Saturday, October 5, 2013
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

Home teams nearly completed a sweep of Week 6 action across the Pioneer Football League. Only Morehead State was able to grab a road win, grabbing a victory at Campbell. San Diego handed Mercer, which was making its first road trip in 2013, its season's first loss. Butler and Marist both moved to 2-0 while Dayton and Drake improved to 1-1 in league action.

PFL SCORES FOR SEPT. 28 (WEEK 5)
Marist def. Valparaiso, 37-0
Butler def. Stetson, 35-13
Morehead State def. Campbell, 45-36
Dayton def. Davidson, 40-8
Drake def. Jacksonville, 27-17
San Diego def. Mercer, 45-13

LEAGUE RECAPS

MARIST def. VALPARAISO, 37-0
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Quarterback Chuckie Looney set the Marist football program’s career record for passing yards, and the Red Foxes recorded their first shutout in four years in their 37-0 Pioneer Football League win over Valparaiso at Tenney Stadium on Saturday.

Looney finished the game 11-for-15 for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and was removed from the game late in the third quarter after Marist took a 31-0 lead. He now has 4.874 career passing yards. On Saturday, he surpassed the record of 4,703 yards formerly held by James Luft, who played at Marist from 2001-05.

Offensively, Marist gained 409 yards of total offense, with 250 passing and 159 rushing. Wide receiver Bartley Leneghan led the Red Foxes with 126 yards receiving on four receptions, which included a 49-yard touchdown. Running back Atiq Lucas ran for 59 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.

Valparaiso quarterback Eric Hoffman finished the afternoon 18 of 29 for 127 yards and two interceptions. A blitz-happy Marist defense sacked him six times and instilled constant pressure on the quarterback. Wide receiver Andrew Cassara corralled eight passes on the afternoon, a season-high for the junior receiver. Running back Brandon Hall registered 68 yards on 14 carries, averaging a shade under five yards per rush.

MORE>> Marist Recap | Valparaiso Recap | Box Score

BUTLER def. STETSON, 35-15
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Butler shook off a slow start with a big third quarter performance and knocked off visiting Stetson, 35-15, on Saturday. The Pioneer Football League win at the Butler Bowl lifted Butler to 2-0 in league play and 4-2 on the season.

The Bulldogs, playing the first of three consecutive home games, pulled away from a 9-7 halftime lead with three third quarter touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Lancaster had a six-yard scoring pass to tight end Zack Wolfe, while running backs Trae Heeter and Rico Watson added rushing touchdowns. Butler added five more points in the final period for the 20-point win.

Butler's offense rolled up 373 yards in total offense, including 252 yards after halftime. Heeter finished with 118 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. 

Stetson's Jonathan Jerozal received extensive playing time at quarterback and competed well, completing 11-of-15 passes for 104 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Starting quarterback Ryan Tentler was Stetson’s leading rusher with 67 yards on seven carries. Donald Payne was his usual presence on defense, leading Stetson with 13 tackles, one for a loss, with a pair of pass breakups.

MORE>> Butler Recap | Valparaiso Recap | Box Score

MOREHEAD STATE def. CAMPBELL, 45-36
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Slot receiver Brandon Bornhauser posted three touchdowns and quarterback Austin Gahafer passed for 334 yards to lead the Morehead State football team to a 45-36 PFL victory over Campbell on Saturday afternoon at Barker-Lane Stadium.

The Eagles, who improve to 2-4 overall, move to 2-1 in the Pioneer Football League for the first time since 2007. The Camels, now 1-4 on the season, slip to 0-2 in conference action. MSU also improves to 4-2 in the all-time series against CU with its first-ever win in Buies Creek.

Gahafer closed the day 26-of-34 for his career-best passing total.  He also fired three touchdown passes for the first time in his brief time at Morehead State.  Slot receiver Cyrus Strahm led the Eagles with six catches for 76 yards, while two other receivers collected four catches each.

Morehead State managed a 334-170 edge in passing yards and 26-20 advantage in first downs, but Campbell recorded a 383-135 upper hand in rushing yards for a 553-469 overall advantage.

Campbell quarterback Brian Hudson rushed 11 times for a game-high 168 yards and completed 13-of-23 attempts for 170 yards and two scores.  Running back Kurt Odom added 85 rushing yards and one touchdown for the Camels, while freshman Keith Goss contributed 80 rushing yards and two scores.

MORE>> Morehead State Recap | Campbell Recap | Box Score

DAYTON def. DAVIDSON, 40-8
DAYTON, Ohio – Dayton running back Connor Kacsor ran to daylight until Mother Nature brought storm clouds in Dayton's 40-8 win over Davidson Saturday at Welcome Stadium.

Kacsor ran 26 times for 244 yards and two touchdowns on the day. His 244 yards were just seven yards short of Jermaine Bailey's school record of 251 yards (set against Drake in 2000). But just as Kacsor's day was done and the second unit was coming into the game, a storm front with lightning moved into the area, first sending the teams to the locker room and eventually ending the game with 7:46 left in the fourth quarter.

Kacsor carried the ball a career-high 26 times in the game, averaging 9.4 yards a carry. He gained 59 yards in the first quarter, and another 51 to give him 110 by halftime. Exploded for 94 in the third and then added 40 during Dayton's only possession of the fourth quarter. The 94 yards coming out of halftime were more than any Dayton runner had gained in a game this season.

Davidson finished with 191 total offensive yards, 164 coming through the air where it posted a small advantage. Quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff completed 14-of-32 passes for 145 yards. Wide receiver Williams Morris caught seven passes for 93 yards.

MORE>> Dayton Recap | Davidson Recap | Box Score

DRAKE def. JACKSONVILLE, 27-17
DES MOINES, Iowa – A strong defensive performance and four touchdowns from quarterback Andy Rice led the Drake University football team to a 27-17 victory over Jacksonville at Drake Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Rice rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for two more in the win as he completed 17 of his 26 passes for 241 yards. Nick Rosa hauled in four of those passes for a team-high 93 yards while running back A.J. Washington had 120 total yards with 72 on the ground and 48 receiving to give the Bulldogs’ their 13 straight home conference win.

Drake’s (2-3, 1-1 PFL) defense held the Dolphins’ potent offense well below its season average with John Hugunin leading the way with 10 tackles, two for loss and a fumble recovery. The Bulldogs dominated the line of scrimmage and attacked the Jacksonville (3-3, 1-2 PFL) offense all day with 11 total tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 41 yards along with three sacks.

Making his third consecutive start, Jacksonville quarterback Steven Hughes passed for 269 yards and a touchdown while helping to rally the Dolphins from a 13-0 first quarter deficit. Andrew Robustelli capped off the come back midway through the third quarter for JU hauling in a go ahead touchdown. Robustelli, who finished with a career high six receptions for 161 yards, hauled in a pass that was tipped by a defensive back then raced the rest of the way home for a 77 yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.

MORE>> Drake Recap | Jacksonville Recap | Box Score

SAN DIEGO def. MERCER, 45-13
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – San Diego improved to 2-0 in PFL play with Saturday's convincing 45-13 victory as they handed the Mercer Bears (4-1, 1-1 PFL) their first loss of the season after bringing back football for the first time since 1941.

San Diego quarterback Mason Mills was nearly perfect on the day as he completed 23-of-27 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns. At the end of the first period with USD ahead 21-7, Mills' stat line was 9-for-9 for 184 yards and 2 touchdown passes. With his fourth completion of the day, a 5-yarder to Sam Hoekstra in the team's second series, Mills became the program's all-time leader in completions. Now with 744 career completions, he passed by Josh Johnson who held the previous mark of 724 (2004-2007).

Running back Kenn James began the game by returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a 7-0 lead. The 95-yard return was the fifth longest in program history. After the Torero defense held Mercer in check on their first series, the Toreros struck again, this time with Mills connecting with Sam Hoekstra for a 46-yard touchdown that culminated a 5-play, 83-yard drive. Mercer responded with a trick play as receiver Josh Jones took a pitch on a reverse play and tossed a 28-yard pass to a wide open J.T. Palmer to pull within 14-7. Mills closed out his perfect first period by connecting with Reggie Bell for an 11-yard strike and a 21-7 advantage they would not surrender.

Palmer's four receptions for 100 yards, all coming in the first half, led the Mercer attack, while Russ finished 15-for-32 for 160 yards and one interception.

MORE>> San Diego Recap | Mercer Recap | Box Score