RADNOR, Pa.— With a strong running game and a stingy defense, Eastern University Football  (2-0, 1-0) overcame three turnovers and nearly 100 yards in penalties earn a 24-14 win over the visiting Alvernia University Golden Wolves in the MAC Opener for both teams. Jeremiah Avrilien rushed for a program-record 184 yards and two more touchdowns to lead the Eastern offense.

The Eastern defense smothered Alvernia on the first possession and gave the Eastern offense a short field to start the day. A stunning twenty-yard scamper by Avrilien put the Eagles on the edge of the red zone, but an interception gave the ball back to the guests.

After the Eastern defense forced another three-and-out. Brett Nabb led the Eagles on a 10-play 71 yard drive that ended with another highlight-reel run from Avrilien. Early in the drive, Nabb completed a 17-yard pass to Chris Rivera on third and five. Avrilien carried the ball on the final four plays of the drive. John Nolek made the kick.

The Golden Wolves moved the ball into Eastern territory on their next possession, but defensive play by Chris Forte and Salif Nikiema put the visitors behind the sticks, and Martin Campbell delivered a sack of 3rd and 18 to force a punt.

Big penalties hurt the Eagles on each of their next three drives. Not only did they move the offense backwards, but they nullified big plays. Nabb had an 18-yard run called back, Avrilien had a 25-yard touchdown run nullified, and Justin Nikolopolous had a 20-yard catch canceled. The first two times, the Eastern defense answered the bell, on the third, the Eastern offense stayed the course and ran in a touchdown right after the two-minute timeout.

Down 14-0, the Golden Wolves pushed to try to find a late score but wound up turning the ball over on downs near midfield. Nabb had the Eagles in the red zone with a time out and 22 seconds, but an interception in the end zone ended the drive and the half.

Even with a 226-9 edge in first-half rushing yards, the Eagles only led 14-0 at the break.

Nabb did not come back out for the second half, and it fell to Sabor Stevens to lead the Eastern offense. As the starter against the Golden Wolves in 2023, Stevens threw 33 times for 273 yards. That was a different time. The junior kept things conservative and after both teams had first drives stall, Stevens led the Eagles on an 11-pay drive that ended with an important 32-yard field goal from Nolek.

The Eastern defense forced another punt, but an interception and run-back on the next Eastern possession gave the guests a short field at the Eastern 22. Six plays later, the Golden Wolves found the end zone.

Two more holding calls nullified big gains on Eastern's first drive of the fourth quarter, and the Eagles were forced to punt from near midfield. When John Westfield dropped a punt inside the twenty , that turned out to be a big play. After a short gain on first down, Alvernia tried to slip a pass into the flat. Junior linebacker Cole Jones jumped the route and was shoved out of bounds at the eight yard line.

Last fall, Jones delivered a big hit at Alvernia that turned into a Dru Beckford touchdown. After the game this afternoon, Head Coach Billy Crocker speculated that the interception might have been the play of the game.

Two plays later, Avrilien put the Eagles up 24-7 with his fifth touchdown of the season with nine minutes left.

While the Golden Wolves responded with an excellent 17-play sequence for a touchdown. The drive, however, took over seven minutes off the clock. Devon Johnson caught the onside kick attempt cleanly and the Eagles improved to 2-0 on the year.

"[It's] always great to get a win, " Crocker said.  "It is hard to win in football, so we need to appreciate the win, but it certainly wasn't a pretty day for us. We were our own worst enemy today. Having that many big plays called back isn't acceptable. If we want to compete with some of the better teams in the league, we need to be a more disciplined football team"

The Eagles had 367 yards rushing and won the game despite completing only three passes. Alvernia threw for 145 yards but only managed 47 yards on the ground. Jones, Jason Bateman, and Gashawn Moody each finished with five total tackles. Piavus McCabe had 11 tackles to lead the Alvernia defense.

Eastern introduced the 2025 Hall of Honor class at halftime of the game.

The Eagles will return to action next Saturday at Lebanon Valley College. The Dutchmen (1-1) returned a pair of fourth quarter interceptions for touchdowns and dominated the visiting FDU-Florham Devils 37-13 at LVC this afternoon. Eastern has not won against the LVC.