MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - With legendary members of 1979 PSAC East Championship team and this year's Millersville Football Wall of Honor inductees watching from the end zone, the Marauders' 23-14 win over PSAC East rival West Chester felt vintage in style but the result was indeed the present reality of Millersville football here and now. Running back Jaheim Morris sledge-hammered his way to 177 yards on 30 carries, and the 'Ville defense, led by linebacker Garrett Cox's 11 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks, overpowered visiting West Chester, breaking a 19-game skid against the Golden Rams. 

Millersville (3-1, 1-0 PSAC East) scored its first win in a PSAC East opener since 2007 and toppled West Chester for the first time since 2002. With intermittent but heavy rain showers and a steady wind of 20 miles per hour, the Marauders relied on a game plan that could have been right of the 1979 playbook when Robb Riddick and company rushed for nearly 2,000 yards. Morris became the first Marauder back since 2013 with 30 carries, and quarterback Rob Footman Jr. tallied 76 yards on 17 carries while also tossing two touchdown passes. Morris posted a new career high in rushing yards and the most rushing yards by a Marauder since Morris rumbled for 171 at Bloomsburg last season. Of Millersville's 351 yards offense, 270 came on the ground. 

"Jaheim having that game, I was happy for him," said Millersville head coach J.C. Morgan. "Knowing that it was going to be a game between the tackles, Jaheim is that type of back. Early on you could see he had that look in his eyes. He was ready to play today. We have several athletes in that group who can have that type of game."

The tone was set on the opening drive of the game as Millersville marched 75 yards in a little more than three minutes with Morris picking up the bulk of the yardage. His 40-yard run on first-and-10 from the West Chester 35 was followed by another 15-yard rumble. A pass interference call on third-and-goal extended the drive, and on the next snap, Morris plunged in from the 2 for a 7-0 lead. 

"We put the game on the offensive line, and they started out on fire," said Morgan.

West Chester entered the game averaging more than 440 yards of offense with dual threat QB Cooper Jordan averaging more than 300 yards of total offense himself. But Cox and company made Jordan's afternoon miserable. He completed 7-of-19 passes for just 85 yards, and 62 of those yards came on a fourth quarter completion. He was sacked six times and intercepted twice. Alex Pelegrin's second quarter pick was the first of his career, and KeShaun Jones sealed the win by hauling in a tipped pass in the final minute of the game. West Chester rushed for 144 yards on 35 carries, but Trey Blair's 80-yard TD run early in the third quarter accounted for more than half of that total. Millersville totaled 22 first downs to West Chester's 10, held West Chester scoreless on their only trip into the red zone and dominated time of possession by 13 minutes. West Chester was held scoreless on its first eight possessions--a stretch that included six punts, a turnover on downs and an interception. 

"We knew that the defense would have to play a great game," said Morgan. "Listen, that (West Chester) offense has moved the ball up and down the field on everybody this year. They put up points. Our defense took last week personally and decided this week that enough is enough. That quarterback has been very successful but the main object with the game plan was to make it tough for him."

After a second-straight West Chester three-and-out, Millersville covered 67 yards on nine rushes before Footman escaped the pocket and fired a touchdown strike to a tightly covered Hakim Melvin from seven yards out. The Marauders took a 16-0 lead into the half. With the weather increasingly impacting the offense, the third quarter started with seven drives without a first down, but in that mix was Blair's long TD run that pulled West Chester to within nine. Two snaps after the touchdown, West Chester picked off Footman at the Millersville 33, fully turning momentum in favor of the Rams. But the Millersville defense responded by pushing the Rams backward and forcing three straight punts. Then, with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth, Footman guided the Marauders on a 56-yard drive, culminating in a 20-yard connection to Mekhi Alexander on fourth-and-three. Alexander brought in the pass at the 5-yard line on the Millersville sideline and wriggled free from two would-be tacklers for six and a 23-7 Millersville lead. 

Numerous drops in the rain hurt Footman's efficiency as he finished 9-of-29 for 81 yards, but his two TD passes proved crucial to keeping the Marauders in front. 

"We always feel like he can make a play at any moment," said Morgan. "I'm sure we'll look back and see some things that got away from him but we keep putting the ball in his hands. I have to tell myself sometimes that this is only his sixth or seven career start. He's still figuring it out. But he kept the pressure on and kept rallying the troops and finding ways to make plays and get us in the right position. At the end, he found a way to do it in the fourth quarter."

Footman and Morris also led Millersville an a clock-killing drive of nearly five minutes late in the fourth quarter, leaving West Chester with 3:42 to work with down two scores. Aided by a pass interference call, West Chester picked up a first down, but the drive was quickly ambushed by Cox and veteran linebacker Isaiah Onuschak tag teaming for a sack of Jordan. Six plays later, Jones ended it with the interception. 



INSIDE THE BOX SCORE  
• Punter Zach Banta provided a school record punt of 83 yards at a key moment in the game. Midway through the second quarter, Millersville had been backed up inside its own 20 on consecutive drives. Banta's punt flipped field position from the Millersville 12 to the West Chester 5, and West Chester did not move the ball past their own 25 the rest of the half. 
• After missing the majority of the first three games recovering from the 2022 season-ending knee injury, Isaiah Onuschak made an impact with 1 1/2 sacks and four total tackles. Freshman Jabriel Rhodes-Nelson added a sack and two tackles for loss. Randy Okungu added a half sack. 
• Millersville's defense has now generated at least one turnover in each of the four games. 
• The Marauders committed just two penalties compared to West Chester nine for 77 yards. 

MORE FROM COACH MORGAN
• On the feeling in the locker room: "We talk about the process and the journey we started here, going back five years. For the veterans who went through the 2-9 seasons and saw teammates transfer and leave, but some of those guys stayed the course. I'm happy for them to see that this is paying off for them and we are heading in the right direction."
• On playing complimentary football: "We are finding out more and more how to play complete team football. We find ways to pick each other up. That's been one of the biggest differences in the time we've been here that our guys are learning how to rallying behind each other. You saw special teams have a hand in that with Zach Banta's monster punt. That's our guys keep swinging no matter how it is going. It doesn't happen by accident. It's because we practice it and live it every day."



GAME NOTES
• Millersville has won four of its last five home games dating back to last season and is now 3-1 for the first time since 2003. 
• The 14 points were the fewest scored by West Chester against Millersville since a 6-0 Millersville win in 2000. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville is back at home on Saturday, Sept. 30 to play Lock Haven at 12 p.m.