Blake Fisher's Three Touchdowns Carry Morehead State Past Stetson 38-31

Morehead State had lost five straight games, the last of them in overtime, and had not won a Pioneer Football League game all season. On Homecoming, with thousands of alumni back on campus, the Eagles finally ran their way out of it.

Morehead State beat Stetson 38-31 on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Phil Simms Stadium in Morehead, Ky. Freshman running back Blake Fisher scored three touchdowns, and the Eagles piled up 204 rushing yards, their most since a 289-yard day against Kentucky Christian on Sept. 20, 2025.

The win moved Morehead State to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the PFL. Stetson fell to 1-7 and 0-4.

A back-and-forth first half

The Eagles came out throwing. Quarterback Bryce Patterson hit Anthony Ice for 23 yards and Riley Purcell for 26 on the opening drive, then found sophomore Cannon Dinger for a touchdown, Dinger's fifth of the season. It was 7-0.

Stetson answered late in the first quarter. Quarterback Thomas Von Grote took the top off the Morehead State defense with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Landon Farco, and the game was tied.

Then Stetson made a mistake. An errant squib kick gave the Eagles the ball near midfield, and Morehead State ran it seven straight times, with Fisher, Jackson Lanier and Patterson sharing the load. Fisher finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run with 2:21 left in the first quarter, and the Eagles led 14-7.

Farco had more to say. In the second quarter, Von Grote threw deep over the middle, and Farco broke five tackles on his way to a 43-yard touchdown. Tie game again. On Morehead State's next possession, the drive stalled, and Farco took the punt at the Stetson 16 and returned it 52 yards to the Morehead State 31. Running back Troy Flowers did the rest, gaining 18 yards on the drive and scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 4:43 left in the half. Stetson led 21-14.

Morehead State had a chance to answer before the break, driving more than 60 yards into the red zone. The drive stalled, and the Eagles turned it over on downs. It was 21-14 at halftime.

The Eagles claw back

Patterson opened the second half by hitting Ice on a short pass that turned into a 38-yard gain. The drive ended with a 41-yard field goal from Jordan Price, and the Eagles were within four.

Stetson's answer was almost identical. The Hatters drove into the red zone, stalled, and settled for a 31-yard Trey Hess field goal. It was 24-17.

The next Morehead State drive brought the play of the day for the Eagle offense. Facing third-and-13 with the pocket collapsing around him, Patterson dumped the ball off to Lanier, who rumbled 45 yards to the Stetson 10. Two plays later, on third-and-10, Patterson threw a screen to Fisher, who took it 10 yards for the touchdown with 5:47 left in the third quarter. Tie game at 24.

The turning point

Early in the fourth quarter, Von Grote went deep for the end zone. A miscommunication on the route left the ball hanging, and Morehead State's Alex Herrera Jr. made a spinning, leaping catch for the game's only interception.

The Eagles made it count. Fisher carried four times for 38 yards and caught two passes for 17 more on the drive, and the last of those catches was an 11-yard touchdown from Patterson with 9:42 left. Morehead State led 31-24 and never trailed again.

Stetson still had a chance. The Hatters drove into Morehead State territory and went for it on fourth-and-4. Lane Sumerel came flying off the edge on a blitz and sacked Von Grote for a 9-yard loss. Turnover on downs.

Then the Eagles went back to the ground. They ran seven times on the next drive for 51 yards, with Fisher, Lanier and Patterson all chipping in, and Lanier scored from 5 yards out to make it 38-24.

The Hatters were not done. They put together a 41-second scoring drive, and Von Grote hit Shawne Jones on a short touchdown pass to make it 38-31. But Morehead State ran out the clock in three plays, and Homecoming had a happy ending.

The players who decided it

Fisher was the star. The freshman from Elkview, W.Va., ran 18 times for 98 yards and a touchdown, an average of 5.4 yards per carry, and caught five passes for 30 yards and two more scores. On Sunday, the PFL named him its Freshman of the Week.

Patterson was just as important. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 70 yards, the third piece of the ground game that wore Stetson down. Lanier added 55 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, plus the 45-yard catch that set up the tying score. Ice led the receivers with 95 yards on just four catches, an average of more than 23 yards per catch.

On defense, Blake Surratt and safety Sidney Webb shared the team lead with nine tackles each, and each had a tackle for loss. Herrera had the interception and two pass breakups. Sumerel had the sack that ended Stetson's best chance, and Quinton Griffin added two quarterback hurries. Price made all five of his extra points to go with his field goal, keeping his perfect run on extra points alive.

For Stetson, Farco was the best player on the field for long stretches. He caught touchdown passes of 37 and 43 yards and set up a third score with his 52-yard punt return. Von Grote threw three touchdown passes, and Flowers scored on the ground.

Stats that matter

The numbers tell a simple story. Morehead State ran for 204 yards, and it did its best work on the ground when it mattered most, putting together seven-run drives in the first quarter and again late in the fourth to put the game away.

The other number that mattered was one. The game had just one interception, and Herrera's pick led directly to the go-ahead touchdown. In a game this close, the team that wins the turnover battle usually wins, and the Eagles did.

Stetson made big plays all afternoon, but it also had to settle for a field goal in the red zone and came up short on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Those trips without a touchdown cost the Hatters.

What it means

For Morehead State, this was a long time coming. The Eagles had lost to Valparaiso 37-3 to open league play, then fell 56-28 at Dayton and 34-31 in overtime at Davidson. They had come close at Davidson. This time they finished. The win also evened the all-time series with Stetson at 5-5 and snapped Stetson's two-game winning streak in the series. Next on the schedule was a home game against Drake on Oct. 31.

For Stetson, the season keeps slipping away in close games. The Hatters lost 47-43 to Presbyterian the week before and had this one tied in the fourth quarter. They have the playmakers, Farco above all, but they are still looking for their first PFL win.

There is more in Morehead State's recap (opens in a new tab) and on Fisher's weekly honor (opens in a new tab).

The last word

Morehead State coach Jason Woodman had watched his team come close for weeks. This time, he got to enjoy it.

"I'm just very proud of the guys, we've had some tough weeks," Woodman said. "They've faced a lot of adversity and have been challenged a lot over the past couple weeks. We were in position to make plays at the end of the game, they stuck it out, finished it, and did what they had to."

Sources: Morehead State Athletics recap, preview and weekly honors. More FCS and college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Morehead State Athletics.