POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Drake University grinded out a 19-14 road win at Marist Saturday afternoon at Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
 
"Our guys fought so hard from beginning to end and I'm so proud of them. We had a bunch of different guys step up and make big plays at different times of the game," said Drake head coach Rick Fox.
 
Grant Kraemer was on his way to another 300 yards passing game but suffered an injury in the Bulldogs first possession of the third-quarter and ended his day completing 12-of-19 passes for 144 yards. Junior Sam Hefner stepped right in and helped the Bulldogs hold on to their lead as he recorded a career-best 94 yards passing and completed 8-of-14 attempts.
 
"Sam came in and made some huge throws. He just made it happen to allow us to win the game," said Fox.
 
Defensively, Sean Lynch led the squad with a game-high 11 tackles and two interceptions. Mike Maize recorded six stops including 1.5 for a loss, while Tanner Evans paced the defensively line with two sacks.
 
After forcing Marist (3-5, 2-3 PFL) to punt on the opening drive of the game, Drake (4-3, 3-1 PFL) put together its longest drive of the season with an 18-play 87-yard scoring drive that lasted over nine minutes. The Bulldogs racked up seven first downs and went three-for-three on third-down on the drive. Brock Reichardt plunged into the end zone from two-yards out the cap off the drive and give Drake a 7-0 lead.
 
The Bulldogs special teams stepped up with Tyler Teveer forcing a fumble on a punt return and Connor Ostrander recovering the loose ball to put the Bulldog offense on Marist 32-yard line, early in the second-quarter.
 
With the short field, the Red Foxes kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone and forced a field goal attempt. Danny Donley drilled the 20-yard field goal to put Drake up 10-0.
 
The Red Foxes responded quickly with a one-minute 18-second scoring drive, cutting Drake's lead to 10-7.
 
The Bulldogs answered with a scoring drive of their own. Kraemer completed a 29-yard pass to Mitch McFarlane to help put the Bulldogs in field goal position. Donley went to make a 30-yard field goal to give Drake a 13-7 lead at the half.
 
After using two possessions to get into the rhyme of the game, Hefner completed four straight passes to put the Bulldogs deep in Marist territory. The Red Foxes once again held the Bulldogs to a field goal as Donley drilled his third field goal of the game to put Drake up 16-7.
 
In Drake's first possession of the fourth-quarter, Hefner completed a clutch 20-yard pass to Ostrander on fourth and 12 to put the Bulldogs inside Marist's 10-yard line. Then the Red Foxes defense held Drake to a field goal on the Bulldogs fourth trip inside the red-zone. Donley made his fourth field goal of the game to give Drake a 19-7 lead with 7:41 left in the game.
 
The Bulldogs then had a chance to run the clock out after Lynch recorded his second interception of the game, as Marist was out of timeouts so the Bulldogs need just two first-downs to seal the win. Marist's defense came up with another stop to keep the Red Foxes hopes for a comeback alive.
 
Two plays later, Marist's Juston Christian made a diving touchdown catch with 1:01 left to play to make it a 19-14 game.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Steven Doran recovered the onside kick to seal the Bulldog 19-14 victory.
 
The Bulldogs return to Drake Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 28 when they host Davidson. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.