READING, Pa.— When the host Alvernia University Golden Wolves scored in the final seconds, Eastern University Football dropped a 22-21 heartbreaker at Alvernia. The Eagles took a 21-14 lead on a 17-yard by
Jeremiah Avrilien with 1:53 on the clock. While the Eagles (5-2, 5-1) still control their own destiny in the MAC, the loss today eliminates any margin for error.
While the Eagles never trailed until the Golden Wolves converted a two-point attempt with 15 seconds left, they also never led by more than a single score.
Eastern's first score of the game came after a 16-play Alvernia drive ended with blocked field goal attempt from 33-yards out.
Jamauri James ran the return out to the 43, but the Eastern defense took a significant hit when the senior cornerback took an injury on the play. Three plays later,
Curtis Johnson broke a handful of tackles on the way to a 55-yard touchdown catch. Johnson caught five balls for a career-best 115 yards.
After the two teams traded punts, the Golden Wolves (4-3, 4-2) drove deep again but missed a 38-yard field goal attempt.
Brett Nabb led the Eagles on a 72-yard drive and had his team a the 7-yard line with 13 seconds left and no timeouts. After one incomplete pass, the Eagles opted to take another shot at the end zone rather than kick a field goal. Nabb's throw to the corner was a little short and the Alvernia corner won the battle for an interception. Nabb's second interception of the year ended the half and the Eagles went to the break up just one score.
Though the Eagles led, there were some troubling signs. Alvernia had the ball for 23 minutes in the first half and had reached the redzone twice. The Eagles held a 75-13 edge in rushing yards, but the short-handed Eastern defense was struggling to get off the field. The Golden Wolves converted two fourth-down efforts and threw for 107 yards.
On their first possession of the second half, the hosts marched 75 yards on 13 plays to tie the game. Though the Eastern offense did not earn a first down in the third quarter, the defense found a way off the field after back-to-back sacks of Alvernia's first year quarterback Sawyer Esbenshade.
On Eastern's final drive of the third, an offensive pass interference call put the Eagles behind the sticks, and the Eagles again had to punt.
Wayne Clark forced a fumble and pushed the Golden Wolves deep into their own end and the Eagles came out in better field position after an Alvernia punt. On third down, Nabb connected on a 39-yard completion to Avrilien for a 14-7 lead.
The Golden Wolves, however, answered. Under heavy pressure, Esbenshade released a ball over the top for a 58-yard score and a 14-14 tie.
Nabb completed a a pair of passes to
Curtis Johnson on the next drive, including a 21-yard completion on 3rd-and-16. At the two-minute timeout, the Eagles had the ball at the 17-yard line for a 3rd-and-two. Avrilien got the first down and kept going for a 21-14 lead.
The score, however, gave the Golden Wolves a final chance. Alvernia was in a similar situation against Misericordia and came up just short. Against the fatigued Eastern defense, the hosts got a critical conversion by penalty on a 4th-and-two after it looked like Soriano Smith broke up a pass before making contact. Alvernia scored on third-and-10 from the 11-yard line and went for two rather than overtime.
With Delaware Valley beating Misericordia today, the Golden Wolves move into a tie with the Cougars behind Eastern and Delaware Valley. The Eagles will win the MAC if they win out. Eastern would also emerge atop a three-way tie with Alvernia and Delaware Valley. In the event of a four-way tie of two-loss teams, the Eagles would finish behind Alvernia in the tiebreakers.
Nabb threw for a season-best 200 yards, but the Eagles finished with only 144 rushing yards as a team. Esbenshade threw for 307 yards and had two receivers, Yon Anderson and Zakai Smullen catch more than 100 yards.
The Eagles will return to Reading to take on Albright next weekend.
