Story by Keith Jaco
Staff writer
Bragging rights were at stake on Saturday night as Murray State football fell to Austin Peay 48-23 in a “Battle of the Border” contest in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The Racers fell to 5-6 on the season, failing to clinch their first winning season since 2011.
Head Coach Mitch Stewart was disappointed, but proud of his team following the loss.
“This is not the way we wanted to end obviously,” Stewart said. “I’m proud of the way we fought and I’m excited about the future for this team.”
APSU got out to a hot start as junior running back Prince Momodu punched in a 12-yard touchdown run to get the Governors on the board. Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall followed APSU’s first score of the day by driving down the field on an eight-play, 95-yard drive to go up 14-0 early on.
Senior kicker Gabriel Vicente kept the Racers close with a 50-yard field goal just before the end of the first quarter, bringing the score to 14-3 at the end of one.
Oatsvall and senior quarterback Drew Anderson traded touchdowns in the second quarter, taking the teams into halftime with a score of 21-17.
APSU outscored Murray State 27-6 in the second half as the Racer offense couldn’t find their groove. Junior wide receiver Malik Honeycutt scored the only Racer points of the second half, taking an 80-yard punt return to the house to begin the fourth quarter.
Following Honeycutt’s punt return, a Murray State failed two-point conversion left the Racers down just five with a quarter to play. The Governor defense continued to be a problem for Anderson though, as APSU would score on consecutive drives and return a pick-six to put the Racers out of contention.
The Racer defense was outmatched by the high power offensive play of Oatsvall and junior running back Kentel Williams. Oatsvall threw for 193 yards on 15-23 passing with four touchdowns. Williams totaled 118 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.
Senior linebacker Quincy Williams knew that despite the loss, the Racers were going to play hard in their season finale.
“We already knew we were gonna come out with a bang and play very physical,” Williams said. “The person who makes the least amount of mistakes wins, and in this game we just made too many mistakes.”
Stewart is ready to go to battle with the challenges ahead for Murray State football.
“Next season starts right now for me and these coaches,” Stewart said. “We’ll get together in the morning and get our plans ready for the offseason and recruiting, I’m real excited for 2019.”
The Racers finish the 2018 season with a 5-6 overall record and 5-3 in conference play. Although the Racers came up short in pursuit of an OVC championship, this is Murray State’s best OVC record since 2011.
