KUTZTOWN, Pa. - Down 14-0 early, Millersville rallied and had the ball with a shot at a go-ahead score in the final three minutes, but Kutztown got the stop it needed to hold on, 17-12.

Kutztown stayed undefeated in the PSAC East (6-0) with the win while Millersville suffered its third one-score loss and fourth in which it trailed by seven points or fewer in the fourth quarter.

"We made some mistakes in key moments," said Millersville head coach J.C. Morgan. "On third downs we got into some good opportunities but couldn't connect. It might be a sack or an overthrow or passes we thought were there. It's situational football is a big part of winning the game. We didn't come through in those situations."

Freshman Brett Nye came off the bench and connected with Mekhi Alexander on a 68-yard TD strike in the third quarter, giving the Marauders a spark. The Marauder defense held the Golden Bears to one scoring drive in the entire second half, and after the third quarter field goal, Kutztown punted three times and turned the ball over on downs once in the next four drives.

That turnover came on a fourth down sack by Austin Heiser and gave the Marauders a drive start at the KU 44. The short field led to Trent McDowell's second field goal of the game, but that was all the offense the Marauders could muster. With the score 17-12 and five minutes remaining, Millersville ran three plays without gaining positive yardage. The defense got the three-and-out, and one last shot for the offense started at the Millersville 31 with 1:29 to go. On fourth-and-long, Nye was pressured, and his hurried pass fell incomplete.

"(The last few minutes) went the way I hoped it would," said Morgan. "We just didn't execute and get the score...We are getting closer. Sometimes the results don't look that way. The biggest thing is that all the units in the offense have to be consistent. It starts with the protection then running the right route. It's not on one person. It's a collective. All units are taking turns. You can see the signs pointing in the right direction."

Nye went 8-of-14 for 139 yards in his collegiate debut. Millersville held KU quarterback Judd Novak to just six completions. But Kutztown found enough success in the run game, totaling 237 yards on 42 carries.

KeShaun Jones led Millersville with 11 tackles. Garrett Cox recorded his seventh straight game with at least 10 tackles. Heiser and Randy Okungu recorded sacks. 

MORE FROM COACH MORGAN
On the team fighting to the end: "It started with practice this week. I told them before the game that we had a great week of practice. This group of guys who played today, the guys on scout team did a tremendous job the last few weeks of practice. I'm not shocked that they hung in there and battled back to give us a chance.
On the play of Nye: "He's a very smart guy. He understands the offense pretty well. The two true freshmen quarterbacks picked up the offense as good as I've seen in the time we've run this offense and that goes back over 10 years. He has very good command. His preparation putting the work in even when he was the No. 3 guy, knowing he was closer to playing, he was not playing catch-up. He was prepared and that was his routine. He has the arm talent and mental makeup like Ryan (Zeltt) does. We have guys who can be good PSAC quarterbacks."

UP NEXT
Millersville returns home to host Bloomsburg on Nov. 4 at 12 p.m.