Saturday, October 26, 2013
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

San Diego downed previously unbeaten Butler and the PFL lead is now shared among four teams with 4-1 marks after the fifth week of PFL action. Dayton won on the road while Marist won a home outing to join Butler and San Diego at 4-1. Meanwhile, Mercer won its first road affair this season to improve to 3-1, a win off the leaders' pace. Jacksonville also picked up a home win to move to 3-2 where it is joined by Drake and Morehead State, just one-game behind the leaders.

PFL SCORES
Mercer 38, Campbell 31 (Oct 26, 2013 at Buies Creek, N.C.)
Drake 23, Valparaiso 10 (Oct 26, 2013 at Des Moines, Iowa)
Marist 27, Stetson 0 (Oct 26, 2013 at Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)
Dayton 42, Morehead State 14 (10/26/13 at Morehead, Ky.)
Jacksonville 56, Davidson 13 (Oct 26, 2013 at Jacksonville, Fla.)
San Diego 42, Butler 14 (Oct 26, 2013 at San Diego, Calif.)

LEAGUE RECAPS

MERCER defeated CAMPBELL, 38-31
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Mercer scored on its first four possessions and held off Campbell 38-31 in a Pioneer Football League game Saturday at Barker-Lane Stadium.

John Russ hit Jordan Marshall with a 72-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage and Mercer won its third-straight game.

Russ ran for 132 yards on 10 carries and added 180 more in the air on 11-of-16 attempts. He accounted for three touchdowns, including two through the air. Ja Tarii Donald added 130 yards on the ground on 22 attempts and two touchdowns for the Bears, who lost leading rusher Payton Usher to injury in the first quarter. Donald also had three catches for 36 yards.

Quarterback Brian Hudson completed 33-of-46 passes for 308 yards and three scores for Campbell, which dropped its sixth in a row. Hudson added 76 yards on the ground in 13 attempts. Kurt Odom ran seven times for 60 yards and hauled in six passes for 33 yards.

Campbell set a school Division I era (since 2008) record for team passing yards (355) as Hudson, Jordan Hildreth and Dakota Wolf all completed passes in front of a Homecoming Day crowd of 4773.

MORE>> Mercer Recap | Campbell Recap | Box Score

DRAKE defeated VALPARAISO, 23-10
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University football team scored 16 unanswered fourth-quarter points to defeat Valparaiso, 23-10, Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium. The win was Drake's 14th straight home win against a Pioneer Football League opponent.

The Bulldogs (4-4, 3-2 PFL) held a 371-183 advantage in total yards of offense with 73 of Valparaiso's yards coming on its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter. Drake's defense disrupted the Crusaders all afternoon as the front four limited Valparaiso (1-7, 1-4 PFL) to four rushing yards while recording four sacks, nine tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

Offensively, Andy Rice threw for 297 yards on 27-of-41 passing with a touchdown. Eric Saubert had his second consecutive 100-yard game with 104 receiving yards on eight catches with a touchdown. Gary Scott, Jr.  picked up 82 yards receiving out of the backfield, along with 52 rushing yards.

Valparaiso quarterback Eric Hoffman turned in a 20-for-34 game for 179 yards with a touchdown. Linebackers Patrick Derbak and Alex Green both recorded a game-high 12 tackles apiece.

MORE>> Drake Recap | Valparaiso Recap | Box Score

MARIST defeated STETSON, 27-0
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- The Marist football team posted its second straight home shutout with a 27-0 victory over Pioneer Football League foe Stetson at Tenney Stadium on Saturday.

Senior quarterback Chuckie Looney accounted for four touchdowns and 381 yards of offense, including a career-high 127 rushing yards on just five carries. Looney became the first quarterback in program history to throw 20 touchdown passes in a season. In the process, Looney eclipsed the program's previous single-season record of 18, which he had set last year.

The Marist defense held the Hatters to 131 yards of total offense and eight first downs. The Red Foxes forced 10 punts, and recorded 14 tackles for loss and five sacks.

Fifth-year senior defensive end Terrence Fede had four tackles for loss, including two-and-a-half sacks. Senior linebacker Paul Sakowski had a team-high seven tackles, including a sack. Senior linebacker Mike Kagafas added six tackles, including two for loss, and a pass break-up.

Offensively, the Hatters were never able to get anything going. Stetson rushed for just 18 yards on 39 attempts and completed just 12-of-24 pass attempts for 113 yards. A big part of the problem in both areas for Stetson was that the Marist defensive line was able to make a living in the Hatters’ backfield. Marist recorded five sacks in the game and piled up a total of 14 tackles for loss.

MORE>> Marist Recap | Stetson Recap | Box Score

DAYTON defeated MOREHEAD STATE, 42-14
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Dayton football team used 28 unanswered points in the second half to post a 42-14 win over Morehead State before a crowd of 7,547 on Saturday afternoon at Jayne Stadium.

Sophomore running back Connor Kacsor led the Flyers with 31 carries for a game-high 159 yards. His seven-yard touchdown run in the third quarter capped an 11-play drive and began the 28-0 spurt which allowed UD to pull away.

Dayton senior quarterback Will Bardo completed 13-of-20 attempts for 191 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 42 yards and two scores. Senior slot receiver Gary Hunter led the Flyers with six receptions for a game-best 117 yards.

Dayton posted advantages of 297-41 in rushing yards, 504-223 in total yards and 24-14 in first downs. The Flyers converted 8-of-15 third-down opportunities, while holding the Eagles to 4-of-15.

Morehead State freshman quarterback Austin Gahafer completed 26-of-44 attempts for 182 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Junior running back Rees Macshara collected 51 receiving yards and 33 more on the ground.

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

JACKSONVILLE defeated DAVIDSON, 56-13
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville University football team knows how to celebrate Homecoming in style. The Dolphins rolled up 35 points in the second quarter on the way to a 56-13 win over Davidson.

Along with scoring over 50 points for the fourth time this season, Jacksonville (4-4; 3-2) won its second straight to remain within striking distance for a share of the Pioneer Football League title.

Quarterback Kade Bell improved the Dolphins to 7-0 against PFL teams when he is under center with a career best 323 yards and four touchdowns. Its the third time this year Bell has tossed four touchdowns in a game running his season total to 16 in five games played.

The Dolphins defense meanwhile surrendered a season low 13 points and set up short field position all afternoon for the offense by forcing five turnovers which including a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Luidji Michel in the second quarter. Anthony Joiner led the Dolphins with nine tackles forcing one fumble and recovering another.

The largest bright spot for the Wildcats was a running attack that totaled 210 yards, which was not only a season-high, but the most the 'Cats had gained since running for 270 yards at Campbell in 2010. David Rogers (20 carries), quarterback J.P. Douglas (14 carries) and Robert Klein (16 carries) all set career highs with 96, 70 and 61 yards, respectively. Douglas saw the majority of the action passing amongst the three quarterbacks Davidson utilized, completing 10 of 17 passes for 94 yards. William Morris was the top receiver, catching eight passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.

MORE>> Jacksonville Recap | Davidson Recap | Box Score

SAN DIEGO defeated BUTLER, 42-14
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Needing a win to stay in the hunt for a third straight PFL title, San Diego came up big in all three phases of their game, dealing Butler its first league loss with a convincing 42-14 win.

With the victory the Toreros join Butler, Dayton and Marist with identical 4-1 PFL records, while Mercer sits at 3-1. Senior Mason Mills became just the 5th PFL quarterback to surpass the 10,000 passing yards milestone, and finished off a brilliant performance with totals of 26-of-36 passing for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns. Both the Torero defense and special teams unit shined in the winning effort as well.

Mills' favorite target was senior receiver Sam Hoekstra who grabbed 9 receptions for 175 yards and 1 score. Hoekstra needed just 30 yards to reach 2,000 receiving yards for his career. Reggie Bell added 5 receptions for 63 yards and 1 score, while Joe Ferguson paced the ground attack with 19 carries for 87 yards and 1 touchdown. Freshman punter Ryan Belden was solid as he averaged 46.0 yards on 4 punts, including a long of 59 and two inside the 20.

The Torero defense held Butler to just 14 points, matching their lowest output of the season back to their season-opening 55-14 loss to South Dakota State. Butler was paced by Matt Lancaster (25-41 for 251 yards and 1 TD) and running back Trae Heeter (18 carries for 60 yards).

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