Morehead, Ky. - The Morehead State football team takes to the road playing in its season finale to face the Valparaiso Crusaders in Valparaiso, Ind. Both the Eagles and the Crusaders are looking to pick up their first Pioneer League victory of the season. Kick off is set for 1 pm ET at Brown Field.
The Eagles enter Saturday’s game with a 2-8 overall record and a 0-7 mark in PFL play. The Crusaders enter the game with a 1-9 overall record and are 0-7 in PFL games. Morehead State is 11-3 all time versus Valparaiso and the Eagles have won seven of the last eight games in the series. Last year Morehead State won at home in Jayne Stadium, 44-10.
The Eagles are coming into the game after playing San Diego tough, but ultimately coming up short and bowing 13-7 to the Toreros. MSU led 7-3 at half time but gave up a 69 yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and could not hold onto the victory. Last week Valpo hosted PFL foe Campbell and lost 17-3. Campbell was able to amass 450 yards offensively and had two players run for over one hundred yards against the Crusaders.
Offensively, through the air, the Eagles are led by freshman quarterback
Zach Lewis who will now make is third consecutive start. Last week against San Diego he was 20-of-40 for 196 yards and one touchdown. On the season Lewis is 69-of-128 for 649 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground MSU is led by
Desmond Cox and
Jerrod Pendleton. Cox has now rushed for 281 yards and one touchdown, while Pendleton has toted the ball 53 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles main pass catcher is
Ronnie McDermott who has 27 grabs on the year for 288 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles remain very balanced so far this year on offense; MSU is averaging 31.6 rushing attempts per game compared to 31.0 passing attempts per game.
On defense the Eagles are led by senior middle linebacker
Wes McDermott who now has totaled 100 tackles on the year. McDermott has 16 tackles-for-loss and one sack thus far. McDermott now ranks tied for eighth in the nation in tackles-for-loss per game.
Andrew Doan and
Derik Steiner are giant forces on the defensive line. Doan has 14.5 tackles-for-loss and nine sacks thus far and Steiner has nine tackles-for-loss and one and half sacks on the season. Last week
Kameron Scott had two interceptions in the first half against San Diego and will lead the Eagles secondary against Valpo. On the season Scott has five pass break-ups to go along with two interceptions and 31 total tackles.
Offensively for the Crusaders, Bobby Wysocki is leading the team in rushing with 232 yards on 72 attempts. Ross Wiemer leads Valpo in rushing scores with three. At quarterback for Valpo is Nate Goergen who is 39-of-78 for 434 yards and has thrown four touchdown passes. Tim Bennett and Nicholas Henton look to be the main receiving threats, both have over 300 yards receiving and Henton has caught two touchdowns.
On defense the Crusaders are led by Nikko Carson who has 11 tackles-for-loss and five sacks on the season to go along with 41 total tackles. In the secondary Valpo is led by Eli Crawford who has four interceptions and one fumble recovery.
MSU will have eleven seniors playing in their final game as Morehead State Eagles. The eleven senior players are:
Chris Collins, Andrew Doan,
Derek Harkness,
Henry Hudson,
Anthony Kammer,
Michael Kearns, Wes McDermott,
Jacob Nail, Jerrod Pendleton, Derik Steiner, and
Andrew Wilhoite.
