Late rally helps West Chester squeak past Millersville

Saturday, September 26

West Chester, PA

2:00 PM

Millersville University

0-4 , 0-1

West Chester

3-1 , 1-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Millersville	2	14	0	0	16
West Chester	0	0	3	14	17

Photo by: Tom Silknitter

Late rally helps West Chester squeak past Millersville

9/26/2026 4:35:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The game was playing out just as Millersville had hoped. The run game chewed up clock and the defense made plays, especially in the red zone. But after Millersville pushed to a 16-0 lead at the half, West Chester scored 17 unanswered, including touchdowns on its final two offensive drives to snatch a win away from the Marauders Saturday, 17-16.

West Chester, coming off a 44-point outburst a week ago, led only the final 2:46 of the game, tying it on Mikahil Johnson's plunge from the 3-yard line and taking the lead on the PAT. Millersville had two chances to retake the lead that it held for nearly the entirety of the 60-minute game, but West Chester's defensive line teed off knowing the Marauders were in passing mode, and put first-time starter Eddie Corkery under duress. Millersville went three-and-out, punted it away and used three timeouts after three successful run stops to get the ball back. Millersville's last-chance drive started at its own 21, but Corkery was pressured and threw incomplete on first down. The same happened on second down. His third down pass to the sideline missed, and the fourth down completion was short of the sticks, ending Millersville's bid for a road win.

"Everyone in the stadium knew what we needed to do," said Millersville head coach Drew Folmar. "We wanted to try to get some early-down completions and get the quarterback in a groove, get the defense on their heels and play with tempo. We just couldn't get a completion to sustain anything. When you have a younger group up front and an experienced group pinning their ears back on the other side, and it is a good, well-coached team, it is tough."

The Marauders dominated time of possession early. West Chester ran just four offensive plays in the first quarter. With rainy conditions, the Marauders kept the ball on the ground, and Mekhi Ashby lugged the ball 25 times for 100 yards in the first half. The steady dose of Ashby resulted in a 13-3 first down edge for the Marauders in the first half. Ashby scored on a four-yard rush with 2:29 remaining in the half after freshman wide receiver Jayden Walters grabbed this third TD reception in as many games on a scramble drill at the start of the second quarter.

FB: Ashby rumbles in! The Marauders are pounding the rock today. They've rushed for 116 yards on 31 rushes. pic.twitter.com/qnsTMQz4WF
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) September 26, 2026

"You always want to be able to run the ball, but you never know until you get into the game if you can do that," said Folmar. "You have to run the ball effectively to win, and that's always going to be our intent. In the first half they did a great job running the ball, so the way we started was exactly what we wanted to do."

The defense gave Millersville its first lead. After Corkery's fourth down QB sneak was stuffed at the goal line, Bryce Beutler knifed through the line and dropped Johnson in the end zone for a safety and 2-0 lead. It was the beginning of a brilliant game for Beutler, who made three of the game's most pivotal plays. On back-to-back drives in the third quarter, Beutler limited two West Chester red zone possessions to three points. On third-and-goal from the 5, he found himself one-on-one in the flat with Fortune Robertson, but Beutler played it perfectly and dropped Johnson for loss. West Chester had to settle for a field goal. The following drive, Beutler undercut a West Chester receive in the end zone and picked off Collin O'Sullivan with a diving interception. He totaled nine tackles, two tackles for loss and the interception.

FB: What a play by Bryce Beutler! pic.twitter.com/y7tCOFPAWF
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) September 26, 2026

"I love coaching Bryce," said Folmar. "He doesn't say a lot but he says a lot with how he plays. He's what you want as a football player and a leader in our program and someone we will build around and put in spots. The defense did an unbelievable job getting stops in the red zone. They continue to battle and worked their tails off. We just fell a little short against a really good offense that has scored a lot of points. That's a credit to our guys."

The game's momentum flipped early in the fourth quarter. Millersville drove to the West Chester 27 but stalled. On fourth-and-7 from the 24, Millersville's 41-yard field goal landed just to the right. West Chester immediately drove 76 yards in 10 plays for its first touchdown, got the ball back and needed five plays and 47 yards to get the go-ahead score.

"If we could have gotten in fourth and shorter than five we probably would have went for it," said Folmar of the decision. "(Gryffin Mitstifer) was confident in his ability to hit it, and it was right there, just a little right."

Ashby's career-high 126 yards and 32 carries led Millersville to out-rush West Chester 178-72. Corkery, Millersville's third starting quarterback in the first four games, went 15 of 27 for 113 yards. Colin Hastings led the team with six catches for 52 yards. Walters finished with three catches for 12 yards but because the first Marauder receiver with a touchdown catch in three consecutive games since Kevin Wiggins in 2015. West Chester's O'Sullivan completed 19 of 29 passes for 217 yards. Millersville went 10 of 20 on third downs while West Chester went 1 of 7.

FB: Jayden Walters again! Three straight games with a TD catch for the freshman! pic.twitter.com/LHSIuI0xNi
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) September 26, 2026

"The players poured their hearts out for us today," said Folmar. "Regardless of the scores of the games, I don't question their effort. They are giving us what they have. The No. 1 message is no matter what happens, you can't do anything about what happened last week, yesterday or the previous play. Our guys did a good job of that all through practice this week. Not that they weren't hurting, frustrated or embarassed, but we talked about putting on display who we are as people and players. I thought we had a good week at practice. They are showing up every day with a great disposition and putting everything they have into this."

UP NEXT
Millersville continues PSAC East play with a trip to Shepherd on Saturday, Oct. 3.