MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Despite being decimated by injuries in recent weeks, the Millersville Marauders dug deep into the depth chart and battled visiting Mercyhurst for four quarters, but with wide receiver Evan Morrill filling in as the starting quarterback, the Marauders could not keep pace with a physical Lakers' run game, falling 17-7 on Senior Day. 

Morrill, the team's leading wide receiver, made his first start under center and led the team in rushing with 38 yards and completed eight passes for 108 yards and threw a second quarter touchdown pass. The Lakers (6-5), which finished the season with three consecutive wins, had put up more than 470 yards of offense in the previous two games, but Millersville limited the Lakers to 320 Saturday and made three fourth-down stops. Garrett Owens, the reigning PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week, churned out 182 yards and a touchdown. Turnovers proved significant, though, as the Lakers played mistake free and Millersville lost two fumbles and threw a pick. The Marauders finished with 164 yards of offense. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Owens broke a 43-yard touchdown run on the Lakers' opening drive and Mark Shafer added a 22-yard field goal with 12:18 left in the first half. On the ensuing Millersville drive, Morrill and Tyler Bishop combined for eight carries, and a pass interference penalty put the Marauders at the Mercyhurst 23. On the next snap, Morrill fired a strike to Morrill, bringing the Marauders within three. 
• Millersville out-gained the Lakers 86-38 in a scoreless third quarter and drove to the Mercyhurst 13 before missing a 31-yard field goal on the second drive of the quarter.  Then, with 1:10 left in the third, Morrill lost the ball on a scramble, and it was recovered by Mercyhurst at the Millersville 41. Eight plays later, Mercyhurst took a two-score lead when quarterback Doug Altavilla connected with Dustin Shoaf from 10 yards out. 
• Millersville was forced to punt on its next drive and never got the ball back. Mercyhurst took over at its own 20 with 9:25 left and Owens ran out the clock, picking up five first downs in a 15-play drive. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Newerls' touchdown catch was his team-high sixth of the season. Tyler Bishop, making his first career start, rushed five times for 14 yards and led the team with three catches. 
• Zac Button closed his Marauder career with a career-high 15 tackles and four tackles for loss, giving him 13 TFL for the second consecutive season. Christian Martir added 11 tackles for his fourth consecutive game with at least 11 tackles. Kaleem Corbin broke up two passes. 

POSTGAME REACTION: COACH J.C. MORGAN
• On the offense's performance: "We did not do a good job of protecting the ball. We fumbled it six times. We had some critical turnovers that cost us the game today."
• On playing short-handed: "I'm not worried about the numbers. We knew what we had going in and we were just trying to get one more point than Mercyhurst. We had to play some team ball that would allow us to do it. We expected to be in the ball game. We had some momentum going into halftime, got the ball back and got to the point where we sent our field goal kicker out to tie and could not connect."
• On the efforts of Morrill: "Evan will do anything you ask of him. That's what you respect and love about him. He is a good athlete but today you saw a fierce competitor. It takes a lot for a young man to put himself out of his comfort zone against thousands of people and do something he's never done before. He was QB1 this week. He took all the reps in practice. He was our only option. But to compose yourself in front of thousands of people, I give him credit."
• On what the young team learned in 2019: "They have learned a lot. Above all things, they have learned what it takes to be successful at the college level, and that will continue as we go into the spring. We will work on doing the little things to prepare for games like this. Our goal is that in the future these late-season games are meaningful and that we build ourselves toward being a championship program. What we have done and what we continue to do will help everyone move forward."

NOTES
• Morrill was the fourth player to start at quarterback for the Marauders in 2019. 
• With a cumulative opponent winning percent of .616, Millersville finishes the 2019 season with the No. 1 strength of schedule in Division II. 
• Martir finished his first season with the Marauders with 103 tackles. He finished second on the team behind Isaiah Onuschak's 110. It is the first time in more than 20 years that two Marauders have totaled 100 tackles in a season.