Millersville, Pa. - The Millersville Marauders rallied with 17 unanswered points, but Malone answered with 3:23 left in the fourth to take a 38-34 lead. Millersville then responded by driving 52 yards to the Malone 2-yard-line. But on four consecutive snaps from the 2, Malone's defense turned away the Marauders, preserving a 38-34 win for the visiting Pioneers.

Millersville (2-6) trailed 31-17 with 6:39 left in the third quarter, but scored three times in the next 10 minutes starting with a Joey Farley 31-yard field goal followed by a 51-yard wide receiver pass from Evan Morrill to Farley. Cornerback Brendan Sherman then stepped in front of a Deandre Clayton pass and returned it 15 yards to the Malone 8-yard-line. Three plays later, Kobe Miranda plunged in from a yard out. Tyrone Gibson's two-point conversion run was good, giving the Marauders a four-point lead with 11:26 to play.

Millersville snuffed out a fake punt try for Malone but couldn't convert it into points as Farley's 46-yard field goal missed wide left with 7:06 to play. But what looked to be a last gasp for Malone turned into a game-winning play. A pair of holding penalties backed up the Pioneers, and facing a third-and-29, Clayton lofted a pass down the Malone sideline for Stephens Peppers. Peppers rose above Marcel Mingo and hauled in the pass for a first down. Two plays later, Clayton scampered in from 12 yards out for the go-ahead score.

With 3:16 to play, Millersville took over on its own 45 but back-to-back sacks pushed the Marauders to the 34. On third-and-21, Collin Shank fired a 28-yard completion to Morrill for a conversion. Shank completed three more passes to get Millersville to the 5. On third-and-goal, Malone was flagged for pass interference, giving Millersville first-and-goal at the 2 with under a minute to play. A Kobe Miranda rush on first down lost a yard. Pearson Hinkle was stuffed on second. Shank's pass on third was batted down at the line, and on fourth, Shank swung a pass into the flat for Chris Dolan, but the Malone defense quickly closed and dropped Dolan without a gain.

Millersville ran seven plays from inside the five.

"We have to score," said Millersville head coach J.C. Morgan. "We had the game in our hands and didn't get it done. It's disappointing."

Millersville rallied from behind four times in the game. Before the half ended, Millersville put together a 12-play, 78-yard drive that evened the score at 17-17. Malone scored touchdowns twice to start the third, creating the 14-point deficit for the Marauders.

"Both teams played very hard and credit to both sides," said Morgan. "Each team slugged it out and the team that landed the final punch was going to win. It ended up being them. Credit to our guys when we were down 14 in the second half and battled to take the lead back. Neither side quit and unfortunately we were on the short end of it."

Malone totaled 511 yards against a banged-up and short-handed Millersville defense, who started the game without three starters and lost leading tackler Trejon Dinkins and interceptions leader Ray Lopez in the first quarter. It was the most yards allowed by Millersville this season. Dunkley had a hand in 404 yards as he rushed 15 times for 144 yards and two scores and threw for 260 yards and two scores. Ashton Dulin caught both touchdowns. The Marauders did keep their turnover streak alive as Jhet Janis picked off pass just before the half, giving the Millersville defense an interception in five consecutive games.

Malik Diggs, filling in for the injured Lucas Bush--the team's second-leading tackler--and led the Marauders with a career-high 15 tackles. That marked the most tackles by a Marauder defensive lineman in the "Statcrew Era," which dates to 2003. Zach Button made nine stops and three tackles for loss. Kendle Pitts, who entered when Lopez exited, broke up three passes.

"It doesn't make it easy (to have five starters out), but we've talked about the next guy in line stepping up," said Morgan. "For the most part the guys that stepped up took advantage of the opportunity. We just needed to get one more stop and we needed to get one more score."

Shank completed 26 of 41 passes for 266 yards and two scores. Farley caught four balls for a career-high 132 yards and his first two-touchdown day. Farley also made two field goals--one from 26 and one from 31. Morrill made six catches for 63 yards, and his four-yard reception with 19 seconds left before halftime was his first TD of the season. 

UP NEXT
Millersville travels to Bloomsburg on Oct. 27 for a 3:06 p.m. kickoff.

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