Football stays unbeaten with 33-28 win over Hope College

CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Mount St. Joseph University football program played host to Hope College on Saturday in the second annual MIAA-HCAC crossover event. Both teams came into the game unbeaten, and Hope was even receiving votes for the D3football.com top-25. As has been the case all year thus far for the Lions it was a closely contested game, but in the end the Lions were able to prevail in the end 33-28 in front of their home fans.

The game opened with Hope winning the opening coin flip, and defering their chioce to the second half. So the Lions and their high-powered offense opened with the football. On the opening drive it was a heavy dose of Cornell Beachem Jr. with the senior running back touching the ball on six of the teams eight plays, capping the drive off with his first rushing touchdown of the season. The big play on the drive though was a 34-yard pass from Josh Taylor to Omar Porter Jr. that really got the offense going.

On the next possession the Lions defense stood strong, forcing a punt from Hope after only allowing  a single first-down. On the ensuing punt though the Lions committed their first mistake of the game. Beachem muffed the return attempt and Hope fell on the ball for the first turnover of the game. The second turnover of the game came on the very next play to get the ball right back to the offense. On an attempted pass right over the middle linebacker Nate Owens stepped in front of the pass and picked it off., his first interception of the season.

The Mount would give it right back again though, as just three plays later Taylor was flushed from the pocket and tried to find Zykeem Hunley deep down the field but the ball was intercepted. The run of turnovers would continue on the next drive for Hope as well. A botched snap on a would be jet sweep fell to the turf and MSJ nose tackle Chandler Reatherford fell on the football giving it right back to the offense. 

Starting with the ball deep in Hope territory the Lions did not squander this opportunity though and again it was Beachem Jr. who found the endzone this time from 7-yards out. The Mount got a big third down conversion on a 14-yard pass from Taylor to Kadin Pollard, on which Pollard made a fantastic catch in traffic. The Lions failed to convert the extra point so the score stood at 13-0. 

Hope finally got on the board on their next drive, which spanned the end of the 1st and beginning of the 2nd quarter. All told it was a six play 72 yard scoring effort for the Dutchmen. 

The team's exchanged punts on the next four possessions, before the Lions found the endzone again. They went on a nine play 85 yard drive, capped off by a 12-yard pass from Taylor to Omar Porter Jr.. On the drive Taylor found 5 different receivers with passes. The Lions failed on a 2-point conversion attempt so the score was 19-7 in favor of the Lions.

Hope answered again though with a 7 play 73 yard touchdown drive of their own to claw back to 19-14 right before the halftime break.

Coming out of the break the Dutchmen would receive the kickoff, they quickly gained a first down but the Lions quickly shutdown the drive. Decklan Brophy almost single handedly shut the drive down registering sacks on back-to-back plays. 

The Mount extended their lead on their next offense possession, finally striking for a pair of big pass connections on the drive. On back-to-back plays Taylor found Joey Newton for 39-yards and Hunley for a 38-yard touchdown pass.

Hope answered back with a 15 play scoring drive of their own, keeping them within five points. Hope forced the Lions to punt on their next possession, but Ryan Murray hit an absolute bomb of a punt to pin them inside their own 1-yard line. After which the defense quickly forced a punt giving the ball back to Taylor and the Lions. 

Taylor would call his own number to cap off the Lions final touchdown drive of the game, as he raced left for a 6-yard touchdown run to finish off the drive. Hope answered back with a touchdown of their own to stay within five. 

With exactly five minutes to go in the game and trailing 33-28, Hope punted the ball back to the Lions and were relying on their defense to get a stop. They would not possess the ball again, as Beachem Jr. and the Lions rushing attack were able to run the ball effectively despite everyone in the stadium knowing the run was coming. Taylor did connect with Newton on huge third down conversion through the air. With under a minute to play and no timeouts remaining for Hope the Lions lined up in victory formation and moved to 3-0 on the season.

STANDOUTS
Offense
Josh Taylor - 20 of 31 passing, 352 yards, 2 touchdowns, 7 rushes, 19 yards, 1 touchdown
Cornell Beachem Jr. - 18 rushes, 96 yards, 2 touchdowns, 5 receptions 63 yards
Zykeem Hunley - 2 receptions, 84 yards, 1 touchdown
Omar Porter Jr. - 4 receptions, 72 yards, 1 touchdown
Danny Mabe, Sam Martin, Devin Salyers, Aiden Stuteville, Collin Kandra - The offensive line kept Taylor clean all-day allowing only a single sack while paving the way for an efficient running attack. And the ability to run the football late when everyone knew it was coming was outstanding. 

Defense
Decklan Brophy - shared team lead with 6 tackles, adding 2 TFLs and 2 sacks
Noah Hammond - 2 sacks, 4 total tackles
Justin Dreyling - 5 tackles, 2 TFLs
Nate Owens- Interception

UP NEXT
The Lions will have a bye week next week before heading to Manchester to open up HCAC play on October 1st.