Box Score

Malone University defensive back Lucas Haupt intercepted a Lake Erie College pass in the endzone as time expired on Saturday night at Fawcett Stadium to preserve a 55-50 Pioneer victory and bring an end to one of the wildest games in program history.

In all, Malone (1-6 overall, 1-5 GLIAC) and Lake Erie (2-5 overall, 1-4 GLIAC) combined for 105 points, 157 plays, 58 first downs, and 1400 total yards in the 60-minute offensive shootout.  Malone registered 200 yards rushing and 367 passing for 567 total yards, its highest offensive output since a 669-yard outburst in its 2009 season finale vs. Olivet Nazarene (IL) University.   However, Lake Erie managed to upstage the Pioneers' impressive yardage total as the visitors racked up 270 rushing yards and a whopping 563 passing yards, setting a new GLIAC single-game record with 833 yards of total offense.

Although the Storm punted just once over the course of the evening, Lake Erie was flagged 12 times in the game for 80 yards, missed a pair of field goals and committed three costly turnovers, including Haupt's last-second interception and a pair of fumbles that led directly to 14 Malone points.  The Pioneers, meanwhile, did not commit a turnover for the first time this season, held a 33:22 to 26:38 edge in time of possession and were 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions.

Individually, numerous players on both sides had career nights.  Pioneer running back Justin Davis notched 80 rushing yards to go with five catches for 123 yards and three receiving touchdowns, which was one shy of the Malone single-game record for touchdown receptions.  Quarterback Brandyn Eckhart, who entered the game after starter Will Szpor was forced to leave with an injury near the end of the second quarter, also netted career-high numbers, completing eight of 12 pass attempts for 244 yards and four touchdowns.  The junior signal caller also gained 42 yards on the ground with one rushing touchdown.

Prior to leaving the game, Szpor completed eight of 11 passes for 123 yards and two scores.   Red-shirt freshman wide receiver Jordan Phillips went over the 100-yard receiving mark for the first time in his collegiate career, posting four receptions for 116 yards and two scores.

Storm quarterback Brendan Gallagher set single-game school records for Lake Erie with 563 passing yards and six touchdowns.  Storm running back Anthony Bilal also had a big night, becoming Lake Erie's all-time leading rusher during the contest and ending the evening with 179 rushing yards and a score.  Storm Wide-outs Tommy Jackson and Shane VanFleteren both eclipsed 100 receiving yards with Jackson snagging two touchdowns and VanFleteren grabbing one.

Malone jumped out to a 14-0 lead early on with a five-yard rushing touchdown by Szpor and a 28-yard TD pass to wide receiver Damien Russell.  Lake Erie fought back to tie things up with a quick three-yard touchdown pass and a 43-yard rushing TD by Bilal.

Davis put Malone back on top early in the second quarter after hauling in a 10-yard TD pass from Szpor but Gallagher answered with a 60-yard TD pass to VanFleteren to tie the game moments later.  Lake Erie then grabbed its first lead of the evening at 24-21 on a 26-yard field goal by kicker Kyle Galbraith. 

Eckhart would put the hosts back in front with his first pass attempt, a 65-yard TD strike to Davis that gave Malone a 27-24 halftime lead (extra point was no good).

A 20-yard Jackson touchdown catch gave the lead back to Lake Erie at the start of the third quarter before Eckhart stretched across the goal line with a two-yard TD run to put the hosts on top 34-30.

Lake Erie then muffed the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball back to the Pioneers at the Storm 26-yard line.  Two plays later, Davis picked up his third touchdown reception to stretch the Malone advantage to 41-30.

Despite the quick Pioneer score, Lake Erie was undaunted, driving down the field on its next possession and pulling to within 41-37 on a 20-yard Gallagher TD pass.

Malone then appeared to open up some breathing room early in the fourth quarter when Eckhart and Phillips connected on TD passes of 29 and 63 yards, pushing the Malone lead to 55-37 with just over eight minutes remaining.

However, the Storm would add 13 quick points on touchdown passes of six and 79 yards, cutting the deficit to 55-50 with 4:49 remaining.  Following a short Lake Erie kickoff, Malone melted all but 23 seconds off the clock before punting the ball away.

After starting the final possession of the game at their own 19-yard line with 16 seconds left and no timeouts, the Storm managed to move to midfield with a quick completion.  Gallagher then launched one final desperation heave, but Haupt managed to pull it down, halting Lake Erie's comeback bid and securing Malone's first win of the season.

Defensively, Pioneer linebacker Fred Baker Jr. netted a game and career-high 13 tackles.  Defensive back Demarco Donaldson added 10 stops while defensive back Glen Raphael made eight tackles and recovered a fumble.  Tanner Wells led the way for the Storm defense with 12 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss.

The Pioneers will return to action next Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. contest at Ashland University.  Fans can catch all of the action on the Malone Sports Network (on the radio at ESPN 990 AM and streaming on the internet at www.espn990.com).   

Notes: The 1400 combined yards in Saturday's game set a new GLIAC record...Malone's 55 points were the most the squad had scored since posting a 56-21 victory over Olivet Nazarene in 2010...The 105 points on Saturday marked the highest combined scoring total ever recorded in a Malone football game…Malone's 367 passing yards marked the highest output through the air for the Pioneers since a 403-yard performance against Olivet Nazarene in 2009...The two squads also set a new Malone single-game record with a combined total of 930 passing yards…Malone's six passing touchdowns tied a school record (the Pioneers also threw six against Marian (IN) in 2008)...After posting 529 yards at Tiffin in week five and 490 yards in week six against Walsh, Saturday's 567-yard performance marked the first time since 2008 that the Pioneers have posted 450 or more yards in three consecutive games.