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DALLAS TWP. — Had Misericordia been able to go directly from the second quarter to the third quarter — skipping the halftime break all together — perhaps things would have played out differently Saturday afternoon.
Instead, FDU-Florham eroded Misericordia’s momentum to start the second half, stifling the Cougars’ offense on the way to a 35-20 win in an MAC game.
“It stinks,” Misericordia interim head coach Tyler Cottle said. “We had the kick return to start the second half after we got right within one score in the second quarter. Then we sputtered. A short punt sets up a short field and it leads to a score. Then a fumble right after that.
“It kind of dug us deep before we even got rolling in the second half.”
Misericordia (0-2, MAC, 1-2 overall) finally got its rather pedestrian offense going late in the second quarter.
Quarterback Jacob Hunter, a Holy Redeemer grad, connected on a 43-yard catch-and-run with running back Angelo Fluri to spark a seven-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal by Connor McLaughlin. The boot cut FDU’s lead to 14-3 with 1:55 until halftime.
The Misericordia defense then curbed the effectiveness of FDU quarterback Ryon Thomas on the Devils’ ensuing possession. Thomas, who was 13-for-13 to that point, threw two incompletions and was sacked by defensive end Luke Wellman.
After FDU punted, Hunter engineered another drive that ended with McLaughlin hitting a 22-yard field goal, moving the Cougars within 14-6 with six seconds left in the second quarter.
However, that was the extent of Misericordia’s offense until two late scoring drives after FDU had built it lead to 35-6.
Hunter was sacked, had a pass batted down and was sacked to start Misericordia’s first possession of the second half.
The possession netted minus-7 yards and the Cougars’ next four possessions were equally as poor — minus-6 yards, 1 yard, minus-3 yards and 1 yard plus a lost fumble on the first play.
FDU took complete advantage of Misericordia’s offensive issues. Thomas finished 23-of-27 for 255 yards, but beat Misericordia’s defense with his legs. His TD runs of 1 and 7 yards gave the Devils a 28-6 lead entering the fourth quarter. A 16-yard touchdown run by Kwanir Edwards bumped the lead to 35-6 with five minutes to play.
Backup quarterback Ronnie Borden directed two Misericordia scoring drives to end the game. The first included an incredible 49-yard reception by receiver Jacob Hoy. The Southern Columbia grad jumped high and reached over a defender in front of him to snag the pass.
FDU improved to 2-0 in the MAC and 3-0 overall.
“That’s a good team,” Cottle said. “They have a lot of seniors. They pretty much returned their whole starting unit on both sides. We know what we’re kind of running into this year. Every team kind of has these 45, 50 seniors. We have the punter. He’s our only fifth-year guy.”
Misericordia will be on the road the next two games before returning home to play Widener on Oct. 19.
FDU-Florham 35, Misericordia 20
FDU-Florham`7`7`14`7 —35
Misericordia`0`6`0`14 — 20
First Quarter
FDU — Ryon Thomas 8 run (Chris Maida kick), 10:12
Second quarter
FDU — Aiden Clowry 26 pass from Thomas (Maida kick), 14:16
MIS — Connor McLaughlin 33 FG, 1:55
MIS — McLaughlin 22 FG, 0:06
Third quarter
FDU — Thomas 1 run (Maida kick), 7:32
FDU — Thomas 7 run (Maida kick), 0:42
Fourth quarter
FDU — Kwanir Edwards 16 run (Maida kick), 9:40
MIS — Davon Reams 1 run (McLaughlin kick), 2:09
MIS — Braden Bashore 29 pass from Ronnie Borden (McLaughlin kick), 0:10
Team statistics`FDU`MIS
First downs`21`13
Rushes-yards`42-130`21-18
Passing yards`255`271
Total yards`385`289
Passing`23-27-0`20-34-0
Sacked-yards lost`2-12`2-17
Punts-avg.`3-38.7`6-44.7
Fumbles-lost`0-0`2-1
Penalties-yards`2-21`3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — FDU, Edwards 16-72, Obed Fosu 8-22, Thomas 10-17, Damien Riehle 2-16, Ethan Yak 3-4, Adrian Reese 1-0, Tytus Toliver 1-0, team 1-(minus-1). Misericordia, Jacob Hunter 10-9, Angelo Fluri 4-6, Ream 5-1, Leo Hunsberger 2-0.
PASSING — FDU, Thomas 23-27-0-255. Misericordia, Hunter 10-18-0-87, Bordon 10-16-0-184.
RECEIVING — FDU, Anthony Bilotta 6-76, Clowry 4-65, Reese 4-38, Chris Evans 1-16, Alex Galarza 2-35, Edwards 3-8, Andrike Terry 1-8, Michael DeSantis 1-5, Brendan Godfrey 1-4. Misericordia, Jacob Hoy 4-77, Fluri 3-64, Mike Rozell 2-41, Jordan Alston 2-37, Bashore 1-29, Billy McCleery 2-14, Reams 2-10, LT Messick 3-6, Hunsberger 1-(minus-7).
INTERCEPTIONS — none.