Morehead, Ky.-- After scoring on the opening drive of the game, Morehead State trailed most of the afternoon, but on Senior Day, two seniors hooked up to lift the Eagles to a 31-30 victory over Butler Saturday afternoon in Phil Simms Stadium.
With Morehead State (6-5, 4-3 PFL) trailing 30-24, quarterback
Carter Cravens and receiver
Ryan Upp hooked up for a seven-yard touchdown pass with 52 seconds left for the tie. Freshman kicker
Jordan Price's conversion clinched the game for MSU.
Taking over possession with 3:33 remaining, the Eagles' final drive went 75 yards and took 2:41 off the clock. Â In the final drive Cravens hit seven of his 12 passes for 56 yards. Upp had three catches and
Montez Green had two in the game winning drive.
Cravens finished the day 23-31 for 298 yards and two touchdowns. Upp led all receivers with 154 yards on nine catches with two touchdowns. Green finished with four catches for 37 yards.
Anthony Ice and
Bronson England had three receptions each; Ice gained 47 yards while England finished with 21.
Morehead State won the coin toss and took the first possession of the game. The Eagles marched 77 yards in nine plays culminating in an
Isaac Stopke four-yard rush for a touchdown (his sixth of the season). The Price kick made it 7-0.
Stopke led the Eagles' ground attack, gaining 37 yards on eight carries.
Jackson Lanier had 18 yards on eight carries with a touchdown, his second of the season.
Butler (5-5, 3-3 PFL) wasted no time is evening the score. Returner Ethan Loss took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 7-7. After a three-play drive ended with an MSU punt, the Bulldogs went 74 yards in 11 plays, ending in Charlie Spegal's 1-yard carry at 2:22 to make the score 14-7.
Morehead State cut the lead to 14-10 with a Thomas Swartz V 33-yard field goal at the12:56 mark of the fourth quarter.
Both teams sputtered on their next drives, then Butler drove 57 yards on five plays ending with a Loss 2-yard run for a touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 21-10 with 6:40 remaining in the half.
The Eagles responded with a quick strike: on the second play of the series from Morehead State 43, Cravens found Upp deep across the middle for 57-yard pass and carry to the end zone with 5:38 remaining. The Price conversion cut the lead to 21-17.
The Bulldogs next possession was ended by a
Drayson Crane interception at the Morehead State 25-yard line, that he returned to the Butler 48. The Eagle drive stalled and
Kip Warren's punt into the end zone gave Butler the ball on their own 25.
The Bulldogs ended the half with an untimed down after a MSU penalty with a 45-yard field goal by Ryan Short and went to intermission ahead 24-17.
Morehead State got a key turnover early in the third quarter. On the fourth play of the opening drive of the second half, MSU defensive back sacked BU quarterback Raegan Andrew forcing a fumble, which was recovered by MSU's
Cooper Malaniak at the Butler 32.
On third and down and two yards to go at the Butler 24, Cravens hit
Cannon Dinger across the middle with a 21-yard strike to the three.
Jackson Lanier pierced the end zone on the next play to tie the score at 24-24.
Butler got a 44-yard field goal by Ryan Short with six seconds to go in the third quarter to move ahead 27-24. A 43-yard field goal by Short at the 3:33 mark gave the Bulldogs the 30-24 lead and set up the Eagles' late heroics.
Butler quarterback Raegan Andrew led the Bulldogs rushing for 74 yards on 16 carries. He also threw for 103 yards, completing 13 of 20 pass attempts with two interceptions. Â
Morehead State will enjoy a bye week next week and will wrap up their schedule when they visit Drake November 22.
NOTABLE
- Morehead State's four-game winning streak is the first for MSU since the 2021 season. Before that, one has to go all the way back to the 2005 campaign.
- In the Eagles' four-game winning streak, Morehead State has won by a total margin of 11 points. MSU is now 8-2 under head coach Jason Woodman in games decided by eight points or less. Â
- The win guarantees the Eagles back-to-back winning seasons. The last time MSU saw back-to-back .500 campaigns was 2007 and 2008.
- Jason Woodman in his second season has led the Eagles to 13 wins, the most of any coach in program history in their first two seasons.
- Ryan Upp now has 170 career catches, third all-time at Morehead State. With his 154 receiving yards Saturday, he went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. With one game to go, he has 1,017 receiving yards. In his career, he has gained 2,434 yards receiving, which ranks third in program history.
- Morehead State led statistically with 344 total yards (46 rushing, 298 passing) to 330 (195 rushing, 135 passing) for Butler.
- Butler had a 21-20 edge in first downs. The Bulldogs had three turnovers to one for the Eagles.
- Both teams were perfect in the red zone: MSU was 4-4 in scoring in the red zone, while Butler was 3-3.
- KJ Hardesty led the MSU defense with 11 tackles (3 solo) with one and a half tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. Drayson Crane racked up 10 tackles (6 solo) with a  sack and a pass-break-up to go with his first interception of the season. Mateo Reyes finished with nine tackles (8 solo) and a sack. Jackson Benjamin picked off his third interception of the season.
