Box Score The Malone University football team suffered a 59-14 defeat in its season opener at NCAA Division II No. 13 Ohio Dominican University on Saturday afternoon.
The Pioneers (0-1 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) trailed by margins of 14-0 and 17-6 in the early going before trimming the deficit to 17-14 at halftime thanks to some solid second-quarter defense and a last-second, one-yard touchdown run by running back
Kyle Nutter. With 0:00 showing on the second-quarter clock, quarterback
Brandyn Eckhart then connected with tight end
Drew Bond on a successful two-point conversion to pull Malone within three at the break.
Following the closely-contested first half, the defending Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Champions quickly put things out of reach. With the help of four Pioneer fumbles in the third quarter, the Panthers (1-0 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) rattled off four quick TDs, pushing their advantage to 45-14 at the start of the fourth stanza.
After penalties short-circuited Malone's first two drives of the game, the Pioneer offense found its rhythm, putting together a 10-play, 75-yard scoring march late in the first quarter. The 10th play of the drive produced Malone's first touchdown of the season, a 26-yard toss from Eckhart to wide receiver
Josh McLaughlin that made the score 14-6.
Eckhart completed 14 of 21 pass attempts on the afternoon for 150 yards and one score. He also netted 21 rushing yards. McLaughlin hauled in a game-high six receptions for 69 yards, including the first-quarter TD grab. Wide receiver
Damien Russell added four catches for 42 yards.
Preseason All-American safety
Demarco Donaldson paced the Malone defense with 10 total tackles followed by red-shirt freshman defensive back
Cameron Mammen, who was credited with nine stops.
ODU running back Brandon Schoen picked up 93 rushing yards and scored a pair of TD's for the hosts including a 79-yard catch and run that put ODU on top 14-0 in the first quarter.
Malone will look to bounce back next Saturday (September 13) when it hosts its home opener at 2:00 p.m. against Michigan Tech University (1-0 overall, 1-0 GLIAC). The Huskies topped Wayne State (MI) University on a last-second field goal in their season opener Thursday. Fans can catch all the action live on the Malone Sports Network (radio broadcast on ESPN 990 AM or streaming live at
www.espn990.com). Live stats will also be proved on
www.malonepioneers.com
