MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville head coach J.C. Morgan spent the offseason praising his team's resiliency and heart, and those qualities were fully showcased Thursday night at Biemesderfer Stadium as the Marauders shook off a slow start to roll past Saint Anselm 33-7 in the season opener. 

Backed up in the shadow of their own end zone early and often, the Marauders overcame those field position woes with 110 rushing yards from Jaquan Howard and a dynamic performance from sophomore quarterback Rob Footman Jr., who rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 154 and two more scores. Footman's 32-yard strike to Mekhi Alexander put the exclamation point on the victory with 2:33 remaining, but it was a third down, driving-extending run late in the fourth quarter by Howard and an 83-yard fumble return for a touchdown by KeShaun Jones that typified Millersville's winning effort. 

On a third-and-seven with Millersville trying to ice the game, Howard was initially stopped short of the first down marker. Stood up by a trio of Saint Anselm defenders, Howard kept his legs churning and was soon joined by a host of fellow Marauders who pushed the rookie running back three more yards to move the chains. From there, Millersville ran seven more plays and took six minutes off the clock--dashing Saint Anselm's hopes of a rally. The drive ended with Footman's scrambling, off-balanced toss to Alexander for a touchdown. 

"We talk about fighting," said Morgan. "Those are things we practice and emphasize. Those are things we take a lot of pride in. There's a play where Conner Snyder forces a holding call then turns around and chases the play down. From Jaquan's run with everyone joining in that fight to Conner's play, those are examples of that. That's cool to see as a coach, and it's great to see them buying in to what we are talking about."

Seven minutes earlier, Millersville led 20-7 but Saint Anselm was driving. On third-and-two from the Millersville 10, Saint Anselm QB Anthony Santino hit Bryce Burkhalter on a quick out, but inside linebacker Garrett Cox, who led the Marauders with 13 tackles, 3 1/2 tackles for loss and a sack, chased down the wide receiver and stripped the ball free with a dive. Jones promptly scooped the fumble before it hit the Saint Anselm sideline and out-ran pursuers for a touchdown and three-score lead. 

The Millersville defense suffocated Saint Anselm's run game, holding the Hawks to 35 yards on 16 carries, and the Hawks mustered just 207 yards of total offense to Millersville's 334. After surrendering a nine-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in Saint Anselm's lone score, the Marauders gave up just 10 yards on Saint Anselm's next six drives. The Marauders forced the Hawks into five punts, an interception, a fumble and two turnovers on downs. 

Millersville's first three drives started on their own 1, own 2 and own 19. The first four offensive possessions resulted in punts. The field position fortunes turned after a Saint Anselm three-and-out and 14-yard punt that landed at the Hawks' 35. Millersville took advantage but needed a seven-yard completion from Footman to Alexander on fourth-and-seven to extend the drive. Three plays later, Footman sprinted in to the end zone for six. The Marauder defense struck again on Saint Anselm's very next offensive snap as Gus Ross stepped in front of a Santino pass, setting up the Marauders in prime real estate at the Saint Anselm 26. Immediately, Footman connected with a wide open Trey Gretzinger to put Millersville on top for good. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM J.C. MORGAN
• On overcoming poor field position early: "When you start behind like that, you are going to be playing catch-up. The second time we were backed up, we got enough to start changing field position and it picked up from there. I thought the first 15-20 minutes we played on our heels but the guys kept attacking and did a great job of establishing themselves. The offense established the running game. We got Rob on the run a little bit. 
• On the defense's play: "There are a lot of unknowns in that opening game. The defense stuck at it. They were giving up some chunk plays but stuck with it and took control. I don't know how many yards they gave up in the second half but it couldn't have been many...Being able to make some timely plays--we put our defense in those situations in practice--and they responded well."
• On establishing the run: "Sticking with the game. Jaquan was feeling it so we wanted to keep him going. Rob on the move is exciting for us."
• On the play of Footman: "You see the confidence and the maturation. The scary part is we missed some things tonight. We are excited about the win but we have a lot to clean up."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE  
• Alexander led the Marauders in receiving with five catches for 71 yards. 
• Millersville scored 33 unanswered points and put four scores in the final eight drives. 
• Ryan Aument recorded the first two sacks of his career and finished with five tackles. 
• True freshman Madden Locke tallied six tackles and two tackles for loss. 

GAME NOTES
• Millersville evened the all-time series with Saint Anselm at 1-1, with the home team winning the last two seasons. Saint Anselm is now 1-8 all-time playing in the state of Pennsylvania with the lone win coming in 1905. 
• Millersville won its first season opener since 2019 and the 33 points were the most scored in a season opener since 2014. It was Millersville's first win in a season opener at home since 2012 and also the largest margin of victory in an opener since that same 41-17 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. 
• Gretzinger's touchdown was both the first reception and first touchdown of his career.