The Malone University football team fell on the road in overtime to Lake Erie College on Saturday night by a final tally of 27-24.

After a wild final three minutes of regulation that featured three turnovers and a 35-yard field-goal attempt by the Pioneers that sailed wide left, the two teams headed to the extra period deadlocked at 21-21.

Malone got the ball first to start OT and quickly moved inside the Lake Erie five after quarterback John Iacucci connected with running back Matt Blasiole on a 21-yard pass.  Despite the big play, the Storm defense managed to keep the Pioneers out of the endzone on three straight attempts. Malone's Devin Wallace then converted on a 21-yard field goal on 4th-and-goal to put the visitors in front 24-21.

However, Lake Erie quickly brought the contest to a close as, on the second play of its overtime possession, Storm quarterback John Banyasz hit tight end Anthony Kukwa with a 19-yard touchdown pass to secure the dramatic win.

The tough defeat marked the Pioneers' second overtime loss of the season and the third game of the year for Malone in which the outcome was decided by three points or less.

Blasiole turned in his fourth 100-yard performance of the season, finishing the night with 140 yards on 26 carries. 

Safety James Pawlyk also had an outstanding game.  The junior from Canal Fulton, Ohio posted a team-high 11 tackles and was responsible for two turnovers in the second half.  He put the Pioneers in front 21-14 near the beginning of the third quarter by falling on the ball in the endzone after Lake Erie had fumbled on a punt attempt.  Pawlyk then halted Lake Erie's final scoring opportunity in the fourth quarter, intercepting a pass near midfield right after the Pioneers had thrown an interception of their own. 

The Pioneers grabbed an early 14-0 advantage after scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game.  Running back Jonathon Zimmerly raced 44 yards to the open the scoring less than two minutes into the contest.  The play marked the longest run of Zimmerly's career and the red-shirt sophomore's first career touchdown.

After cornerback Jordan Johnson picked up 52 rushing yards on a successful fake punt, Iacucci made the score 14-0 with a three-yard touchdown run.

The Pioneer defense would then force a punt on Lake Erie's next possession, but the momentum quickly swung back in the Storm's favor after defensive lineman Shane Maxey intercepted a pass and returned it 10 yards for a score to cut the Malone lead to 14-7 with 4:09 to play in the first quarter.

Lake Erie then engineered a 13-play, 80-yard drive in the latter stages of the second quarter, knotting things up at 14-14 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Banyasz to Tyler Lindgren.

Pawlyk's recovery of the fumbled punt put Malone back in front at the start of the second half before Lake Erie's all-time leading rusher, Anthony Bilal, broke off a 62-yard touchdown run to even the score at 21-21 with 12:34 showing on the third-quarter clock.

Despite several scoring chances for both teams, the game would remain deadlocked through the remainder of the second half.  Malone moved to the LEC one-yard line midway through the third quarter before a fumble gave the ball back to the Storm.   Lake Erie took the ball and drove all the way to the Pioneers' four-yard line before a fumbled snap and a sack pushed the Storm out of field-goal range.

A fumble recovery by cornerback Daniel Tepe halted another Lake Erie drive in the red zone with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.  The two teams then immediately traded interceptions near midfield.  Malone drove to the Lake Erie 18 with the clock winding down, but the Pioneers' potential game-winning field goal try was just off the mark with seven seconds remaining in regulation, setting up the dramatic overtime finish.

Malone Individual Highlights
-Zimmerly finished with 75 yards on 7 carries
-Iacucci posted 61 rushing yards on 18 attempts
-LB Dan Mower tallied eight tackles with 0.5 sack
-DL Colton Hale was credited with seven tackles
-LB Ryan Weber added seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble
 
Lake Erie Individual Highlights
-Bilal finished with 147 yards and a TD on 23 carries
-Banyasz completed 18 of 31 passes for 244 yards with two TDs and an interception
-WR Shane Van Fleteren caught six passes for 72 yards
-LB Isaiah Wheeler notched a team-best 11 tackles with a fumble recovery
 
Game Notes
-The Pioneers rushed for a season-high 338 yards, the highest single-game total for the team since 2013 when the squad gained 434 rushing yards in a victory over Alderson Broaddus University
-Blasiole is the first Pioneer to post four 100-yard rushing games in a single season since 2013 when Bryce Pratt accomplished the feat
-Blasiole is now up to 878 rushing yards on the season and needs 122 more to become the sixth 1000-yard rusher in Pioneer history
-Lake Erie fumbled the ball a total of seven times in the wet and windy conditions, but managed to recover five of its fumbles
 
Up Next: The Pioneers will be idle next weekend.  Malone returns to action on November 7th with a 12:00 p.m. contest at the University of Findlay.  Listen to the game live at www.malonepioneers.com/showcase