Marist football rallies with two late touchdowns to top Morehead State

Marist struggled with the elements in the first half Saturday but rallied for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns for a 14-13 win over Morehead State in a Pioneer Football League contest at Tenney Stadium on November 7, 2026.

The defense helped spur the victory. Nate Furrow intercepted a pass and returned it 8 yards for a score just 35 seconds into the fourth quarter, trimming Morehead’s lead to 13-7. It was Marist’s second pick-6 of the season, with Jordan Caldwell doing that at New Haven in the opener.

Marist quarterback Sonny Mannino directed a 99-yard scoring drive, making a bold scramble for a 10-yard score on third down with 5:05 to play. Luke Stenson booted the game-deciding extra point before getting hammered for a penalty that was ultimately declined.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Marist (5-5), which moves to 4-2 in the PFL, staying close to the league leaders. Morehead fell to 2-8, 1-5, having lost two in a row and seven of its last eight. Last week, the Eagles squandered a 35-25 lead over Drake with under six minutes to play, giving up three touchdowns in the final 4:40, the winning score with 49 seconds left.

Marist’s offense stumbled through three quarters, punting three times, losing the ball twice on downs and fumbling the ball away.

“We were adjusting to the elements a bit in the first half,” said Marist head coach Mike Willis. “There were some ball-handling issues for both teams as the rain came on a little bit stronger than was forecast. We were also off schedule a lot in the first half.”

The winning drive started with 12:49 to play. The Red Foxes converted third-down plays. Mannino was 4-for-1 for 18 yards – he was aided by a Morehead fumble that erased a sack fumble – and he ran six times for 39 yards, starting his dash from the 15 yard line on the score, rushing up the middle and side-stepping into the end zone with 5:05 left. It was his 11th touchdown of the season, and capped a career-best 155-yard rush on 17 carries.

Morehead went up 3-0 on a 26-yard field goal by Jordan Price in the first quarter, and 6-0 on Price’s 24-yarder early in the second. Bryce Patterson threw a 53-yard TD pass to Keegan Zylstra 3:51 before halftime. From that point on, Marist’s defense posted five stops, the first three on interceptions by Wayne Adair (five consecutive games with a pick), Furrow and Chase Hatton at the Eagle 1, and holding the Eagles to 146 yards after taking the 13-0 lead.

“I thought our defense played extraordinary in the second half,” Willis said. “Our defense, along with Sonny Mannino’s efforts very clearly fueled this victory, but there’s a lot to clean up.”

Marist hosts Butler (8-2, 5-1) – which beat St. Thomas 41-14 for its third win in a row on Saturday – on Nov. 14 and plays at Davidson on Nov. 21.

kmcmillan@th-record.com

X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Marist football rallies with two late touchdowns to top Morehead State