Millersville ended the 2016 season in Erie, Pennsylvania this past Saturday. They were defeated by Gannon University by a score of 31-14.
Gannon scored on their first three possessions. The Golden Knights went 58 yards on their first drive that lasted eight plays. A 20 yard rush by Gannon quarterback Zach Phillips then resulted in a 12-yard pass to redshirt freshman Nico Law.
The Golden Knight special teams would then recover a blocked Millersville punt at the 2-yard line, which set up their second touchdown. Quarterback Zach Phillips would run 2 yards to the end zone on the next play.
Marauder kicker Evan Stahl tried to get Millersville points onto the board in the first quarter. His 41-yard attempt got blocked by Gannon’s Matthew Gawlik.
Millersville’s first score came early in the second quarter. Kevin Wiggins caught a 39-yard pass from JJ Paige.
Wiggins’s touchdown moved him to a tie for fifth place for career touchdowns with Roby Wyley, a newly instated Millersville Hall-of-Famer. He will likely surpass Wyley next season.
Gannon’s only score in the third quarter came from a 26-yard field goal made by Karch Holland.
Tyrone Gibson would go to score Millersville’s final touchdown of the season in the 4th quarter. The score was his third touchdown of the season.
Quad Law would score Gannon’s final score from a 5-yard pass from Phillips.
Despite the points allowed, two Marauder defenders had milestone days.
Sean Dugan brought high defensive numbers for the Marauders. He led the team with 16 tackles against Gannon. He made 11 tackles by himself.
He would finish the 2016 season with 111 tackles. It is the most amount of tackles made by a Marauder defender since Lee Rizzotti’s 122 tackles in 1999. Dugan also led the team with 9 tackles-for-loss.
PJ Santos’s second-quarter interception allowed him to lead the team with five interceptions this season. This record was the most interceptions caught by a Marauder defenders since 2007. He is also sixth all-time in it interceptions with a career total of 12.
On offense, wide receiver Kevin Wiggins finished 2016 with 45 catches, 757. yards and six touchdowns. He now moves to 11th all-time in yards a season and sixth in career catches (136).
H would also finish with 91 yards and caught three of quarterback JJ Paige’s 10 completions.
Along with his 32 career starts, Paige would finish eighth in career yards (3,717), seventh in touchdown passes (25) and fifth in completions (337).
On special teams, Evan Stahl would end the 2016 season with a PSAC leading average of 41.7 yards per punt. He broke the single-season record held by John Banzhof’s 40.8 average from the 2008 season. However, he just missed by Banzhof’s record for career average (39.6) by 1.3 yards with a total of 38.3.
The Marauders finished the season at 2-9 for the second straight season.
The Marauders started the season off with continuing the momentum they built from winning the last two games of the 2015 season.
Millersville started 1-0 with the win at home against Pace. It was their first time they won the season opener since the 2012 season.
The Marauders then went on a seven-game losing streak.
Their second and final win would come against Cheney University on the road.
Preluding to Gannon, Millersville lost to West Chester, who were the PSAC East champions from 2015.
The Marauders look to break more records and hit newer milestones as they focus on 2017. Their continued desire to win and succeed as a program will carry them through the offseason, the gridiron and beyond.
