MORGAN STATE Herb Walker Jr. Sets School Record with 271 yards
WORCESTER, Massachusetts – Lee Hull saw his hopes of winning against his alma mater dashed in the final moments of an exciting game.
Shane Smith scored on a 1-yard run on the final play of the game to lift Holy Cross to a 29-26 win over Morgan State on Saturday in front of a crowd of 6,172 fans at Fitton Field.
The win marked the first of the season for the Crusaders who improved to a 1-1 record, while the Bears (0-2) dropped its second straight heart breaker, having lost at Eastern Michigan 31-28 in Week 1.
Morgan State running back Herb Walker Jr. was inserted into the starting lineup as a result of a season-ending injury to Lamont Brown III. Walker was not only up to the task, but he had a sensational performance. The 5-foot-8, redshirt sophomore absolutely ripped the Crusaders on the ground and set a new school record with 271 yards on 29 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.
"I thought Herb [Walker] did a great job rushing the ball," said Hull. "He did a great job of being patient and hitting the holes when they were there."
"I also have to commend our offensive line. They got a lot of push and they opened some holes up for him – which we knew going into this game that we would be able to run the ball. And the way the game was going, the defense was struggling a little bit, so we had to run the ball to try and take time off the clock."
Morgan State opened the game in a 9-0 hole when a snap flew over punter Lawrence Forbes' head and out of the endzone for a safety. Holy Cross QB Peter Pujals engineered a 12-play, 56-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD run by Shane Taylor with 8 minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Bears responded by reeling off 13 unanswered points.
Chris Moller, who had a 33-yard field goal blocked at the end of the first quarter, bounced back with a 42-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.
Robert Council (7-of-18, 57 yds) connected with wideout Amonta Poteat for a 21-yard TD strike to give the Bears its first lead of the day. Moller hit a 45-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-9 with 5:20 remaining in the first half.
Pujals scored on a 7-yard keeper to help give the Crusaders a 16-13 halftime lead.
Neither team was able to gain ground in the third quarter.
The Bears regained the lead at 19-16 following a nifty 46-yard run by Walker with 13:57 remaining in the game. The extra point attempt by Moller was blocked.
Holy Cross answered with a 75-yard drive and a touchdown pass from Pujals to a wide-open Kalaif Raymond gave the Crusaders a 23-17 advantage.
The Bears had taken a 26-23 lead with 3:39 remaining in the fourth quarter on a two-yard touchdown run by Walker.
The Crusaders were able to drive across midfield, before facing a third-and 16 at the Morgan State 25 yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining. Pujals then threw a 22-yard pass to Jake Wieczorek to give Holy Cross first-and-goal at the three-yard line.
After spiking the ball to stop the clock and a two-yard rush by Pujals, the Crusaders called their final timeout facing third-and-goal from the one-yard line. Holy Cross initially sent out its field goal unit to attempt to force overtime, but reversed course after a Morgan State timeout, allowing Taylor to score the winning touchdown.
Morgan State finished with 413 yards overall, 356 rushing. The Crusaders totaled 379 yards with Pete Pujalis completing 16 of 29 passes for 193 yards.
Morgan State has dropped its first two games by a combined total of 6 points. Hull spoke about the takeaways from the pair of narrow losses.
"You have to be in these types of games to learn how to win them. We've had two tough losses, two games we could've won with a break here or there. But one thing is for certain -- these guys never gave up; they were still out there fighting."
"We have to be more disciplined. Our lack of discipline hurt us in both games, and that's why I keep telling our guys – You can beat a better team, but a more disciplined team and the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is going to win the game. That's what's happened the last two games."
Morgan State will host the Bulldogs of Bowie State on Saturday, Sept. 13 for the Bears' home-opener. Kick off at Hughes Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Bear Notes
Herb Walker Jr. broke a school record that was previously held by Jason Jackson. Jackson ran for 251 yards in a 55-26 win for against Savannah State at The Proctor & Gamble Ohio Classic on Sept. 17, 2005.
Amonta Poteat scored his first career touchdown
Antonio Jefferson finished with nine (9) tackles in his first career start at cornerback.
Shane Smith scored on a 1-yard run on the final play of the game to lift Holy Cross to a 29-26 win over Morgan State on Saturday in front of a crowd of 6,172 fans at Fitton Field.
The win marked the first of the season for the Crusaders who improved to a 1-1 record, while the Bears (0-2) dropped its second straight heart breaker, having lost at Eastern Michigan 31-28 in Week 1.
Morgan State running back Herb Walker Jr. was inserted into the starting lineup as a result of a season-ending injury to Lamont Brown III. Walker was not only up to the task, but he had a sensational performance. The 5-foot-8, redshirt sophomore absolutely ripped the Crusaders on the ground and set a new school record with 271 yards on 29 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.
"I thought Herb [Walker] did a great job rushing the ball," said Hull. "He did a great job of being patient and hitting the holes when they were there."
"I also have to commend our offensive line. They got a lot of push and they opened some holes up for him – which we knew going into this game that we would be able to run the ball. And the way the game was going, the defense was struggling a little bit, so we had to run the ball to try and take time off the clock."
Morgan State opened the game in a 9-0 hole when a snap flew over punter Lawrence Forbes' head and out of the endzone for a safety. Holy Cross QB Peter Pujals engineered a 12-play, 56-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD run by Shane Taylor with 8 minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Bears responded by reeling off 13 unanswered points.
Chris Moller, who had a 33-yard field goal blocked at the end of the first quarter, bounced back with a 42-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.
Robert Council (7-of-18, 57 yds) connected with wideout Amonta Poteat for a 21-yard TD strike to give the Bears its first lead of the day. Moller hit a 45-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-9 with 5:20 remaining in the first half.
Pujals scored on a 7-yard keeper to help give the Crusaders a 16-13 halftime lead.
Neither team was able to gain ground in the third quarter.
The Bears regained the lead at 19-16 following a nifty 46-yard run by Walker with 13:57 remaining in the game. The extra point attempt by Moller was blocked.
Holy Cross answered with a 75-yard drive and a touchdown pass from Pujals to a wide-open Kalaif Raymond gave the Crusaders a 23-17 advantage.
The Bears had taken a 26-23 lead with 3:39 remaining in the fourth quarter on a two-yard touchdown run by Walker.
The Crusaders were able to drive across midfield, before facing a third-and 16 at the Morgan State 25 yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining. Pujals then threw a 22-yard pass to Jake Wieczorek to give Holy Cross first-and-goal at the three-yard line.
After spiking the ball to stop the clock and a two-yard rush by Pujals, the Crusaders called their final timeout facing third-and-goal from the one-yard line. Holy Cross initially sent out its field goal unit to attempt to force overtime, but reversed course after a Morgan State timeout, allowing Taylor to score the winning touchdown.
Morgan State finished with 413 yards overall, 356 rushing. The Crusaders totaled 379 yards with Pete Pujalis completing 16 of 29 passes for 193 yards.
Morgan State has dropped its first two games by a combined total of 6 points. Hull spoke about the takeaways from the pair of narrow losses.
"You have to be in these types of games to learn how to win them. We've had two tough losses, two games we could've won with a break here or there. But one thing is for certain -- these guys never gave up; they were still out there fighting."
"We have to be more disciplined. Our lack of discipline hurt us in both games, and that's why I keep telling our guys – You can beat a better team, but a more disciplined team and the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is going to win the game. That's what's happened the last two games."
Morgan State will host the Bulldogs of Bowie State on Saturday, Sept. 13 for the Bears' home-opener. Kick off at Hughes Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Bear Notes
Herb Walker Jr. broke a school record that was previously held by Jason Jackson. Jackson ran for 251 yards in a 55-26 win for against Savannah State at The Proctor & Gamble Ohio Classic on Sept. 17, 2005.
Amonta Poteat scored his first career touchdown
Antonio Jefferson finished with nine (9) tackles in his first career start at cornerback.
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