ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It didn't come easy, but Minnesota State Moorhead's Steve Laqua earned his first victory as head coach of the Dragons.
MSUM quarterback Kevin Koch completed 22 of 32 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Dragons to a 28-17 victory over NAIA Robert Morris (Ill.) in nonconference college football Saturday at Morris Field.
"I was very excited and happy over how we overcame adversity," Laqua said. "We fell behind a couple of times and we were able to come back and that was huge.
"We could have folded up the tents, but we didn't. That shows a lot about our people and our team."
Senior wide receiver Kendall Hendon caught two 10-yard touchdowns and finished with eight catches for 123 yards for MSUM, which was playing its season opener.
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The Eagles (0-2) scored first.
Deshawn Weaver caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from Matt Westerkamp late in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead with 14 minutes, 4 seconds to play in the first quarter.
Koch connected with Shawn Marlowe on a
16-yard TD strike to answer for MSUM. That tied the score at 7-7 with 3:35 to play in the first half.
Lamont Wims hauled in an 85-yard touchdown pass from Westerkamp that gave Robert Morris a 17-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Dragons answered with two touchdowns in the final quarter, including a 27-yard Koch pass to Alex Pearson.
Pearson's TD catch staked the Dragons to a
28-17 lead with 11:43 remaining in the fourth quarter.
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MSUM outgained Robert Morris 481-275 in net offensive yards. The Eagles, in their first year of collegiate football, were hosting their first ever football game.
MSUM 0 7 7 14-28
Robert Morris 7 0 10 0-17
RM-Weaver 66 pass from Westerkamp (Graf kick)
MSUM-Marlowe 16 pass from Koch (Kramer kick)
RM-Graf 25 field goal
MSUM-Hendon 10 pass from Koch (Kramer kick)
RM-Wims 85 yard pass from Westerkamp (Graf kick)
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MSUM-Hendon 10 pass from Koch (Kramer kick)
MSUM-Pearson 27 pass from Koch (Kramer kick).
TEAM STATISTICS
MSUM RM
First downs 27 12
Rushes-yards 39-200 24-38
Passing 281 237
Comp-Att-Int 22-32-1 17-31-1
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Punts-Avg. 5-36.3 6-39.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 8-73 3-31
Time of Possession 25:27 34:26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: MSUM, Lucious-West 19-100, Thompson 13-78, Koch 7-28. RU, Wims 13-42, Weaver 1-8, Williamson 2-4, Jones-Fletch 1-3, Westerkamp 7-(-19).
PASSING: MSUM, Koch 22-32-1 281 yards. RM, Westerkamp 17-31-1 237 yards.
RECEIVING: MSUM, Hendon 8-123, Thompson 4-39, Pearson 3-33, Lucious West 3-8, Leach 2-33, Herkenhoff 1-29, Marlowe 1-16. RU, Weaver 5-102, Cox 4-16, Wims 3-85, Warden 2-29, Rehmani 1-6, Kriege 1-1, Jones-Fletch 1-(-2).
