DALLAS, Pa.— Eastern University Football (6-1, 5-1)put together a perfect passing day on the way to a massive 28-21road win over the MAC Commonwealth-leading Misericordia University Cougars. The Eagles scored once in each quarter and did not turn the ball over to move into a tie with the Cougars atop the MAC standings with three games to play.
Brett Nabb loves to play north of the tunnel. The graduate student quarterback from Avalon N.J. had a massive day at King's earlier in the year, and he was 13-for-13 for 15 yards and a touchdown passing and ran for another 129 yards and score today.
While Nabb's play was massive, the biggest Eastern pass of the game came was thrown by someone else. Early in the fourth quarter with the Eagles up 21-14, the Cougars were set up to stop the run on second-and 6. Curtis Johnson took a lateral and fired a strike to a wide-open Izayah Guy-Bruton for a 31-yard touchdown. Johnson, who came to Eastern as. linebacker/ running back had not thrown a pass in a college game coming into today. Guy-Bruton also caught a touchdown in the second quarter.
After the Cougars (5-2, 5-1) marched down the field to pull within seven with six minutes to play, the Eagles burned some clock with a short possession but had to punt. Misericordia had won each of their last two games on the final play of the game and were looking to keep that magic alive with a drive starting at their own 25 after John Westfield's only punt of the day.
The hosts had their fans involved and were making progress before Jason Bateman forced a fumble and Salif Nikiema fell on the ball near midfield with 106 seconds left.
The hosts still had all their timeouts left, so the work was not quite done. Jeremiah Avrilien made positive yards on first down, and Nabb followed his line for 12 more yards on the next two plays to secure the win.
Offensive coordinator Nathan Hinkle spoke after the game about his offensive line. Justin McNulty played a full game at tackle and Cody Greene came back in with a big day after missing last week with injury.
"This was a great road win against an undefeated conference opponent," Head Coach Billy Crocker said after the game."Our guys continue to battle and pick each other up. Our offense was extremely efficient today. We were able to get the passing game going again and hit some explosives plays. The defense bent but didn't break at times today and got a huge take-away when we needed it. I am proud that this team continues to show resiliency."
The Eagles opened the scoring ten minutes into the game on an Avrilien score from a yard out. The run capped a 10-play drive that featured three completions to Nassik Smith. The Cougars answered with a six-play drive that featured a 52-yard passing play.
Eastern answered with another efficient drive to the Misericordia 17, but a blocked field goal kept the game tied.
After Tahjere Jackson-Alston broke up a pass on fourth and goal, The Eagles took over the ball with the game tied and five minutes to play in the half. Eastern marched 95 yards and scored on a 31-yard pass from Nabb to Guy-Bruton. The catch was the first of the year for the senoir from Chichester. With his grab in the fourth, Guy-Bruton now has six career touchdowns.
Each team got the ball once in the third quarter. The Eagles drove 74 yards for a Brett Nabb touchdown run. Justin Nikolopoulos caught a 36-yard pass on the drive. The Cougars marched 75 yards back up the field for a Jacob Hunter touchdown.
Hunter led the Cougars with 115 yards on the ground and 190 yards passing. He scored twice with his legs. Nabb found five different receivers.
Bateman led the Eastern defense with 11 tackles and a forced fumble. Eric Wilson and Andrew Campbell each had six stops.
With Lebanon Valley falling 21-20 to King's, the Eagles now own the tie-breaker over Misericordia and control their destiny in the league with three games to play. Eastern is at Widener next week to take on a team that they have never beaten in the three-year history of the program. After that the Eagles will host FDU-Florham for senior day before traveling to Stevenson for the final game of the regular season.
Eastern Football Passes Road Test at Misericordia
/seasons/2025/boxscores/20251025_e4ax.xml
2025
Eastern
28
Misericordia
21
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern (6-1) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Misericordia (5-2) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Oct 25, 2025