Ronald Hanaki
Staff Writer
Last Saturday was a great day to be a Warrior as ESU Football came from behind in dramatic fashion to beat the Seton Hill University Griffins 41-34 on a rain-soaked field at ESU’s Eiler-Martin Stadium.
ESU was down by 14 points in the second half, but the Warriors scored 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
The Griffins scored a touchdown to trail by only one touchdown with less than two minutes to go, but redshirt senior cornerback Brandon Inge III had an interception late in the 4th quarter to ice the game for the Warriors.
ESU was led by redshirt senior running back Jaymar Anderson, who had an outstanding game. Anderson carried the ball 32 times for 239 yards and six touchdowns.
Anderson did not play in the season opener against Ferris State University because of injury, but he showed up in a big way against the Griffins.
But Anderson was quick to credit his teammates and coaching staff for his outstanding performance.
Anderson said, “I did well because of the offensive line and the play calls and the execution.”
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ben Moser had an efficient game. He was 16-for-29 for 226 yards and no interceptions.
“It’s real easy to get up and score touchdowns with 44 in the backfield,” said Moser. “And the line up front–they blocked their tails off, and I can’t thank them enough.”
“Our run game was there, and our receivers made plays for us,” Moser said.
Associate Head Coach Jimmy Terwilliger also praised Anderson’s performance.
“He is a difference maker no matter how you look at it,” said Terwilliger. “He carries the ball as strong as I think that he’s ever carried the ball.”
“He puts our eyes on the ball carrier, which opens up a lot of holes for other people, too. The impact that he has really impacts our offense as a whole,” Terwilliger said.
“It gives us a multiple threat out of the backfield and helps our receiving corps,” said Terwilliger.
Despite being down by 14 points in the second half, the Warriors never quit on the game.
“I don’t think it was a lot about the X’s and O’s and adjustments [in the second half],” Terwilliger said.
“I think our kids got into the rhythm of playing the game, and they played extremely hard in the fourth quarter,” said Terwilliger. “We have a very talented group of guys, and I think we played as a whole team.”
“I don’t think I would chalk it up to anything X’s and O’s we did other than match up a couple of personnel sets,” Terwilliger said.
“Our kids played hard and fought until the end, and it was good to see that,” said Terwilliger.
When the defense had to make stops late in the fourth quarter, the defense was able to stone the Griffins.
“We saw some great efforts tonight,” said Terwilliger.
“I think we have great talented guys in the secondary, the up front and in the linebacking corps. But it is about synergy,” Terwilliger said.
“It’s all parts moving as one in the right direction,” said Terwilliger. “I think our guys are doing a nice job with that. I think we are building.”
“I think that it’s something that we can build on–to be better as the weeks go through,” Terwilliger said.
“A win is a win. There is never an ugly win. So we will continue to build on those weaknesses until they become our strong points,” said Terwilliger.
The team is optimistic about its prospects for the rest of the season.
Anderson said, “I expect a lot of winning. We just gotta go back to the drawing board now, and we gotta build for the next team.”
“We are who we are,” said Terwilliger. “We’re going to work hard; we’re going to compete.”
“We are going to do it the right way. Our guys are really going to train. This is Warrior football,” said Terwilliger.
“We’re going to work hard to score as many points as humanly possible and work our tails off to be able to hold people to as few points as possible,” said Terwilliger.
“We will play anybody, anytime,” Terwilliger said.
The Warriors will hit to the road to play the Fighting Scots at Edinboro this Saturday at noon.
Email Ronald at:
rhanaki@live.esu.edu
