Misericordia 35, Lebanon Valley 32 (4OT)
 
LVC Offensive Starters
QB Kegarise, TB Wilson, FB Steinhilber, WR Diggs, WR Niemeyer, TE Clark, LT Klinger, LG Johnson-Ortiz, C Thompson, RT Heft, RG Redmon
 
LVC Defensive Starters
DE Brubaker, DT McLeod, DT Miller, DE LaPorta, LB Gerhart, LB Estes, LB Strausbaugh, S Yetter, CB Gaumer, CB Okoma, S Jenkins
 
Misericordia Offensive Starters
QB B. Williams, TB Cromwell, WR Gillison, WR I. Williams, WR Schlosser, TE Barry, LT Marcel, LG Colonno, C Welsh, RT Sica, RG Anderson
 
Misericordia Defensive Starters
DE Conway, NT Kepple, DE Gillingham, LB Rogers, LB Pearson, LB Geary, LB Becke, S Orzell, CB Yeaher, CB Diaz, S Hafner
 
How It Happened
DALLAS, Pa. – In one of the longest games in recent memory, Lebanon Valley's football team dropped a heartbreaking 35-32 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) contest to Misericordia University on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 28. The Flying Dutchmen now sit at 1-3, 1-1 MAC Commonwealth, while the Cougars improved to 1-1, 1-0 MAC Commonwealth.
 
This afternoon's contest was LVC's longest game since its 2OT win over Albright last season.
 
Trailing by three at 16-13 with 4:37 remaining in the fourth quarter, LVC needed some points late in the game to either tie things up or take a lead. Kody Kegarise completed back-to-back passes to Dylan Baxter, one for seven yards, and the next for 12, to set up the Dutchmen at Misericordia's 48-yard line. LVC continued to drive down the field until its drive stalled out at the Cougars' 22-yard line. With 55 ticks left on the clock, senior Nick Bentz was called upon to attempt a 30-yard field goal. Bentz knocked the ball through the uprights to even the game at 16-16 and eventually send it into overtime.
 
In the first overtime, the home team got the ball first, but on second and nine at LVC's 13-yard line, Misericordia's Brady Williams' pass was intercepted by Brendan Yetter. On the Dutchmen's ensuing drive, the offense couldn't get going, however Bentz had a 42-yard field goal attempt that could've clinched the game for LVC. Unfortunately, his kick was blocked by the Cougars' Nikolai Kepple and the two squads went into a second overtime.
 
In double OT, LVC started with the ball and the visitor's drive began with a Kegarise pass to TE Patrick Clark for four yards. Hunter Wilson then rushed for a seven-yard gain, followed by a five-yard spurt, and after Kegarise rushed for seven yards to Misericordia's two-yard line, the junior QB rushed again for a two-yard touchdown. After Bentz's good extra point, LVC went up by seven at 23-16. The Cougars needed a touchdown and extra point to send the game into a third overtime and the home squad got just that, as B. Williams completed a six-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams, and after the extra point went through, the teams went to a third overtime period.
 
The Cougars started the third OT with the ball and B. Williams again found I. Williams in the endzone for a six-yard TD to put Misericordia ahead 29-23. Beginning in the third overtime in college football, teams must go for a two-point conversion, and the Cougars' attempt failed, leaving the door open for LVC. Kegarise continued to play well in overtime and found Tyeair Diggs for a seven-yard gain, followed by Wilson's eight-yard rush that put the Dutchmen at Misericordia's 10-yard line. Later in the drive, on fourth a goal at the Cougars' four-yard line, Kegarise hit Cameron Niemeyer in the right part of the endzone, and Niemeyer got a foot down for the TD. A two-point conversion would've iced the game, but LVC's attempt failed as well, sending the game into a fourth OT.
 
After Wilson's four-yard rush put the Dutchmen on Misericordia's 19-yard line in the fourth OT, Kegarise was sacked for an eight-yard loss by Kaden Martell and Jason Anderson. The Dutchmen were unable to get another first down, but Bentz still hit a 31-yard FG to put LVC ahead 32-29. On Misericordia's possession, B. Williams began it with an eight-yard strike to Michael Gawlik, followed by Gawlik's rush of six yards and B. Williams' six-yard gain on the ground. Later in the drive, the Cougars reached LVC's one-yard line and Eric Jeffries punched it in for the touchdown to give Misericordia a 35-32 victory.
 
LVC got the ball to begin the game and the offense was impressive early on, as Kegarise led the Dutchmen all the way to Misericordia's seven-yard line, however Bentz's 24-yard FG attempt was blocked by Nick Yeager and he returned it 10 yards to the Cougars' 30-yard line. On the home team's ensuing drive, they drove down the field in similar fashion as LVC, and the same series of events came next. Matt Dinnocenti's 31-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Logan Grauer, after he blocked a pair of extra point's in LVC's win over Alvernia last Saturday.
 
In the second quarter, the Cougars got on the board when B. Williams rushed for a three-yard TD. Dinnocenti's missed the extra point wide right, so the Dutchmen were down by just six in the second quarter. Late in the second, LVC was looking for some momentum going into the second half and got just that after Bentz hit a 24-yard field goal to make it 6-3. The Dutchmen's defense limited Misericordia on its next drive and got the ball back at their own 40-yard line with 55 seconds to go in the quarter. Running an up-tempo offense, Kegarise found Niemeyer for a 22-yard gain on third and three, and with 17 seconds to go, Kegarise then hit Tyeair Diggs for a 14-yard reception to Misericordia's 19-yard line. After a timeout, Kegarise did it through the air again when he found Niemeyer for his first TD of the afternoon, a 19-yard reception as time expired, giving LVC a 10-6 lead heading into halftime.
 
The home team hit a 41-yard FG late in the third to come to within one at 10-9, but early in the fourth, Bentz hit yet another FG, this time from 33 yards out, increasing LVC's advantage to 13-9. That score stood until 4:45 remaining in the fourth when B. Williams found Aaron Barry in the endzone to make it a 16-13 game. The Dutchmen eventually tied it late, but fell in quadruple overtime.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Kody Kegarise went 22-of-40 through the air for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
 - Hunter Wilson rushed 18 times for 85 yards.
 - Cameron Niemeyer caught six passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns in his best-career game.
 - Tyeair Diggs added five receptions for 86 yards.
 - Patrick Clark caught four balls for 25 yards.
 - Rhyle Strausbaugh had quite the day on defense and made 17 total tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and he also recorded a sack. The freshman came quite close to the LVC record for most tackles in a game, which is 22.
 - Dillon Estes was also a beast for the Dutchmen this afternoon, as he made 15 total tackles, including five solo, to go along with 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
 - Brandon Brubaker followed up last week's performance with another dominant outing, as he registered 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a sack.
 - Pablo Aviles-Bernal had three total tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack.
 - Anthony Jenkins totaled nine tackles for the LVC defense.
 - Brendan Yetter had seven tackles and an interception.
 - CJ LaPorta also posted seven tackles, including half a tackle for loss and half a sack.
 - Misericordia's Brady Williams was 24-of-40 for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
 - The Cougars' Sam Gillison caught nine balls for 99 yards.
 - Alex Hafner led Misericordia's defense with 10 total tackles and two for loss.
 - The Cougars led in first downs at 24-18.
 - LVC outrushed Misericordia 181 to 128.
 - The Dutchmen also held the edge in total yards at 433 to 352.
 - LVC's defense posted five sacks on the day.
 - Misericordia was 11-for-18 on third-down conversions and the Dutchmen went 6-for-20.
 - LVC went 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions.
 
Who's Next?
LVC is idle next week but returns to action on Saturday Oct. 12 when the Dutchmen return to Arnold Field to take on FDU-Florham on Homecoming Weekend. Kickoff is set for noon.
 
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