Marist scored 24 second-half points to spoil Morehead State's homecoming, 24-14 Saturday afternoon in a Pioneer League game at Jayne Stadium.
MSU coach Matt Ballard coached the game in bare feet in support of Samaritan's Feet, an organization that provides shoes to underprivileged children all over the world. Ballard's efforts resulted in more than $3,000 worth of shoes (600 pairs) during the week. Fans can text "shoes" to 85944 to make a $5 donation, which is good for one pair of shoes.
Marist (4-3; 3-2 PFL) scored its first touchdown in the third quarter on a 58-yard pass from quarterback Chris Debowski to James LaMacchia. The Red Foxes pulled within four midway through the fourth quarter on a Jason Myers field goal, and took the lead on a six-yard run by O'Neil Anderson.
"We have to tip our hats to Marist," Ballard said. "They mixed things up in the second half, and took us out of our game. They didn't have miscues and they executed, so you have to give them credit."
Morehead State was driving with under five minutes to play and had moved the ball 33 yards when Evan Sawyer lost control of the ball and it popped right into the hands of Brock Flynn, who returned it 55 yards, setting up the Red Foxes' insurance score. Debowski found Greg Whipple on a six-yard pass with just over two minutes to play.
The Eagles, who had their best offensive day since Sept. 26, scored first for the sixth time this season. A nine-play, 74-yard drive was capped by a two-yard rush by Jerrod Pendleton to give MSU a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. A short second-quarter punt by Marist set up MSU's second score, a 23-yard pass from Sawyer to Jaison Yoshimura, the first TD catch of Yoshimura's career.
"When our guys look at this film, they'll see some things that will give our young guys some confidence," Ballard said.
The Eagles (2-6; 0-5 PFL) totaled 245 yards of offense, 140 of which came through the air courtesy of Sawyer. Sawyer, whose completion percentage was over 50 percent (13-of-25) for the first time this season, also had his second best yardage output of the season. He added 41 yards on the ground. Yoshimura also had his best game of the season with three catches for 47 yards to lead the Eagle receivers. Desmond Cox led the MSU ground attack with nine carries for 51 yards.
"I was very pleased with our effort," Ballard said. "This one stings because our guys played their hearts out, they really did."
The third-ranked rushing defense in the nation entering the game, Morehead State held Marist to just 41 yards on the ground, including a paltry 12 yards in the first half. Linebacker Wes McDermott had 18 total tackles, four of which were for loss. In all, MSU, the national leader in tackles for loss, tackled Marist 12 times behind the line of scrimmage, including three sacks.
Marist was held to 2-for-5 on fourth down conversions and had three second-half drives stopped inside the MSU 35, including stalls in the red zone.
Debowski was 12-of-29 with one interception and two touchdowns for 209 yards. LaMacchia had six catches for 124 yards and Anderson finished with 26 carries for 69 yards.
Morehead State travels to Buies Creek, N.C. Saturday to face Campbell at 1 p.m. Marist will host Valparaiso at noon.
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