RADNOR, Pa. – The Stevenson football team battled throughout Saturday afternoon's Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) matchup against Eastern but fell 21–0 to the Eagles at Radnor Street Road. The Mustangs move to 6–3 overall and 5–3 in conference play with one regular-season contest remaining.
Stevenson looked to generate momentum early, as the defense set the tone in the opening quarter. Senior defensive back
Nickyi Green came up with an interception on Eastern's opening-quarter drive, halting a promising Eagles possession inside Mustang territory. The defense continued to apply pressure, recording three sacks and limiting Eastern to just 13 rushing yards in the opening quarter.
Eastern broke through in the second quarter, putting together an 80-yard scoring drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown run from Brett Nabb with 6:55 remaining in the first half. Stevenson responded with one of its strongest offensive drives of the afternoon, moving 76 yards on seven plays. Quarterback
Kirby Matson connected with
Cordell Bair for consecutive completions of 33 and 20 yards to move the Mustangs inside the Eastern five-yard line. Stevenson reached the one-yard line before a fumble ended the scoring opportunity, sending the Mustangs into halftime trailing 7–0.
The Mustangs continued to battle defensively in the third quarter, keeping Eastern off the scoreboard and forcing the Eagles to punt on multiple possessions. Stevenson put together a 43-yard drive midway through the quarter, highlighted by a 24-yard rush from
Edward Emmens and a 14-yard completion from Matson to
Noah Robinson. The drive reached the Eastern 25-yard line before the Eagles defense forced a turnover on downs, keeping the Mustangs off the scoreboard.
Eastern extended its advantage early in the fourth quarter, connecting on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Aden Davenport to Chris Rivera with 9:58 remaining. The Eagles added another score late in the quarter following a Mustang fumble, capitalizing on the short field with a one-yard touchdown run to make it 21–0 with 2:56 remaining.
Offensively, Bair led the Mustangs with 104 receiving yards on five catches, including a 34-yard reception. Matson completed 10 of 23 passes for 149 yards, while Robinson added three receptions for 40 yards. Emmens led Stevenson on the ground with 22 rushing yards, including a team-long 24-yard run, while
John Asuquo added 23 yards on eight carries. Stevenson finished with 158 yards of total offense, including 149 passing yards.
Defensively, Stevenson recorded 62 total tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks.
Matthew Berry led the Mustangs with eight total tackles, while
Michael Hall added five tackles and a team-high two sacks for 16 yards. Green finished with four tackles and an interception, while
Ethan Marshall added four tackles and a sack. On special teams,
Mohammad Butt averaged 44.7 yards on seven punts, including a game-long 72-yard punt, with three kicks landing inside the 20-yard line.
With the result, Stevenson moves to 6–3 overall and 5–3 in MAC play. The Mustangs return home for their final regular-season contest on Saturday, November 14, hosting Alvernia at 1 p.m. at Mustang Stadium. The matchup will also serve as Senior Day as Stevenson honors its senior class.
