Saturday, November 2, 2013
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

While the lead group was narrowed to three in the Pioneer Football League's, the race remains tight with six teams within a game of each other for the top spot. Butler and San Diego won on the road while Marist picked up a home win as each moved to 5-1 and sit in the lead. They are followed by a Mercer squad that won on the road to move to one-half game back at 4-1. Drake kept within touch of the leaders with its 15th consecutive home PFL win while Dayton fell to Butler, both Drake and Dayton are 4-2. Elsewhere, Campbell picked up its season's first win and snapped a 14-game PFL losing streak.

PFL SCORES
Butler 33, Dayton 30 (at Dayton, Ohio)
Mercer 51, Davidson 26 (at Davidson, NC)
Drake 56, Morehead State 14 (at Des Moines, Iowa)
San Diego 58, Valparaiso 14 (at Valparaiso, Ind.)
Marist 42, Jacksonville 35 (at Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)
Campbell 19, Stetson 18 (at DeLand, Fla.)

LEAGUE RECAPS

BUTLER defeated DAYTON, 33-30
DAYTON, OHIO – Quarterback Matt Lancaster ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more and Butler overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat Dayton, 33-30, at Welcome Stadium, Saturday. The victory kept the Bulldogs in a tie with San Diego and Marist for first place in the Pioneer Football League.

Lancaster rallied Butler (7-3, 5-1 PFL) with a late first half touchdown and four second half scores. He guided the Bulldogs on a 10-play, 49-yard drive to set up the game-winning 33-yard field goal by Jon Treloar with just 3:29 left in the game. Butler's defense held Dayton on two ensuing drives, and the Bulldogs celebrated their biggest come-from-behind win of the season.

The Butler signal caller scored Butler's first touchdown on a 56-yard run late in the first quarter, and he notched the Bulldogs' final touchdown with a one-yard run in the fourth period. In between, he had a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dylan Johnson and a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zack Wolfe.

Lancaster finished with 116 rushing yards on 20 carries, and he completed 18 of 27 passes for 232 yards.

Dayton (6-3, 4-2 PFL) led at halftime despite losing star running back Connor Kacsor due to an injury five plays into the game. Kacsor, who came into the game with 659 yards in his last four games, had two carries for 29 yards before heading to the sidelines. Kacsor came into the game with four consecutive 100+ yard games, but without him (and backup Robert Washington, who scored two TD's before getting hurt early in the third quarter) Dayton was held to 107 yards rushing as a team.

Quarterback Will Bardo, who also left the game with another injury just before the Flyers tied it at 30 in the fourth quarter, was 17 of 25 passing for 299 yards and two TD's. Gary Hunter caught a career-high seven passes for 155 yards. Ross Smith had four receptions for 84 yards.

MORE>> Butler Recap | Dayton Recap | Box Score

MERCER defeated DAVIDSON, 51-26
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Looking to secure its second four-game winning streak of the season, the Mercer University football team used 397 rushing yards and rolled past Davidson 51-26 at Richardson Stadium in Pioneer Football League action.

The Bears (8-1, 4-1) win their second straight road contest and continue their unprecedented first-year run through the PFL as Davidson (0-9, 0-6) remains winless on the season. With the win, Mercer stays a half game behind the conference leaders and even in the loss column with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

For the second straight game freshman running back JeTarii Donald stole the show, rushing for 202 yards on 24 carries and finishing with three total touchdowns. John Russ was equally impressive, crossing the century mark in the air and on the ground with 123 yards rushing and 136 passing. The duo combined for six total touchdowns.

Davidson's Carkhuff and sophomore wide receiver William Morris both achieved career milestones on the touchdown drive late in the third quarter. Carkhuff made his 1,000th completion a spectacular one as he found Morris on a 53-yard pass to move the Wildcats to the Mercer 12-yard line. The play also put Morris over 1,000 yards receiving for his career. Morris finished the day with seven receptions for 136 yards, while Carkhuff went 12 of 26 passing for 215 yards with two rushing touchdowns.

Other top performers for Davidson included David Rogers, who totaled 128 yards by rushing for 76 on 13 attempts and catching five passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. He also had a touchdown on a halfback-pass play. Robert Klein gained a career-high 110 yards on 14. Matt Casey was the game's top tackler with 12 stops and he also registered one sack.

MORE>> Mercer Recap | Davidson Recap | Box Score

DRAKE defeated MOREHEAD STATE, 56-14
DES MOINES, Iowa – Junior quarterback Andy Rice threw a career-high five touchdown passes and ran for another as the Drake University football team cruised past Morehead State, 56-14, Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium. The win was the Bulldogs 15th straight home win against a Pioneer Football League opponent.

Drake (5-4, 4-2 PFL) racked up a season-high 511 total yards, including a season-best 221 rushing yards. That rushing attack was spread out across five backs with Gary Scott, Jr. getting the bulk of the carries with 14 for 78 yards.

Sophomore Eric Saubert hauled in seven catches for 85 yards and one touchdown. Drake's defense limited Morehead State (3-6, 3-3 PFL) to 232 total yards, while forcing two turnovers.

MSU freshman quarterback Austin Gahafer closed out 16-of-34 for 139 yards with two interceptions.  Freshman slot Jake Raymond and junior slot Cyrus Strahm tallied three catches apiece, while freshman wide receiver Mason Rutherford posted 37 receiving yards.

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

SAN DIEGO defeated VALPARAISO, 58-14
VALPARAISO, Ind. - San Diego (6-3, 5-1) cruised to a 58-14 road win over Valparaiso (1-8, 1-5) Saturday afternoon. The Toreros offense racked up 521 yards of total offense, with 276 yards through the air and 245 yards on the ground.

Senior quarterback Mason Mills had another effective day, completing 19-of-32 passes for 230 yards and four touchdowns. Mills had some help from the senior running back duo of Joe Ferguson and Kenn James, who both rushed for over 100 yards.

The Toreros, who scored the game's first 23 points, got on the scoreboard first after driving 69 yards in five plays on their second drive of the day. Fullback Lawrence Larivee scored on a one yard run that was set up by a Thomas Cobbs 24 yard reception.

Jabril Baker led the Crusaders' rushing attack with 73 yards on ten carries. Brandon Hall added 59 rushing yards on a dozen touches.

Valparaiso Eric Hoffman completed 16 of 24 pass attempts for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The redshirt junior did not throw an interception but was sacked three times.

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

MARIST defeated JACKSONVILLE, 42-35
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- The Marist football team earned a 42-35 victory over Jacksonville in a Pioneer Football League contest at Tenney Stadium on Saturday.

Marist took the lead for good with nine seconds left in the third quarter, using a drive that covered 14 plays and 90 yards and culminated in a four-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chuckie Looney to wide receiver Armani Martin. Looney and Martin connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 11:50 left in the fourth quarter to put the Red Foxes up two scores. A seven-yard touchdown run by Frantz Claudio brought Jacksonville back to within seven with 5:18 left, but the Dolphins never got the ball back as Marist had three first downs on its ensuing possession.

Marist's Martin had six receptions for 162 receiving yards and three touchdowns, which enabled him to break the program record for receiving touchdowns in a season with 11. Senior quarterback Chuckie Looney tied his own single-game program record with five touchdown passes, as he went 26-for-36 for 362 yards. Fifth-year senior wide receiver Bartley Leneghan gave Marist two 100-yard receivers, as he caught nine passes for 111 yards, and scored a touchdown for the fifth straight game. Senior running back Atiq Lucas led Marist's ground game with 106 yards on 18 carries.

Jacksonville (4-5; 3-3) was led by quarterback Kade Bell who had touchdown passes of 93, 80 and 14 yards totaling 314 yards on 16 completions. Wide receiver Andrew Robustelli finished with 123 yards on three catches, including the 93 yard reception which is the longest in school history and tied for the longest in the nation this season.

MORE>> Marist Recap | Jacksonville Recap | Box Score

CAMPBELL defeated STETSON, 19-18
DELAND, FLA. – Brian Hudson's 11 yard go ahead touchdown run with 1:07 remaining lifted visiting Campbell over Stetson Saturday at Spec Martin Stadium, giving the Camels their first Pioneer Football League win of the season.

Campbell moves to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in PFL games on the season, while Stetson dipped to 1-7 and 0-5 in conference play. The win snapped a six game losing streak in 2013 for Campbell and gave first year head coach Mike Minter his first conference victory. The PFL win was Campbell's first since Nov. 5, 2011 against Morehead State.

The Camels fell behind 18-7 with 5:12 left in the game with Ryan Tentler connecting with Rob Coggin for 61 yards and the score.

Jonathon Rogers answered back for Campbell on the ensuing kickoff, taking it 97 yards to make it 18-13 Hatters, with the two point try failing. The return for a touchdown marked the Camels second in its six season modern era, and the longest in program history. Brandon Chandler (2008-12) took Campbell's only other kickoff return for a touchdown against Valparaiso in 2008.

After holding the Hatters and forcing a punt, the Camels got the ball back with 3:04 on the clock on their own 32. On the ensuing drive, Campbell faced a fourth and nine from its own 44 with 1:44 to play when Hudson tucked and ran 10 yards to the right sideline to keep the drive alive. The Camels followed the converstion with consecutive completions to Jordan Hildreth for 19 yards and to Kurt Odom for another 16 gave CU first and 10 on the Stetson 11, setting up Hudson for the eventual game winner.

Hudson, who broke the Campbell single season rushing record with 92 on the day, added 111 yards passing on 16-of-26 attempts. Hudson broke Carl Smith's (2008-11) CU single season rushing record (677 in 2011) after coming into the game tied, now with 759 yards this season.

Stetson finished the game with 373 yards of total offense, its second-best offensive effort of the year, including 285 yards passing. Quarterback Ryan Tentler completed 16-of-26 pass attempts for 220 yards and one touchdown. He also led the rushing attack with 33 yards on 12 carries. Wide receiver Rob Coggin caught six passes for a season-high 113 yards.

MORE>> Campbell Recap | Jacksonville Recap | Box Score