DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake football entered the weekend riding a 17-game winning streak and was just one victory away from locking up their second consecutive Pioneer Football League crown. The visiting Eagles of Morehead State came into Drake Stadium with other intentions and outplayed the Bulldogs down the stretch to put an end to the Dogs' triumphant ways and make the PFL title race a bit more interesting. Morehead State used a convincing second half performance to earn a 29-20 win.
 
"I wanted our seniors to be able to remember their last game in Drake Stadium positively," Drake head coach Todd Stepsis said, "but unfortunately that wasn't the case. They will remember the journey to get here…what they've gone through to get to this point. I give Morehead State a ton of credit, they played about as well as they could have."
 
Drake's "Blue Magic" defense showed its teeth early as senior safety Tyler Radocha snipped the Eagles' opening drive short. Radocha jumped in front of a Carter Cravens pass on third down to pick one off and set the Dogs up with solid field position. The Bulldogs marched nearly 50 yards down the field, but a short Shane Dunning kick missed narrowly to the right to keep Drake off the board.
 
The Bulldogs took over possession again after forcing a Morehead State punt and put together another methodical drive. The Dogs offense was forced off the field, though, when Jaxon Laminack fumbled on his way into the endzone. The Eagles took over backed up against their own goal line. The Drake defense came through again on the next play as Christian Aguilar sliced through the line to bring down the MSU back in the endzone, giving Drake two points with a safety. That score held through the rest of the first period.
 
Drake's next drive stalled as Dunning delivered a booming punt that was downed inside the Morehead State 10-yard line. The Drake defense stood tall again, returning the favor by forcing the Eagles to kick it away. Laminack was back to receive for the Bulldogs and, after a muffed reception, scooped up the ball and returned it nearly 60 yards into Morehead's side of the field. His excellent return teed the Drake offense up for a short TD drive ended by a connection between Luke Bailey and Parker Olthoff.
 
Neither team could tally any more points over the remainder of the first half as Drake went into the break up 9-0.
 
The Eagles got off to a hot start in the second half with a touchdown less than a minute into the third period. Cravens skipped a backward pass to receiver Bradley West who fielded and fired deep to a wide-open Nathan Garnett, Jr., who was brought down at the Drake 1-yard line. Isaac Stopke pounded one in on the next play for a score and cut into the Bulldog advantage.
 
Drake answered that 6-point drive with a scoring march of their own. The Bulldogs got into Dunning's range where he drilled a 50-yard field goal to make it 12-7 in favor of the home team.
 
The Bulldogs' defensive dominance slipped up again on Morehead State's next possession. The Eagles moved down the field on a 12-play, 75-yard drive ended by a short rushing score from James Louis. Now leading for the first time on the afternoon at 13-12, Morehead State tried for a two-pointer but could not convert as Drake took back over with a narrow deficit to overcome.
 
Drake did just that as they regained the ball The Bulldogs sapped over four minutes of game time on a 10-play, 76-yard possession that featured a few key first-down conversions. Bailey linked up with Trey Radocha on a well-executed slant route to put a bow on the drive and catapult the Bulldogs back in front. A successful two-point try to Taj Hughes made it a 7-point difference with just over 12 minutes remaining.
 
The Eagles continued their rhythmic run through the second half with another responsive drive. Carter Cravens and the Eagle offense picked apart the Drake D en route to a 13-yard scoring pass caught by wide receiver Ryan Upp. Morehead State's score knotted the tally at 20-20 with about five minutes left on the regulation game clock. Drake's offense failed to mount a charge as Dunning came on to punt.
 
Morehead State used nearly all the remaining three and a half minutes to traverse 42 yards over 11 plays and notch the go-ahead score. The Eagles' leaned on their ground game and cashed in from 30 yards out on kick by Thomas Schwartz V to take a 23-20 lead.
 
A desperate Drake bunch did their best to push the ball downfield with 14 seconds remaining, but their lateral-laden effort was snuffed out by the Eagles. The ball wound up in the grasp of center Bennet Krebs who fumbled. The ball was gathered by MSU's Matthew McClelland and ran in for a touchdown as the Eagles left Des Moines with a 29-20 victory, ending the Bulldogs' historic conference winning streak and extending the PFL title chase for another week.
 
Luke Bailey tossed for 210 yards on 27-40 throwing with a pair of touchdowns and one pick. His TD throws went to Parker Olthoff in the first half and Trey Radocha in the second. Radocha led the Drake receiving crew with 45 yards. Defensively, the linebacking duo of Sebastian Adamski and Sean Allison logged nine tackles apiece and combined for 1.5 tackles for loss. Allison, as well as Finn Claypool, recorded a sack. Tyler Radocha added to Drake's defensive effort with an interception.
 
"It's all [still] in front of us," Stepsis added. "Teams typically don't play well when they make the moment, time, opponent, situation bigger than it has to be. It's important…we have to go down [to Stetson] and execute. That is the reward…we still have a chance to do that."
 
Drake will visit Stetson next weekend for the regular season finale. The Bulldogs can still wrap up an outright Pioneer Football League championship with a victory over the Hatters.
 
NOTES

• Drake was outgained 291-281 in yardage. The Eagles also possessed the ball for 33:15 to Drake's 26:45.
• The Bulldogs were penalized three times for a total of 28 yards while Morehead State was not flagged in the game.
• Christian Aguilar made a key tackle-for-loss in the first half to score a 2-point safety, marking the second straight week Drake has logged a safety.
• Luke Bailey threw for 100+ yards for the 11th consecutive game dating back to last season. He finished with 210 yards and two scores.
• Parker Olthoff hauled in one of those TDs in the first half and Trey Radocha had the other in the second. Radocha led the Drake receiving crew with 45 yards.
• The linebacking duo of Sebastian Adamski and Sean Allison logged nine tackles apiece and combined for 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Allison, as well as Finn Claypool, recorded a sack. Tyler Radocha added to Drake's defensive effort with an interception
• Saturday's result ended the Bulldogs' 17-game winning streak in Pioneer Football League play. Drake is now tied for the second-longest such streak in conference history.
• Despite the loss, Drake still controls its own destiny for the PFL title. A win next Saturday at Stetson would lock up the outright conference championship for the Bulldogs.