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Eagles Roll To 45-14 Victory

The Morehead State football team rolled up a season-high 491 total on their way to a 45-14 Pioneer Football League victory over Davidson on Saturday afternoon (September 28) at MSU’s Jayne Stadium. The Eagles finished the contest on a 38-6 run after the teams traded early scores.

The Eagles improve to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in league play, while the Wildcats slip to 0-4 on the campaign and 0-1 in conference action.  MSU also improves to 9-6 in the all-time series.

The win was Rob Tenyer's first as a collegiate head coach.  He was elevated to the head coaching position in December of 2012 after serving as an assistant coach at Morehead State the past 12 seasons.

"I'm so proud of our players, especially with how things went our first four weeks," Tenyer said.  "It's real easy to give up in life, but they have not done that.  Today's result is exciting because our young men have a lot of character and have continued to work extremely hard."

Morehead State's defense limited Davidson to no points, eight first downs, 1-of-8 on third-down conversions and 112 total yards after halftime.  It was the first time MSU has held a Division I opponent scoreless in a half since a win over Valparaiso on November 13, 2010.

After sophomore Justin Cornwall tallied a 35-yard return on the opening kick-off, Morehead State assembled a four-play scoring drive.  Freshman quarterback Austin Gahafer put the Eagles on the scoreboard with a 13-yard run at the 13:35 mark of the opening period.

Davidson answered with an 11-play touchdown drive and took a brief lead on a two-point conversion, but Morehead State registered six of the game's final seven scores to earn the 31-point victory.  The Eagles scored 7-of-8 times inside the red-zone on their way to the win.

Gahafer completed 25-of-36 attempts for a career-best 238 yards and one touchdown.  Freshman Jake Raymond was Morehead State's top receiver with five catches for 74 yards, while junior Brandon Bornhauser rushed nine times for 61 yards and two scores.

Senior defensive back Steven Lester paced the Eagles with a career-high 10 tackles, including nine in the first half, and three pass break-ups.  MSU sophomore defensive lineman Ronald Cooper added a season-best eight stops, including a game-high three sacks.

"Steven and Ronald are two of our top playmakers on defense," Tenyer said.  "They both lead by example and practice hard.  Steven is playing very well right now, and I'm proud of him.  Ronald is a really good player who has such a bright future ahead of him."

Davidson senior quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff was limited to 192 yards on 17-of-33 passing.  Sophomore William Morris led the Wildcats with five catches for 122 yards, while four Davidson players had carries but none reached 50 yards in the contest.

Morehead State, which entered the day last in the PFL in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense, held Davidson to 273 total yards and just 81 via the ground attack.  The Eagles recorded two fumble recoveries, four sacks and seven tackles for loss.

"The culture within your program is very important, and I've liked ours all along," Tenyer said.  "We took the next step today, which was great.  We made improvements from each of the first four weeks.  If we stick to the process moving forward, we will be just fine."

The Eagles continue PFL play on Saturday (October 5) at Campbell.  Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. In-game links for the contest (live video, audio and stats) will be available via MSUEagles.com.  

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