NE Kentucky News

Football Leaves It All On the Field But Comes Up Short in Season Finale

Morehead State Football left it all on the field in its season finale Saturday against Sn Diego, but the Eagles came up short in dropping a 14-9 decision to the Toreros.

The Eagles concluded the season 2-9 and 1-7 in the Pioneer League, falling in three of the games by one score or less. San Diego escaped Jayne Stadium to even its final 2022 mark at 5-5 and 4-3 in the PFL.

Trailing by what ended as the final margin entering the fourth quarter, Morehead State defensive back Kameron Frye forced a USD fumble on the Eagle one-yard line on a play where the Toreros looked destined to score a TD. MSU drove the length of the field but misfired on a field goal into a swirling wind with 5:48 remaining.

However, six plays later, defensive back Jihad McCall (who also had a fumble recovery) picked off a Judd Ericksen pass and returned it to the USD 46-yard line. Quarterback Carter Cravens engineered the Eagles down to the USD 12-yard line but was sacked on a second-down play. On a fourth down play, USD's Ruben Lopez intercepted Cravens in the end zone. However, the Eagle defense held once again and got the ball back with less than a minute. But, a last ditch effort fell short as time expired after a 16-yard pass to the Torero 44-yard line.

San Diego took a 14-0 lead to halftime on a pair of Ericksen TD passes in the first and second quarters. MSU got on the board with 10:22 left in the third when Nathan Hazlett booted a 21-yard field goal.

On the Toreros' next possession, cornerback Major Dailey collected his first career interception to set up the Eagles on the USD 47-yard line. Eight plays later, Cravens crashed in from a yard out to make it 14-9 following a missed two-point attempt.

After being held to only 11 first-half yards, running back James Louis erupted for 81 in the final half and finished with 92 rushing yards. Louis ended with a team-high 780 yards on the 2022 season. Cravens' totals amounted to 25-of-48 for a career-best 227 yards.

Defensively, the Eagles forced San Diego into just 317 total yards. Safety Cooper Krezek led the defense in stops for the seventh straight game, getting 11 today. Krezek also forced a fumble and concluded the campaign with 100 total tackles exactly.

Morehead State had 20 first downs and out-gained USD 321-317. 

Original source can be found here.