By Associated Press
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Elijah Owens threw for one touchdown, ran for another and Rocco Ciocca scored on a 1-yard plunge with 11 seconds to go to lift Indiana State to a 31-27 win over Murray State on Saturday.
The Racers, down 24-10, tied the game as Jayden Johannsen threw short touchdown passes on back-to-back drives and took the lead on James London’s 25-yard field goal with 1:57 to play.
Owens then engineered a 75-yard drive, completing 2 of 3 passes and picking up 22 yards on two keepers before Shen Butler-Lawson burst up the middle for 32 yards to the Murray State 1. With 43 seconds left the Sycamores tried a pair of unsuccessful “tush push” quarterback sneaks before Owens handed the ball off to Ciocca, a backup tight end.
Owns was 25-of-34 passing for 218 yards with an 18-yard scoring pass to Kai Rios and he scored on a 3-yard run, helping the Sycamores (2-5, 1-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) build a 21-10 halftime lead.
Johannsen completed 20 of 38 for 256 yards. He had a 2-yard toss to Kade Neely with 3:53 to go in the third and an 11-yard connection with Justice Hill on the next possession. Hill had seven catches for 103 yards for the Racers (1-5, 0-3).
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Drake hands Butler its first loss
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Luke Bailey found Taj Hughes with a 38-yard touchdown pass to give Drake the lead in the third quarter and the Bulldogs handed Butler its first loss of the season, 27-17 on Saturday.
Drake (4-1) climbed to 3-0 in the Pioneer Football League by stopping Butler on downs twice in Drake territory in the first half and picking off two passes in the second. Drake’s lone loss came at South Dakota, 42-3 in Week 3.
Reagan Andrew scored from four yards out in the final minute of the first half to give Butler (5-1, 1-1) a 6-0 lead at the break, but Shane Dunning kicked his second field goal, this one from 44-yards out, to tie the game early in the third quarter and Bailey’s TD pass to Hughes put Drake in front for good.
Blake Ellingson bulled in from the 1 and Davion Cherwin broke loose for a 32-yard touchdown run, each in the fourth quarter, to put Drake up 27-9 before Butler added a touchdown and two-point conversion with five minutes left in the game.
Bailey was 16-of-25 passing for 213 yards with an interception and Hughes caught seven passes for 127 yards to lead Drake.
Andrew completed 22 of 32 pass attempts for 174 yards and threw two interceptions and carried 18 times for 81 yards and a touchdown. Ethan Loss caught eight passes for 86 yards.
