With the opening game of the 2019 season for Morehead State football less than a week away, fans who live outside the region or can't make it to Jayne Stadium have plenty of ways to follow the Eagles this year.
All six home games will once again air live on ESPN+, a subscription package that costs just $4.99 per month and includes a plethora of additional exciting programming. All 12 games will air live on the Eagle Sports Radio Network on WIVY-96.3 FM as well as WMST-1150 AM, and all games can be heard via links on http://MSUEagles.com
Every game will also have live stat links via MSUEagles.com. In addition, social media is the place for in-event updates as well as previews, videos, stats and more. Follow @msueagles and @msueaglesfb on Twitter and follow MSUEagles on Facebook and Instagram.
The season opener is Thursday, Aug. 29 with the Gold Rush/Wear Your Gold game against Union (Ky.) at 6 p.m. ET. Links to all forms of media will be available on the football schedule page.
Morehead State alum Tanner Hesterberg will anchor the coverage on ESPN+ providing play-by-play, with production by MSU video coordinator Joe Campione and his staff. Former Morehead mayor Jim Tom Trent, who has served as an Eagle broadcaster in the past, is set to provide analysis on select ESPN+ broadcasts as well.
Longtime Eagle voice Chuck Mraz will once again have the radio play-by-play call, with Jason Blanton (currently the coordinator of the MSU at Prestonsburg campus) providing analysis for the home games. Blanton has provided analysis on football broadcasts for more than 20 seasons as well as serving as the women's basketball play-by-play announcer for a lengthy run. Tom Lewis, the Executive Director of the St. Claire Healthcare Foundation in Morehead, will be the color analyst for a number of road games on radio. He has been a member of the broadcast crew in the past. Morehead State campus videographer David Patrick is also expected to join the radio crew for a limited number of games as well.
"I am ecstatic about the opportunity to call college football on a national television platform and showcase the Morehead State football program," said Hesterberg. "My goal is to bring a high degree of professionalism to these broadcasts, making them enjoyable and insightful for everyone watching. I am grateful to the folks at MSU for entrusting me with this awesome responsibility and look forward to putting on the headset."
Hesterberg, a 2012 graduate of Morehead State, was the lead play-by-play voice of WYMT-TV's "Game of the Week" broadcasts. He was also twice named Best Sports Play-by-Play Broadcaster by the Kentucky Associated Press (KAP) (2014 and 2015) and twice was awarded second place for Best TV News Reporter by KAP.
With more than six years on-air experience anchoring and reporting news for WKYT-TV in Lexington and WYMT-TV in Hazard, Hesterberg was a member of the Eagle broadcast crew in the past. He broadcasted men's and women's basketball and was the field reporter for football games.
For two years, he hosted Sports 101, a weekly two-hour call-in show on WSGS-101.1 FM and also called two boys Sweet 16 events on radio for WSGS. He was the radio "Voice of the Vikings" for Rowan County Senior High School boy's and girl's basketball games from 2010-2012, calling the RC boys' run to the Sweet 16 state championship game.
Hesterberg worked at Morehead State Public Radio as a student reporter throughout college and served as sports editor for The Trailblazer campus student newspaper.
He currently resides in Northern Kentucky while pursuing a law degree at the University of Cincinnati.
