Millersville’s Rob Footman Jr. evades defenders for a small gain. PHOTO COURTESY OF MILLERSVILLE ATHLETICS
Ben Staker
Sports Editor
Jacob Long
Associate Opinion Editor
On Saturday, Sept. 21, Millersville football kicked off their 2024 Homecoming game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). The Marauders, coming off losses to Clarion and Frostburg State to start their season, were in search of their first win. Their opponents, IUP, came to town looking to extend their winning streak to three.
After a game in which IUP opened with 35 unanswered points and Millersville turned the ball over three times, the Marauders would go on to lose 42-14.
After the loss, Millersville head coach J.C. Morgan said, “We’re beating ourselves, and we’re not giving ourselves a legit chance to win a football game.”
The Marauders failed to score a single point in the first half. A pair of touchdown runs from IUP runningback, J.D. Younger and a passing touchdown from quarterback Nico Marchitelli to wide receiver Maurice Massey sent Millersville to the locker room down 21-0.
After a big kickoff return to start the second half, Marchitelli and IUP came out firing with a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Isaiah Houser on a drive that lasted just 57 seconds against the already struggling Millersville defense.
The Crimson Hawks running back Kaleb Monaco would put up another touchdown just one play after a Millersville fumble to make the score 35-0.
It wasn’t until a quarterback change midway through the third quarter that the Marauders were finally able to get in the end zone.
“Just felt like the move at the time,” said Morgan about the change.
Soon after the quarterback change, running back Jose Lopez capped off an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a rushing touchdown to make the score 35-7 and finally got Millersville on the scoreboard.
However, the momentum going Millersville’s way was short-lived. On the ensuing IUP drive, Kaleb Monaco would get into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day. This touchdown would make the score 42-7 and be the Crimson Hawks’ final points.
Despite being down big, Millersville fought to the final whistle. At the start of the fourth quarter, newly inserted quarterback Ryan Zeltt finished a 12-play, 89-yard Marauder drive with a touchdown pass to Isaac Sines to make the final score 42-14.
This game marks the end of Millersville football’s out-of-conference schedule. Ahead of the Marauders’ first PSAC East matchup next week at Lock Haven, Coach Morgan said “It’s a new season, I told them that.”
“I feel like a lot of people can beat a lot of people in this division” he added.