Football Falls in PFL Barnburner to Marist Despite Louis' Big Ground Game
Sophomore running back James Louis rushed a career-high 32 times for 122 yards and a touchdown - the most rushes for any Morehead State player in its Pioneer League era since 2001, but it came on the short end of a 31-21 decision to Marist at Jayne Stadium Saturday evening.
After the Eagles tied the game 21-all with 11:50 left, the Red Foxes generated a touchdown and a long field goal in the final five minutes and stymied MSU's offense to keep its winning streak alive in Morehead. The Red Foxes are 4-0 all-time at Jayne Stadium. Morehead State slipped to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the PFL. Three of the losses have been by 10 points or less, however.
On a day where MSU quarterback Colin Parachek made his first career start and performed admirably, Louis was the workhorse. On his 32 totes, he only lost one net yard, finishing with his second career 100-yard day. He scored a game-tying touchdown to make it 7-7 in the second quarter.
Parachek finished 17-of-32 for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns - both to wideout Christian Graves. He also used his legs to motor for 36 yards on 13 carries.
The back-and-forth game featured no scores in the first quarter. Marist struck first with 13:59 left before halftime on a 17-yard pass. Louis' three-yard scramble tied it up at the 4:22 mark, but Marist's Glenmour Leonard-Osbourne returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to the end zone as the visitors led 14-7.
The Eagles knotted the contest 14-all at halftime as Parachek connected with Graves on a 10-yard score with just 30 seconds left in the second quarter. That finished off a 10-play, 75-yard drive.
Leonard-Osbourne pushed his team back ahead 21-14 at the 1:56 mark of the third period, but Graves and Parachek found each other again to open the fourth period for a 21-all tie.
After Marist went up 28-21, the Eagles appeared to convert on a fourth down situation late in the fourth period to keep a potential game-tying drive going. But a fumble recovery and a forward pass which appeared to be enough to move the sticks was deemed illegal and MSU turned it over on downs. Marist converted a 46-yard boot through the uprights with 2:26 left and then held MSU on its last two possessions to seal its road win.
Defensively, the Eagles held Marist to just 87 yards rushing and 319 total yards. Safety Cooper Krezek led the unit with 10 tackles. MSU finished with 345 total yards.
Original source can be found here.
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