RADNOR, Pa.— Eastern University Football welcomes the Misericordia University Cougars and their fans to Radnor Street Road for the 2026 MAC Opener for both teams. The Cougars arrive on the heels of a dominant 42-14 home win over Hartwick. The Eagles opened the year with a tough 24-14 loss at 24th-ranked Endicott.
The Cougars were picked third in the Pre-Season Coaches' poll after winning seven games in the league last fall. The Eagles handed the Cougars their first loss in the league when they Dallas with a 28-21 win. A
Jason Bateman strip-sack stopped the final Cougar drive in Eastern territory.
Brett Nabb threw for 156 yards and ran for 129 more to pace the Eastern offense.
The two sides both feature athletic defenses that will be tasked with slowing down mobile quarterbacks. Nabb rushed for over 1300 yards last year and delivered a lone offensive highlight with a 74-yard touchdown run at Endicott. Hunter is equally dangerous. The senior from Wilkes-Barre ran for 800 yards last year and threw for over 2200 yards. He delivered a standout performance at the 2026 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships with gold-medal performances in the 200 Meters, 400 Meters, and both sprint relays.
The Eastern defense took some injuries through the preseason and at Endicott and will need to have all available players on point to slow down Hunter and the Cougar offense. Against Hartwick, Hunter ran for a pair of scores and Amir Major and Angelo Fluri also posted rushing TD's as the Cougars outgunned Hartwick on the ground, 187-86. Hunter threw for 246 yards and two more scores.
Both Eastern and Endicott scored twice in the final five minutes of the first half, but the host Gulls scored an early touchdown and a field goal to start the second to go up two scores and secure the win.
Working against a stout Endicott defense, Eastern's offensive group avoided turnovers but had several big plays erased by penalty and Nabb got caught behind the line of scrimmage on several occasions. He finished with 70 yards running and
Jeremiah Avrilien had 67 to go with 35 receiving yards.
Chris Rivera made the biggest play of the day with a 91-yard kickoff return with less than 15 seconds left in the half.
Jamauri James led the Eastern defense with a career-high 10 tackles.
With the win last year, Eastern leads the all-time series 2-1.
Eastern is back here next Saturday to host Lebanon Valley. The Cougars will host Stevenson.
