MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Football put up a valiant fight at No. 7 Illinois State Saturday night, with several highlights, but three costly turnovers gave the host Redbirds 17 points as ISU finally pulled away to beat the Eagles 41-13.
The Redbirds (1-1) recovered two fumbles, returned one for a late touchdown, and had an interception deep in MSU territory. ISU also pressured MSU (1-1) into nine tackles behind its own line of scrimmage.
Still, Morehead State maintained a long drive in the first quarter, scored first, and only trailed 17-6 at the end of the first half. The visitors also recovered a fumble that led to a score and got an interception in the ISU end zone by defensive back
Mateo Reyes.
Running back Issac Stopke rushed for a team-best and career-high 86 yards on just 13 carries, including a long run of 39 yards in the first half. Quarterback
Carter Cravens finished with 134 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 14 completions. Leading receiver
Ryan Upp contributed seven catches for 69 yards.
Illinois State ended up rushing for 223 yards, with two running backs putting up 80+ yards. While not starting, typical primary quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse ended with two TDs passing and 81 yards through the air.
Morehead State generated 234 total yards and nearly had more first downs than the home team, trailing just 21-20.
The Eagles lit the scoring column first as running back
Craig Cunningham scored his second career TD as an Eagle after a 14-play, 86-yard drive. His score at 7:02 in the first quarter had MSU on top 6-0. The PAT was blocked, but kicker
Jordan Price chased down the would-be scorer on the defensive two-point conversion and prevented an ISU score.
ISU proceeded to pull ahead 27-6 before
Montez Green scored his first Eagle TD, catching a 14-yard pass from Cravens, with 13:28 left in the fourth quarter. That score brought the Eagles to within 27-13, but ISU tacked on a three-yard TD pass and a late, 27-yard fumble return for a touchdown with 4:05 remaining.
Linebacker
John Purdy led the defense for the second straight in tackles, with nine. Linebacker
Chris Johnson piled up eight tackles, including MSU's lone tackle for an ISU loss. Reyes had seven stops, plus his interception.
Morehead State will be back on the road next weekend, traveling to former PFL rival Austin Peay (now a member of the United Athletic Conference) for a 7 p.m. ET game in Clarksville, Tenn.
