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Christopher sends VMI football to win over Morehead State as time expires, 43-40

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vmi footballDillon Christopher booted a 34-yard field goal as time expired, sending the VMI Keydets past the upset-minded Morehead State Eagles, 43-40, in non-conference football action Saturday at Foster Stadium in Lexington. The two teams combined for 1,010 total offensive yards in the shootout.

Morehead State (0-2), a member of the non-scholarship Pioneer League, had taken a 40-33 lead with 7:12 to go, but the Keydets (1-1) quickly tied things up with a 77-play drive that took less than a minute. Three possessions later, VMI went 72 yards in 12 plays, with an eight-yard pass to Dane Forlines setting up Christopher’s winning field goal from just inside the left hash mark.

In the victory, the Keydets were paced by a career-high nine catches for Dane Forlines, who posted 101 yards receiving. Derrick Ziglar had 108 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while freshman Brice Tucker carried 20 times for 78 yards and a score. Tucker finished with a team-high 114 all-purpose yards.

Morehead State saw quarterback Austin Gahafer set new Foster Stadium records for both passing yards (447) and total offensive yards (430). He finished 35 of 62 with four touchdowns and one interception, while also catching a 23-yard touchdown from wideout Jake Raymond.

It was VMI who jumped out to the early lead. Despite an Al Cobb interception on the opening drive, the Keydets got the ball right back and, helped by a 35-yard Cobb to Dontae Mauck pass, scored first. Tucker ran in the opening score from six yards out, and Sam Patterson added a two-point conversion run for an 8-0 VMI lead at the 9:42 mark.

A 59-yard Gahafer touchdown brought MSU back within one, and late in the quarter, the Eagle quarterback found Joby Embrey for a 49-yard TD strike. The point after gave Morehead State a 14-8 lead after one period of play.

Ziglar punched in the first of his two touchdowns, this one from four yards out, in the opening moments of the second quarter to give the Keydets the lead once again. Shavi Bash put the Eagles back in front briefly with a field goal at the 7:36 mark, but a Cobb pass to Patterson – and the ensuing two-point conversion by the same connection – gave VMI a 23-17 edge at halftime.
Christopher tacked on a field goal early in the third quarter, putting VMI ahead by nine, and that margin grew to 10 when Zigler galloped in from six yards out at the 4:17 mark to make it a 33-23 game.

MSU rallied, however, as Gahafer fired a 12-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the third to cut the lead to 33-30. Bash kicked a field goal from 31 yards out with 12:19 to play to tie the score, and with 7:12 to go, the momentum seemed to rest firmly with Morehead State after a trick play.

A flea flicker lateral that wound up in the hands of receiver Raymond was passed to Gahafer for a 23-yard touchdown and a 40-33 Morehead State lead. The Keydets came right back, however, behind a Ziglar 51-yard run and Tucker’s 20-yard touchdown pass, to tie the score less than a minute later and set up the late game dramatics.

Richardson was the defensive standout for the Keydets, as he accumulated four tackles, all for loss, and added three sacks and a fumble recovery. Eric Pugh had 18 tackles for Morehead State.

VMI football will return to action Sept. 19, when the Keydets travel to Richmond to take on the Richmond Spiders. Action gets underway at 6 p.m.

Press Conference: VMI Head Coach Scott Wachenheim

“Give credit to Morehead State. They came in much improved from last week and ready to play four quarters. They made a lot of big plays on third down to keep themselves in the game and to tie it up. Credit to our team. The never-say-die attitude was on display today. We kept going and we kept playing right up until the final play.”

“Dillon came up big for us and won the game. I was proud of the team for playing with confidence after they called a timeout to try and freeze us. Everyone knew Dillon was going to make it, and he went in and put it through for us.”

“There are things we need to improve on. We’re cadets. We need to play with more confidence. I don’t think we played with as much as last week. We were aggressive at times such as the two-point conversion on our first touchdown. We weren’t as disciplined today – we had way too many penalties.”

“I thought our kids were enthusiastic the entire game and it kept us alive. I thought we were tough and resilient. We played a hard-nosed game. We weren’t smart the entire game, but found a way to pull it out at the end. The win is what is most important.”

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