Schwartz's Game-Winning Field Goal, Louis' 100-Yard Game Highlight Football's Upset at PFL Unbeaten Drake

BOX SCORE

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- After missing his last five field goals, Morehead State kicker Thomas Schwartz V made sure today wasn't the same fortune. Schwartz V kicked a go-ahead 30-yard field goal with 14 seconds left, running back James Louis rushed for 111 yards and the Eagles picked up a scoop and score on the final play as Morehead State knocked off the Pioneer League's top-ranked team, Drake, 29-20, at Drake Stadium Saturday.

Morehead State (7-4/5-2) won for first time in program history at Drake and put an end to the Bulldogs' FCS best 17-game conference winning streak. Previously the program had lost all seven games when playing at Drake. The Eagles were held scoreless in the first half but put 29 points on the scoreboard in the final 30 minutes. 

Tied 20-20, MSU got the ball back with 3:33 remaining on its own 45-yard line. Quarterback Carter Cravens engineered an 11-play drive to the Drake 13-yard line where Schwartz V booted his 30-yarder straight through the uprights. Cravens scrambled twice for first downs to keep the drive alive, once for 15 yards and once for 13 yards. Louis, MSU's first 100-yard ground gainer since he had 107 against Davidson last year, also had a 13-yard run on the game-winning march for a first down.

Drake got the ball back with 14 seconds and completed two passes. On their final play, the Bulldogs ran a play featuring four backwards laterals all the way back to the 12-yard line. A fumble was scooped up by safety Matthew McClelland and ran back 12 yards for the final Eagle points.

Drake got on the board first. After MSU recovered a fumble on the two-yard line that prevented a Drake touchdown, the Bulldogs tackles MSU running back Isaac Stopke in the end zone for a safety. Drake then went ahead 9-0 on an eight-yard TD pass with 6:53 left before halftime.

Early in the third quarter, the Eagles cut it to 9-7. A 38-yard flea flicker pass from wideout Bradley West to wideout Nate Garnett set up MSU at the Drake one-yard line. Stopke crashed it in at the 14:00 mark to make it 9-7.

Drake's 50-yard field by Shane Dunning pushed it to 12-7 with 9:44 left in the third frame. But Louis capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard score with 2:10 left in the third for a 13-12 Eagle advantage.

Drake surged back ahead 20-13 with 12:23 left when Luke Bailey found Trey Radocha for a six-yard score. The Eagles marched right back down though and tied it 20-20 as wide receiver Ryan Upp was on the right end of a 13-yard TD pass from Cravens. It marked Upp's 14th career touchdown catch.

Morehead State out-gained the home team 291-269. The Eagles' 137 rushing yards were the second highest in a game for MSU this fall.

Linebacker Zane Porter led MSU on defense with seven tackles, and Luke Bauer, Branden Stearman, McClelland and Jackson Benjamin all had five stops. Stearman recovered a fumble, and Benjamin picked off a Bailey pass. Jihad McCall posted three pass break ups.

The 2024 regular season finale is next weekend when MSU hosts San Diego at 1 p.m. ET. While they would need some help with other results, the Eagles are still in the hunt for a PFL title and the league's playoff berth.