MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Morrisville State College football set a new high Saturday afternoon, improving to a record best start 5-1 overall and 3-0 in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) competition with a 37-31 defeat of visiting Kean University on Drake Field in Morrisville in a thriller of a contest.
With the conference loss, Kean drops to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in NJAC play, while the Mustangs move the needle further ahead to maintain their perfect conference record as they head into next week against reigning NJAC Champion Rowan University.
Senior quarterback Lemar Johnson (Ossining, N.Y.) led the Mustang charge with an explosive offensive game, throwing for 302 yards completing 26-of-38 attempts for two touchdowns, and adding another team high 129 net yards and a score on the ground for a total 431 of the team's 592 yards accumulated on the day.
Cristian Pena (Ridgewood, N.Y.) added to the 290 yard running game for Morrisville State with a 122 yard performance on 21 carries, including two scores. Pena also registered four receptions for 38 total yards, including a touchdown early in the third quarter.
Johnson hit nine different receivers on the day, including junior Anthony Gray (Smallwood, N.Y.) who led the way with eight catches for a total 70 yards and a score. Senior Josh Powell (Yonkers, N.Y.) added 58 on four receptions, and Anthony Mella (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 47 on four catches to round out the leaderboard.
Defensively, Morrisville State had a solid performance from Colton Evans (West Winfield, N.Y.) and Wally Stephens (Kingston, N.Y.) who each posted 10 total stops on the day. Stephens added a forced fumble and quarterback hurry to his tallies.
Kean amassed 344 yards total offense on the afternoon, led by quarterback Robert Meade who connected on 11-of-19 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, while adding 67 yards on nine carries in the ground game. Meade also threw two interceptions on the day.
Damian Corredor posted a net 70 yards on 17 carries for the Cougars, while Jonathan Schmitt had a team high 38 yards on two receptions.
Tom Winters registered 10 total tackles, including five solo stops in the efforts for Kean, also recording a sack, while James Leavy added nine total tackles.
What seemed like a slow first quarter ended up being a tale of turnovers as neither team were able to find the end zone.
On the opening drive, Kean drove down to the Morrisville State two-yard line before Stephens caused a fumble and fellow teammate Javion Bobb (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had the quick hands to recover the ball to turn possession over to the Mustangs.
In the ensuing Mustang possession, Morrisville State moved the ball into Kean territory where the Cougars made a huge defensive stop and intercepted the ball in the end zone to keep the Mustangs off the board.
Following suit, late in the opening quarter, Meade threw a long bomb to catch the Mustang secondary off guard, but senior defensive back Chad Dorrance (Cazenovia, N.Y.) stepped in front of the receiver for the interception at the two yard line, regaining possession for the hosts.
Early in the second quarter, Morrisville State was pinned on their own eight yard line and facing a third down situation, but Kean had a costly unnecessary roughness penalty to give the Mustangs a first down and move the ball up to the 23 yard line. Pena broke three tackles up the left sideline for a 28 yard gain before being tripped up in Kean territory. On the following play, Edwin Soto (Liberty, N.Y.) powered through the defensive line for a 14 yard gain before Johnson hit Soto on a swing screen to bring the Mustangs down to the five yard line. Pena capped off the 10-play 98 yard drive with a one yard scoring run, putting the Mustangs on the board at 12:21, 6-0.
Kean responded with a 67 yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock to take the 7-6 lead with 6:33 to go in the second. Will Ingram capped off the Cougar drive with a one-yard power run through the line up the center for the score and 7-6 advantage.
Within minutes Morrisville State regained the lead on a 21-yard field goal by Zach Drake (Canastota, N.Y.) before surrendering a 26-yard field goal by Kean's Troy Kettler in the closing seconds to head into the break with a 10-9 Cougar advantage.
The third quarter proved much like the second in a back and forth battle, with Morrisville State regaining the lead minutes in on a 16-yard pass from Johnson to Pena along the left sideline, and a two-point conversion from Johnson to Gray, for the 17-10 advantage. Kean battled back to tie the contest at 17 midway through the quarter on a six-yard pass from Meade to Jaishon Moore, before capitalizing on a Mustang turnover on the ensuing drive to return the fumble recovery 49-yards for a go ahead score.
Morrisville State was able to bring the contest to within one on the following drive, as Johnson hit Gray under heavy pressure in the back of the end zone for the score, making it a 24-23 ball game.
The Mustangs defensive unit forced a quick three and out Kean series, regaining possession of the ball in the final seconds of the quarter, heading into the final stanza of the conference contest.
Facing a fourth down and four situation on the Kean 22-yard line, Morrisville State opted to take a chance at gaining the first down, and on the play, Johnson scrambled and after a 5+ foot hurdle in the air over the Cougar safety, landed in the end zone for the most thrilling and mouth dropping score of the afternoon. The two-point conversion was successful as Johnson hit Pena on a swing pass to the right for the 31-24 Mustang lead.
Kean was able to answer the Mustangs score on the kick-off, as the touched ball sailed into the end zone and was a mere inches from going over the end line. But Corredor picked up the ball by his finger tips and scrambled out of the end zone along the left sideline where he had three huge blocks by special teams and made his way into the end zone for the responding touchdown score.
Morrisville State threatened to score midway through the quarter, but two straight pass break ups turned the ball over on downs to the Cougars with 5:30 showing on the clock.
Meade saw a wide open tight end along the right sideline and let the ball go, but at the last second cornerback Anthony Deese (Brooklyn, N.Y.) stepped in front of the pass for the interception and returning the ball to the Kean 45 yard line to regain possession to the offensive unit.
Johnson hit Gray and Mella on consecutive plays to get down to the Kean 24 yard line, before Pena followed center Adrian Cabrera (New York, N.Y.) for a 15-yard gain up center to bring the ball down to the nine.
After a four yard gain by Pena to the five, he again powered his way behind a hole created by Cabrera for the five yard rushing score and 37-31 Mustang lead with 49 ticks remaining.
Kean was able to move the ball down to the Morrisville 44 yard line on the ensuing possession, and after an incomplete pass, was battling not only a fired up defensive unit, but the clock as well. With 6.5 seconds to go, Meade went long in an attempt to hit Robinson in the end zone, but the ball sailed too far and Morrisville State was able to post the thrilling victory.
Morrisville State returns to the field next Saturday, traveling to Rowan University for the Profs homecoming contest, before returning to the south the following week at Southern Virginia. They return home Saturday, November 1st, hosting William Paterson at noon for the home finale, and senior day, wrapping up the regular season the following week at Montclair State.