MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State football erased a 34-12 deficit with a trio of fourth-quarter passing touchdowns, but the Eagles ultimately saw their fate fall by the wayside in triple overtime as MSU fell to Ohio Dominican 42-40 in the season opener in front of a raucous crowd at Phil Simms Stadium Thursday night.
MSU (0-1) fell behind 34-12 to the visiting Panthers at the start of the fourth period. But the home team began to chip away with a 17-yard score from new starting QB
David Parsons to wideout
Anthony Ice to make it 34-20 after
Riley Purcell caught a two-point conversion pass from Parsons. Late in the final period, Parsons connected with wide receiver
Sam Harkness on an 18-yard pitch and catch for another touchdown with 2:27 left.
Jordan Price's PAT made it 34-27. A defensive stop shifted the ball back to the Eagles, and
Sidney Webb's 37-yard punt return was key to setting up the offense at the ODU 29-yard line. Parsons found Ice again on a nine-yard score with 1:07 left, with Price's PAT signifying the tying point, and the 22-point deficit has been erased.
Neither team scored in the first extra period as ODU missed a 31-yard field, and Parsons was picked in the end zone on a third-and-three play. Ice and Parsons connected again in the second overtime, this time on a 10-yard TD pass. The required two-point conversion failed, however, as wide receiver
Cannon Dinger caught the pass but was ruled out of bounds. With MSU on top 40-34, ODU scored on a 27-yard heave from QB Carson Parker to Connor Campbell, but the two-point pass failed as well.
Teams are required to go for only two-point conversions after the second overtime. ODU converted its attempt for the 42-40 lead, but the Panther defense thwarted the Eagle pass attempt to seal their victory.
Parsons finished with a career-high 463 passing yards on 30 completions and 56 attempts, and he also scored a rushing touchdown. He accounted for 506 total offensive yards. His passing yardage total was the third highest single-game aerial total in program history, behind only Mark Pappas (481 in 2021) and Austin Gahafer (465 in 2016). It was the most yards in a game since Oct. 14, 2023.
The combo of Ice and Dinger totaled 15 catches for 290 yards. Ice piled up a career-high 156 yards on eight catches and the two scores. Dinger also set a career-high with 134 yards on seven hauls. It marked the first time since Nov. 9, 2019 that two Eagle wideouts eclipsed 100 yards in the same game.
The offense generated 589 total yards while allowing the Panthers to gain 506. The Eagles were also only penalized three times. Running back
Craig Cunningham ended up rushing for 89 yards on 19 carries to lead the ground game.
Defensively, lineman
KJ Hardesty came up with a team and career-high 13 total tackles and also had a tackle for loss and two QB hurries. Linebacker
Damiano Mastroianni led the unit with 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Panthers struck first, with 9:14 left in the first quarter on a 17-yard scoring pass to make it 7-0. Price cut the deficit to four with his first field goal of the season (a 33-yarder) with 2:22 left in the quarter. Another ODU TD put the visitors up 14-3 with 12:55 remaining before halftime, but Parsons rambled in from four yards away at the 5:45 mark before the break. The PAT pass didn't connect though, setting it at 14-9. Price lifted his team back to within 14-12 at the halftime break on a 35-yard field goal as time expired.
ODU scored on a 52-yard rush by the QB Parker, a 66-yard pass from Parker, and a 14-yard scoring toss to surge ahead 34-12 at the opening of the final period.
MSU returns home next Thursday as the Eages host Kentucky Christian at 6 p.m. ET.
