Pioneer League Week 7 Outlook
- Cael Nearhoof
- Oct 7
- 8 min read
Friday October 10
Away | Home | Time | Location | Where to Watch |
Marist 3-2 (1-1) | Penn 2-1 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Philadelphia, PA | ESPN + |
The Red Foxes are above .500 again with their week six win over San Diego by a score of 19-14. In a tightly contested game Marist was able to take the lead in the second half and their defense did what was needed to come away with the win. For Marist they put up 340 yards of total offense, with the passing game accounting for a majority of those yards as they passed for 292 yards. The run game struggled though as they only got 48 yards on 25 tries to give them an average of 1.9 yards per rush. Another problem that Marist had was that they turned the ball over once when they lost a fumble. While they may have had their problems there was lots of good to go around as they brought home two Pioneer Football League Honorees. First Nate Furrow, a linebacker, got the defense award when he became only the second FCS player this season to record five tackles for a loss in a single game. It was also the first five tackles for a loss game for a PFL player since 2023 by Drake’s Finn Claypool. Furrow had three sacks as well in the game with two of his sacks coming late in the game when San Diego was driving to end the San Diego drive and get Marist the win.
The other player to get a PFL Honoree for Marist in week six was Jeremy DeCaro as he earned the special teams award. He got the award for his plays on punt returns, as he averaged 12.4 yards per return with him returning seven punts in the game. Three of his punt returns in the third quarter were for 10-plus in yards and helped them get good field position where they would eventually take the lead and never relinquish it. Now the Red Foxes will go out of conference this week when they take on the Penn Quakers from the Ivy League.
Saturday October 11
Away | Home | Time | Location | Where to Watch |
Presbyterian 5-0 (1-0) | Butler 4-2 (2-0) | 1:00 p.m. ET | Indianapolis, Ind. | ESPN + |
Presbyterian continues to show that they are the real deal as they put on a show in their most recent game, that occurred September 27th as they had a week off, in which they won 41-0. The Blue Hose not only were able to put up points but they also got a shutout showing this team can play on both sides of the ball. In the game the Blue Hose put up 445 yards of total offense with a dominant ground game. The rushing attack was able to put up 303 yards on the day. The passing game put up 142 yards, and with a rushing game that strong they didn’t need the pass to do that much. Now the defense did just as well as they only gave up 277 yards of total offense with them getting four takeaways in the game. The defense managed to recover a fumble while also getting three interceptions. Overall the Blue Hose have shown why they have a top 25 ranking on the season as they now go on the road to take on Butler who looks to end their perfect season.
Butler managed to grind out a conference win as they took down St. Thomas 21-14 in overtime. A game in which Butler led 14-7 at half they then were shutout the second half and then got a score in overtime where they held on for the win. For Butler it was a solid game as they put up a total of 288 yards, with 157 coming from the pass and 131 coming from the run. Butler's quarterback Reagan Andrew, also managed to come away with the PFL Honoree Offensive player of the week. He managed to earn this award as he scored all three of Butler’s touchdowns when he ran them in. He finished his day with 68 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries while also going 16-21 in the passing game for 141 yards. Giving him 209 total yards. Butler did turn the ball over once from a lost fumble but their defense did manage to take the ball away twice from interceptions. Giving Butler their second win in a row as they prepare to take on Presbyterian who look posed for a great season.
Away | Home | Time | Location | Where to Watch |
St. Thomas 2-3 (0-2) | Davidson 1-4 (0-1) | 1:00 p.m. ET | Davidson, N.C. | ESPN + |
The Tommies took a tough loss as they fell to Butler 21-14. In a game where the Tommies were down 14-7 at half they managed to shut out the Bulldogs in the second half while managing to tie it to force overtime. Overtime was a different story though as they gave up their third rushing touchdown and then couldn’t score themselves to seal their loss. In the game St. Thomas accumulated 306 yards of total offense. The passing game got 193 yards, and the run game got 113 yards in the game. They did lose the turnover battle as they gave the ball away twice from interceptions but did manage to get a turnover themselves as they recovered a fumble. The Tommies will now try and turn things around as they go and face Davidson with both teams looking for conference win number one.
The Wildcats take another loss on the season as they continue to struggle in stopping the run. The Wildcats took a 35-32 loss in a conference game against Stetson. For Davidson they did get 396 yards of total offense with 275 from the pass and the remaining 121 coming from the run. They did turn the ball over when they lost a fumble but did win the turnover battle as they took the ball away three times. They managed to recover a fumble as well as getting two interceptions in the game. They will try and copy their defensive performance in takeaways as they host the St. Thomas Tommies in a matchup where both teams are looking for conference win number one.
Away | Home | Time | Location | Where to Watch |
Morehead St. 2-4 (0-2) | Stetson 2-4 (1-1) | 1:00 p.m. ET | DeLand, FL | ESPN + |
It was a rough day for the Eagles in week six when they went on the road to play Presbyterian as they had no answer for the Blue Hose in a game they lost 41-0. For the Eagles there were several problems in the game but the biggest issue was the turnovers as they committed four of them. Three of them were interceptions and the other one was a lost fumble. Another problem the Eagles had was that they couldn’t stop the run as they gave up 303 yards on the ground. Problems aside, Morehead State put up 277 yards of total offense, with 154 coming from the pass and 123 coming from the run. They also managed to dominate time of possession as they had 36:25 in time as compared to Presbyterian’s 23:35. Now they will try to take the few positives they got out of this game and use them when they go and play Stetson in both teams' third conference game of the season.
Stetson got their second win of the season when they took down Davison 35-32. It was a game in which they dominated the game on the ground as they put up 386 from the run with the passing game doing very little with only 90 yards. That was all they needed to do though as they could rely on the run whenever they needed. In total Stetson finished the game with 476 yards. While the offense did many things right they also had a couple of mistakes as they turned the ball over three times. Two of which happened from interceptions (their only two incompletions) and the other one from a lost fumble. Now the Hatters will try and get another conference win as they take on Morehead State.
Away | Home | Time | Location | Where to Watch |
Dayton 4-1 (2-0) | Valparaiso 1-4 (0-1) | 2:00 p.m. ET | Valparaiso, Ind. | ESPN + |
Dayton came away with another conference win as they took down Morehead St. 35-28. It was a game that seemed like Dayton had all but put away at the half as they were up 28-0. Then Morehead St. exploded for 28 points in the third quarter alone while keeping the Flyers off the board. With the game tied halfway in the fourth quarter Dayton put together the go ahead drive to retake the lead late before forcing a turnover on downs to seal the victory. For Dayton they put up 410 yards of total offense with both parts of the offense contributing quite well. The passing game threw for 240 yards while the run game went for 170 yards. The Flyers also did a good job defensively as they won the turnover battle with Dayton giving up one from a lost fumble while the defense took the ball away twice, once from an interception and the other time from a fumble recovery. The Flyers will look to be better at stopping the comeback to avoid close calls when they go on the road to take on conference opponent Valparaiso.
The Beacons take their fourth straight loss on the season as they had no answer against the Drake Bulldogs. For Valparaiso they lost 41-0 as the offense was completely at a loss for what to do. In the game the Beacons barely crossed the century mark for all purpose yards in the game as they got 105 in total. It was a game where they were down early so they went away from the run which only got 32 yards. But the passing game didn’t do much better as it could only muster up 73 yards and turned the ball over three times from interceptions. Overall Valparaiso will just have to forget about this game as they now host Dayton.
Away | Home | Time | Location | Where to Watch |
Drake 2-2 (1-0) | San Diego 3-3 (1-1) | 5:00 p.m. ET | San Diego, Calif. | ESPN + |
The Bulldogs had a rough couple of weeks over in South Dakota as they lost both games over there, but found themselves back in the win column after a dominant 41-0 win over Valparaiso. For the Bulldogs they put up 335 yards in the game, as the passing attack had 184 of those yards, with the run game having 151 yards. While the offensive numbers don’t blow you away the defensive numbers really tell the tale of what happened in this game. The Bulldogs took the ball away three times all from interceptions as well as only allowing 105 yards in total. It was a game where they can take away a lot of positives as they now prepare to face San Diego.
San Diego was looking for their third straight win when they took on Marist but couldn’t get the victory as they lost 19-14. In this tightly contested game, the Toreros were able to win the turnover battle despite the loss, as they never turned the ball over while getting one interception in the game. While they were able to win the turnover battle they did lose in total yards as Marist nearly had 100 more total yards in the game as they finished with 340, to San Diego’s 242. The Toreros struggled to move the ball through the air as they only managed to pass for 149 yards. The rushing game did a little better but didn’t quite break the 100-yard mark as they finished with 93 yards. San Diego will look to fix the sluggish offense when they host Drake.
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