Valparaiso saw its 2009 season come to a close on Saturday
afternoon, dropping a 29-6 game to Morehead
State on Senior Day at
Brown Field.
“I wish it would have been a
better ending for our seniors,” head coach Stacy
Adams said after the game. “They did
a lot of good things over their careers and worked hard for us.”
The Crusaders jumped on top
early, as Sean McCarty (Waukesha, Wis./West H.S.)
hauled in an 11-yard touchdown reception from Nate Goergen (Golden, Colo./Golden
H.S.) just 7:06 into the opening quarter.
The point after try was blocked, but Valpo led 6-0.
Morehead State (3-8, 1-7 PFL) answered on its ensuing possession as
Ranier Duzan connected from 43 yards out with a field goal to cut the Crusader
advantage in half with 3:13 to play in the first. Duzan’s second field goal of the game, this
time from 29 yards, tied the game at six early in the second quarter.
The two schools went into the
locker room deadlocked. Following a
Crusader interception, Duzan connected from 28 yards out for his third field
goal of the game, putting Morehead
State on top 9-6 heading
into the final quarter.
A pair of J.D. Cecil
interceptions in the fourth helped the Eagles pull away. He returned a pick 23 yards for a touchdown
with 13:59 remaining to push the lead to 15-6.
Late in the fourth he returned another interception down to the Crusader
six and three plays later Jerrod Pendleton found the end zone from three yards
out.
On the ensuing kickoff, a
Valpo (1-10, 0-8) fumble allowed the Eagles to recover at the Crusader 25 and
Kevin Thomas pulled in a 25-yard touchdown grab from Zach Lewis.
“As has been the case all
year, we have to learn how to play for 60 minutes,” Adams
added. “We played three good quarters
but not four. At this point we need to
put this season in the past and start getting ready for next year.”
Valpo tallied just 137 yards
of offense on the afternoon, with the Eagles limiting the Crusader run game to
just 15 yards. McCarty led the receiving
corps with five grabs for 52 yards while Ryan
Myers (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) had four catches for
46 yards.
The Eagles finished the game
with 274 total yards of offense, as Zack Lewis completed 17-of-33 passes for
164 yards.
Adam Rundh (Aalborg, Denmark/Orjanskolan
H.S.) and Zac Griffin (Apple Valley, Calif./Granite
Hills H.S.), two of 15 seniors playing in their final game, led the
defense. Rundh has 12 tackles, 10 solo,
including three for loss. He had two
sacks, two pass break-ups, a hurry, and blocked an extra point try. Griffin
added nine tackles, including one for loss.
Game Notes: Morehead
State leads the all-time series 12-3 and has won three straight meetings …
Rundh finished his career at Valpo with 33 tackles for loss, including 12.5
sacks … he blocked four kicks, including the PAT on Saturday … JaVon Welch (Grand Rapids, Mich./Ottawa
Hills H.S.) finished with a team-leading 71 tackles on the season, including
eight against Morehead State … Nicholas
Henton (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle H.S.) finished with three catches for 14
yards to finish with 932 career yards.