RADNOR, Pa.— Eastern University Football (5-1, 4-1 MAC) overcame a pair of early turnovers to grind out a 17-10 MAC win over the visiting Albright College Lions. Coming off a pair of wins over the preseason co-favorites and with a date with league-leading Misericordia on the schedule for next week, the game set up well for the upstart Lions. While the Eagles scuffled early, they found enough offense and made big plays on defense and special teams to stay in the mix at the top of the league.

The Lions (3-3, 2-3) punted and turned the ball over on downs on their opening two possessions, but an interception and a fumbled snap gave the guests the ball on the Eastern two yard line. Two plays later, Albright running back John Boston put the Lions up with a six-yard run.

After the Eastern offense went quietly on a three-and-out, punter John Westfield delivered the first of two big punts on the day. His booming kick cleared the return man, and a good roll put the ball down at the 10-yard line for a 62-yard effort. A good stop on first down and a Jason Bateman sack on third forced Albright into a punt. The Eagles used three positive runs and an Albright penalty to gain enough yardage for John Nolek to cut the deficit to 7-3 with a 37-yard field.

A holding penalty put Albright behind the sticks on the next possession, and Albright punted. The Eagles gained thirty yards, but were forced to punt. Westfield again delivered. His punt bounced inside the five, and Curtis Johnson jumped before the goal line and batted the ball back into the field. Sean McNamara smothered the ball at the 1-yard line.

With their heels on the goal line, the Lions had to be conservative and punted after three downs. A spectacular 13-yard return from Justin Nikolopoulos put the Eagles in field goal range with less than six minutes to play in the half. Seven plays later, Jeremiah Avrilien powered in from seven yards out to put the Eagles up 9-7. Nolek's kick went off the upright and out.

The Eagles gained 16 yards on the first two plays of the second half, but the Albright defense forced another punt.

After fair catch at the 26, the Lions put together a withering 21-play drive. Tahjere Jackson-Alston made a huge tackle behind the line of scrimmage on a third down play at the three-yard line. The Lions took the lead with 20 seconds on the clock, but the the big plays at the end kept the game in reach.

"The defense played extremely well overall," Head Coach Billy Crocker said after the contest. "Coming into the game, Albright had the number one total offense in the conference and we held them to just 168 yards. The defense was great on third down and made big stops when we needed them."

On the final play of the third quarter, Avrilien finally found a little space and bounced run out to the left for 47-yards. The Eagles covered the final 30 yards of the drive on the first seven plays of the fourth quarter. Brett Nabb powered through tacklers for a 1-yard touchdown. Nabb then completed a pass to Nassik Smith for the two-point conversion and the seven-point lead.

The Eastern defense forced a three-and-out on the next possession, and after burning nearly five minutes of clock, Westfield punted again to put the Lions 80-yards away. Albright got one first down, but then an offensive lineman held Salif Nikiema on a scrambling play to move the Lions back to their own 24.

The Eastern pass-rush then did the rest. Shamaad Clack and Andrew Campbell got home for a seven-yard loss. Then Nikiema and Freddie DiNardo made it third-and-36 with another sack. Gashawn Moody Sr. delivered a big hit on a short pass on third down before Nikiema chased Albright quarterback Chase Roberts out of bounds to give the Eagles the ball with ninety seconds left.

Nabb kneeled twice to give the Eagles their fifth win in six outings.

"Offensively, we did enough to win the game," Crocker added.  "Being shorthanded, I was proud of the effort."

After playing in a game against Delaware Valley that had only one punt, the two teams had 10 punts and combined for only 374 total yards. The Eagles had 600 yards of offense three weeks ago in a win at King's.

Avrilien finished with 91-yards and a touchdown. Nabb had 78 on the ground and was only 4-of-11 through the air. Smith was the only Eastern player with more than one catch. Roberts threw for 100 yards but was sacked five times and did not have a completion longer than 18 yards.

Eastern will have to figure out a way to beat a Misericordia team that has not lost int he league and has won it's last two on the final plays of the game. The Cougars won 23-21 at LVC on a fourth-and-goal run with no time on the clock. Today, Misericordia converted a late fumble at midfield into a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass from the two-yard line to pull within a point. Rather than kick the extra-point, the Cougars went for two and won 29-28 at Stevenson.

With the league season past its midpoint, the Eagles are tied with LVC in second behind Misericordia.

That game will start at 1:00 pm.