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SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Morehead State will get the West Coast monkey off its back one day, but Saturday was not that day.
The Eagles lost a Pioneer Football League game to San Diego, 34-0, Saturday at Torero Stadium. USD is now 6-0 all-time versus Morehead State.
The Toreros held the Eagle offense back all day, frustrating quarterback
Zach Lewis with three interceptions and a fumble while holding the sophomore signal caller to 14-for-38 for 125 yards. In all, the Eagles tallied 133 yards of total offense, their lowest output of the season.
“We had opportunities early on and we squandered those. Then we give up a big play and that put us in a big hole,” MSU coach
Matt Ballard said.
Morehead State punted 12 times after going 0-13 on third down conversions and had the ball on offense just over 22 of the game’s 60 minutes. Five different times San Diego started a drive in MSU territory.
“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and then we gave them a gift with starting field position,” Ballard said. “They had a short porch all day long. We were our own worst enemy today.”
Four first-half turnovers stalled MSU’s offense early in the game and resulted in the Toreros’ first score, a 54-yard pick six by Al-Rilwan Adeyemi. The Eagles had 98 yards of offense in a pass-heavy first half. It was the third time this season MSU was unable to score in the first half and the sixth time the Eagles were held to three or fewer first-half points.
San Diego’s second touchdown came on a 59-yard pass from Mills to Kyle Warren. Prior to that, the Eagle defense had kept the Torero offense in check, never allowing them to advance past the MSU 37 yard line. A 30-yard field goal by Stanley Shurson midway through the second quarter and a 23-yard completion from Mills to Reggie Bell gave USD a 24-0 lead heading into the locker room.
USD added 10 points in the second half, three on a 33-yard field goal by Shurson and a five-yard pitch and catch touchdown from Mills to Godfrey Smith. Mills finished the day 17-of-32 for 240 yards.
Despite the score, the Morehead State defensive effort was solid. Tony Backman led the Eagle defense with 16 tackles and a sack and Jerome Raymond had two sacks and a quarterback hurry for MSU. Ryan Williams forced a fumble, San Diego’s only turnover of the game.
The Eagles return home for their final two games of the season, facing PFL foe Valparaiso Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jayne Stadium.
