Defense, Run Game Fuel LHU Homecoming victory
LOCK HAVEN – The Bald Eagles rushed for 228 yards and the defense was more than up to the task in powering the Lock Haven University football team to a 29-17 Homecoming win over visiting Millersville University (1-6, 0-4 PSAC East).
The win was LHU’s second straight and evened the Bald Eagles Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division mark at 2-2. Lock Haven is now 2-5 overall on the season.
Today’s win marked Lock Haven’s third straight victory on Homecoming and LHU beat Millersville for the fourth straight season.
The trio of Ralph Hyland (Philadelphia/Frankford), John Ford (Etters, Pa./Shippensburg) and quarterback Caleb Walton (Manheim, Pa./Manheim) fueled the Bald Eagles powerful run-game today.
Hyland rushed for a career-high 104 yards and one score. He carried the ball a career-high 17 times. Ford averaged 8.1 yards per carry and finished with 65 yards (8 carries), and a TD.
Walton capped The Haven’s strong run-game with 48 yards and a touchdown. His 22-yard TD-run with 1:19 left in the game iced the Bald Eagles win after he engineered an eight-play, 90-yard drive down the field.
Walton also threw for 195 yards. His game-clinching TD run in the final minutes marked his 69thcareer touchdown.
Shawn Seif (Harrisburg, Pa./Kutztown Univ.) returned to the lineup and caught four passes for 36 yards. Nysir Minney-Gratz (Easton, Pa./Easton) hauled in three passes for 70 yards, but will be remembered for an electrifying 98-yard kickoff–return TD.
The Bald Eagles defense was simply sensational today. As a team LHU racked up eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and Javon Whitfield (Philadelphia/Simon Gratz), who was one of many true-freshmen to star today on both sides of the ball, had an interception for Lock Haven.
Christian Martir (Reading, Pa./Wyomssing) paced the defensive effort and finished with a game-high 10 tackles. Kevin Chapple (Columbus, Ohio/Urbana) made nine tackles, including 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFLs.
Carlos Balkcom (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) finished with seven tackles and David Lazo (Alexandria, Va./Lackawanna College) recorded two sacks for LHU.
Millersville jumped out an early 10-0 lead, but the Bald Eagles got on the scoreboard in a big way when Minney-Gratz brought the packed Hubert Jack Stadium crowd to its feet with a 98-yard kickoff return TD. The speedster darted through the Millersville special teams unit for LHU’s first kickoff-return TD since 2012 and the second-longest in school history.
Millersville led 10-9 at halftime, but the Bald Eagles rallied in the second half, finding the end zone three times. Hyland’s three-yard run with 12:49 left in the third quarter put LHU up 17-10 and Ford’s 11-yard run with 10:26 left in the game put the Bald Eagles up 23-17.
Whitfield’s interception couldn’t have come at a better time as LHU led 23-17 and Millersville was driving. After picking off Millersville QB Tony Staffieri with 5:08 left in the game, LHU ate up 3:49 on the clock (8 plays, 90 yards) and Walton sprinted into the end zone for the score from 22 yards to all but clinch the big win.
LHU is headed back on the road for a Week 8 PSAC East game at Kutztown University (3-3). Kickoff on Saturday, October 22 at KU is set for 1:05 p.m.
