The Malone University football team fell 55-34 in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest against Lake Erie College at Fawcett Stadium on Saturday night.

After the Pioneers (1-7 overall, 1-7 GLIAC) knotted the score at 7-7 midway through the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown run by running back Kyle Nutter, the Storm (4-4 overall, 3-4 GLIAC) rattled off three second-quarter touchdowns to take a commanding 27-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

Lake Erie running back Anthony Bilal accounted for the first two TDs of the second stanza, capping drives of 79 and 80 yards with a pair of touchdown runs.  LEC defensive back Tony Andrews was then responsible for the final points of the first half after picking off his eighth pass of the year and returning it 18 yards to the end zone.

Despite the deficit, Malone battled back throughout the final two quarters, twice cutting the margin to 13 points.  Pioneer wide receiver Josh McLaughlin made it 27-14 at the start of the third period as he wrapped up a nine-play, 65-yard Malone scoring march by hauling in a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandyn Eckhart.

Following another Bilal TD run, Eckhart delivered a 39-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Jordan Phillips, trimming the Lake Erie advantage to 34-21 with 1:34 to play in the third quarter.

Two more Storm rushing touchdowns stretched the margin to 48-21 before Eckhart and Phillips connected once more, this time on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 10:46 remaining in the contest.

Malone's final points of the evening came with 14 seconds showing on the fourth-quarter clock when wide receiver Eian Elsass made an acrobatic catch in the end zone on a tipped pass from quarterback Tyler Wentz.

Bilal, who entered the game with the second-most rushing yards in all of NCAA Division II this year, ended the night with a career-high 241 rushing yards and three scores.

In all, the high-powered Storm offense registered 623 total yards with 491 on the ground and 132 through the air.  Malone countered with its best offensive night of the season as the hosts netted 495 yards, including 283 rushing yards and 212 passing yards.

Eckhart completed 10 of 16 throws for a season-high 183 yards and three scores.  He also picked up 69 rushing yards on 13 carries. 

Phillips posted six catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.  Running back Ronnie Beers added 58 rushing yards on seven carries to go with one reception for 32 yards.  Running back Matt Blasiole broke off a 46-yard run late in the game and finished with 55 rushing yards on just two attempts.

Safety Demarco Donaldson registered a team-high nine tackles in the game to move into second place on the Pioneers' all-time tackle list.  Donaldson now has 348 career stops, moving past Jason Kennedy's total of 341.  Malone Athletics Hall of Fame linebacker Sean James holds the Malone record with 413 career tackles.

Fellow safety Lucas Haupt notched eight tackles and one fumble recovery.  Linebacker Fred Baker Jr. also tallied eight tackles while linebackers Will Johnson and Dan Mower each had six stops.

The Pioneers will be back in action next Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. non-conference contest at Urbana University.