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HARRISONBURG, Va. - Morehead State football committed five turnovers, and could not recover from the mistakes as the 15th-ranked (FCS) James Madison Dukes defeated the Eagles 48-7 Saturday in both team's season openers at Bridgeforth Stadium before a crowd of 16,612.
Sophomore
Blake Stanley scored on a four-yard run late in the fourth quarter to help MSU avoid the shutout. Stanley led the Eagles on the ground with 46 yards on 11 carries. He gained his entire night's total in the second half. On defense,
Jerome Raymond accumulated eight total tackles, including 2.5 for losses, and came up with two fumble recoveries.
While the Eagles did lose five turnovers, the defense came up with four, including three fumbles and an interception by #D.J. Smith#.
The Dukes took the opening kickoff and drove 63 yards in nine plays before quarterback Drew Dudzik finished the drive with a one-yard scoring run. MSU had the Dukes in a third-and-long situation at the 50-yard line, but Dudzik completed a 47-yard strike over the middle to get JMU in the red zone. JMU then forced a
Zach Lewis fumble on the Eagles' third play and turned it into seven points just five plays later as Dudzik went around the right end for an eight-yard score.
Lewis was picked off on the Eagles second play of their second drive by Jonathan Williams, but Raymond helped the Eagles catch a break. On third-and-goal from the Eagles' 12, he forced Dudzik to fumble and picked the ball out of the air. Raymond appeared to have a shot at the end zone but was dragged down after moving out to the 35-yard line.
Billy Hopewell added a pair of field goals, and the Dukes got a 47-yard touchdown pass from Dudzik, along with a two-yard run by Jamal Sullivan, to take a 34-0 halftime lead.
Dudzik added another touchdown toss in the third to make it 41-0, and Lee Reynolds found paydirt from a yard out for the 48-0 lead.
In the fourth, Raymond recovered his second JMU fumble at the Dukes' 26. Lewis completed an 18-yard pass to Ronnie McDermott to get the ball down to the four yard line, and Stanley crashed across the goal line on the next play - his first career touchdown. Freshman kicker
Ryan Ullrich added his first career PAT.
The Eagles' offense was held to 152 yards, while JMU compiled 483 balanced yards. The Dukes' ground out 294 rushing yards and threw for 189 yards. Dudzik was 8-for-15, accounting for four of the Dukes' touchdowns.
Lewis finished 12-of-24 for 85 yards.
Drew Morgan led the Eagles with three catches.
Desmond Cox tallied 126 all-purpose yards, including 97 kickoff return yards.
On defense, Tony Bachman topped the Eagles with 11 tackles, while Smith had nine - including six solo stops. Steve Francis and Keaton May notched seven tackles apiece, while May had 1.5 tackles for losses.
