BOX SCORE

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Senior wideout DeVonte Adams caught three touchdown passes from grad student Mark Pappas, while senior Vincent Winey and redshirt freshman Cooper Krezek both returned interceptions for touchdowns as the Morehead State Football team finished off a seven-win season with a 51-38 victory at Valparaiso Saturday.

The Eagles concluded the year with a 7-4 record, the most overall wins since 2015, and 6-2 in the Pioneer League.

Pappas threw for 389 yards and the three scores to Adams and finished the year with 3,446 yards, the second highest single-season mark in program history. His three TDs gave him 28 for the year, just one shy of the school single-season record.

Adams hauled in a season-best seven passes for a career-high 169 yards, catching TDs scores of 12, 33 and 57 yards. While he was held without a TD catch, senior wideout BJ Byrd finished with 99 yards on five catches, finishing with a school-record 1,313 season yards. He also concluded with 7,346 career passing yards to rank fourth in career yard in program history.

Another senior, running back Issiah Aguero, finished strong as well with 123 rushing yards and a touchdown. 

Winey, who led the team with 14 total tackles, concluded the scoring with his first-ever "pick-six" to make it 50-31 late in the game. Winey wrapped up his career with double-double stops in the final five games and had 106 tackles for the season, the most since current assistant coach Ryan Bennett finished with 104 in 2016. Defensive end Vaughn Taylor, Jr., recorded another sack and wrapped up his career with his 10th sack of the 2021 season. He also forced a fumble today and a strip sack.

Senior Devon Connors had two tackles for loss while also forcing and causing a fumble. 

Leading 34-17 in the third quarter, Krezek picked off Valpo's Brandon Nimz at the 15-yard line and returned it to the end zone for his first career pick six. 

An offensive explosion for both teams, the Eagles out-gained the Beacons 537-453.

MSU pushed ahead 14-0 in the first nine minutes, thanks to the 33-yard TD from Pappas to Adams and a three-yard scamper by running back James Louis. Aguero scored on a seven-yard jaunt in the second quarter, and MSU led 21-10. Adams scored the next two TDs for the visitors as the Eagles went on top 34-17 with 4:49 left in the third frame. 

After Krezek's INT return for a score, Valpo got a pick six itself to make it 41-23. An Andrew Foster 35-yard field goal pushed the lead to 44-23 before the home team cut it to two scores again on a 17-yard TD pass with 3:06 remaining in the 2021 season.

The Beacons did drive down and scored with no time remaining to set the final winning margin at 51-38.