.
Defensively, the Eagles are led by
Tony Bachman and
Mark Hall. Bachman has been on a tear in the PFL of late, notching 98 total tackles, good for second in the conference. Hall has been equally dangerous on the front line. Hall is third in the PFL in tackles for loss per game at 1.72, gathering 15.5 on the year. Junior defensive end
Jerome Raymond has also made a big impact on the line, leading the team in sacks with eight.
Valparaiso is coming into the game off a 56-14 loss at Campbell. The Crusaders are 0-10 on the season and will be playing their last game of the year. Offensively Valpo is only averaging 8.5 points per game, and are last in the PFL in total offense with 228 yards per game. One bright spot on Valpo’s offense is wide receiver Sean McCarty who has 41 catches for 489 yards and three scores this season.
Valpo has struggled on defense, but Cody Goken is sixth in the league with 8.2 tackles per game and Sean Graves is 13th at 6.4.
The Eagles will remain at home to close of the regular season finale against PFL foe Campbell.
