Saturday, October 16
Morehead, Ky.
1:00 pm
Davidson College
17
at
10
Morehead State
Lanny Funsten had a career-high 175 receiving yards.
Funsten’s Big Day Leads Wildcats to 17-10 Win at Morehead State
10/16/2010 3:47:12 PM | Football
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Jonathan Carkhuff connected with Lanny Funsten for a 71-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 left in the game to lift Davidson to a 17-10 Pioneer Football League victory at Morehead State Saturday afternoon at Jayne Stadium.
On 3rd-and-9, Funsten caught the ball over the middle, cut left behind a block from Mark Hanabury and burst down the sideline. The Wildcats went for two, and Carkhuff connected with Funsten again for the conversion, making the score 17-10.
“We had great protection up front, and Jonathan and Lanny made a nice play over the middle,” said Davidson coach Tripp Merritt. “It was a great run after catch by Lanny.”
Morehead State drove down to the Davidson 41-yard line, but a sack and forced fumble by Lewis McAlister set up a 4th-and-32 from the Eagle 37. Brandon Sykes broke up a long pass attempt to preserve the win.
Funsten finished the day with seven catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats (2-4, 2-2 PFL), the 11th-highest receiving total in school history. Carkhuff completed 15-of-33 passes for 270 yards. McAlister finished the day with three solo tackles, all sacks, and a forced fumble.
Zach Lewis led the Eagles (2-4, 1-2) with 171 passing yards, and Adam Slupski had four catches for 35 yards.
Trailing 10-3 late in the fourth quarter, the 'Cats took over on their own 12 and looked to be ready to punt on 4th-and-8 from their own 27. But Davidson faked the kick, and punter Andrew Wohler scampered 30 yards for a first down.
After a 24-yard screen pass from Carkhuff to Justin Williams, Carkhuff hit Funsten for a 25-yard touchdown pass. But Ben Behrendt missed the PAT, leaving the margin at 10-9 with 5:36 left in the game.
With the game tied 3-3, Peter Kidwell blocked a 31-yard field goal attempt off the foot of Rainer Duzan on the last play of the third quarter, and Harvey Kee finally recovered the ball at the Eagle 43-yard line.
But on the next play, Jerome Raymond recovered a Carkhuff fumble and returned it 48 yards to the 1-yard line. Desmond Cox took it in on the next play, and Duzan added the point after as Morehead opened a 10-3 lead early in the fourth.
After a 0-0 score at halftime, the Davidson defense put the offense in great field position early in the third quarter after getting a 3-and-out. Nick Orobello returned the punt 14 yards, giving the 'Cats 1st-and-10 on the MSU 40.
Carkhuff hit Josh Yost for a 12-yard gain, and Marcus Johnston gained nine yards to convert 4th-and-inches from the Morehead 19-yard line. That set up a 28-yard Behrendt field goal to give Davidson a 3-0 lead with 5:59 left in the period.
Morehead State responded with a Duzan 32-yard field goal on the ensuing series. Lewis hit for passes of 27, 28 and 14 yards on the drive to march the Eagles down the field.
Davidson dominated the stat sheet on both sides of the ball in the first half but wound up in a scoreless tie at the break. The defense gave up just two first downs and 49 yards. Morehead State came into the game averaging 351 yards of offense a game, including 286.6 through the air.
“There were a lot of 3-and-outs today, and that was good to see,” said Merritt. “It was a great game plan, executed well, and they kept us in the game.”
The Wildcats return to action with a conference game at Drake next Saturday with kickoff set from 1 p.m. (CST).
Game Notes: Behrendt's field goal was the 15th of his career, moving him into third in career field goals at Davidson… Casey's block of the field goal was the first since Ellis Martin had one against Marist last season… Funsten is the first receiver to go over 150 yards since Kirk Konert had 153 vs. Dayton in 2008.
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