Racers Fall in One-Point Contest to Colonels

Saturday, October 29

Stewart Stadium

1 p.m.

Murray State

4-4 , 2-3

Eastern Kentucky*

5-3 , 4-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Eastern Kentucky

Murray State

Photo by: Samantha Mohr

10/29/2011 3:41:00 PM | Football

Box Score

| Box Score (.pdf) | 1st Half Gallery | 2nd Half Gallery | Postgame Notes

A missed extra point in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as Murray State nearly erased a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit in falling, 34-33, to Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Stewart Stadium.

Trailing by 14 with 14 minutes left, the Racers (4-4, 2-3 OVC) took advantage of a kickoff out of bounds and a personal foul penalty to get the ball at the EKU 45. Casey Brockman found Ja-Vonta Trotter for 15 yards on the first play, and Mike Harris later rushed for a first down. On 4th-and-9, Brockman rolled left and found Trotter in the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown.

EKU (5-3, 4-1 OVC) was able to get into Racer territory on their next possession, but failed on a fourth-down attempt from the Racer 28. The Racers needed seven plays to march down the field as Harris rushed for 49 yards on a pair of runs. After a 16-yard completion to Trotter, Brockman threw a pass off the finger tips of a leaping defender into the hands of Trotter for a 19-yard score. The subsequent extra point was wide left, leaving the deficit at one.

The MSU defense stepped up again and forced a punt with 2:22 left on the clock. Brockman hit Hannibal Beauford for 22 yards to get into Colonel territory, but three-straight incompletions ended any chance of a comeback.

The Colonels got off to a quick start in the first quarter as a long kickoff return led to a 34-yard Matt Denham touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage.

On the Racers second possession, Harris broke off a 39-yard run to help the Racers deep inside Colonel territory. MSU got the ball all the way down to the three, but had to settle for a 20-yard Kienan Cullen field goal.

After the defense forced punts on back-to-back possessions, another Harris run helped the Racers into the red-zone. The drive again stalled, and Cullen hit on a 28-yard field goal.

Midway through the second quarter, the Racers again drove deep into Colonel territory before lining up for a field goal. But, instead, holder Victor Daniels was stopped on the two yard line.

Following a false start penalty on the next Colonel drive, Qua Huzzie got into the backfield and forced a fumble in the endzone that was recovered by Jeremy Brackett for a touchdown. The forced fumble was the second of the first half for Huzzie.

The Colonels scored the final points of the first half on a T.J. Pryor touchdown pass to Tyrone Goard.

EKU came out in the second half and looked to be running away with the game as a Denham 46-yard touchdown run, and a Pryor 10-yard pass to Goard gave the Colonels a 28-13 lead with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

The Racers offense had other ideas as Brockman went 5-for-5 for 54 yards on the next drive, including an eight-yard strike to Nevar Griffin in the middle of the endzone.

After the defense forced another punt, the Racer offense turned the ball over on their own 19-yard line. Three plays later, Pryor went one yard for the touchdown on a quarterback sneak. Dontrell Johnson kept the lead at 14 points as he came around the right side and blocked the extra point.

Harris finished the game by rushing for 206 yards on 21 carries. He also caught six passes for 66 yards. He became the first Racer to rush for over 200 yards against Eastern Kentucky in 71 games, dating back to 1929.

Brockman went on to finish 31-for-44 for 332 yards and three touchdowns. It was the fourth 300-yard game of the season, and eighth of his career, moving him into second place on the all-time passing list.

Trotter led the receivers with six catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Beauford added five grabs for 66 yards, and Walter Powell caught five passes for 53 yards.

Huzzie led the Racer defense with 13 tackles, eight solo, two sacks, four tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles and a pass break-up. Sam Small added 12 tackles, while Kevin Robinson had a sack and forced a fumble.

The Racers return to action next Saturday as they travel to face Tennessee Tech. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.
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