Valparaiso University

The Valparaiso University football team tied for its second-largest margin of victory in a league game since the Pioneer Football League was formed in 1993, downing Morehead State 37-3 on Saturday afternoon in Morehead, Ky. The Beacons used a complete team effort in all three phases to overwhelm the Eagles, who they outscored 24-0 in the second half. The special teams unit once again ignited the Brown & Gold, as Chris Gundy (Smithfield, Va. / Smithfield) broke a 60-year-old program record with a 95-yard punt return touchdown. The defense tied a program record for the fewest points allowed in a PFL game, as this was just the third time ever that Valpo held a PFL foe to three points.
 
How It Happened

• Morehead State actually struck first in this game, using nine plays to cover 72 yards before making a 28-yard field goal.
• On a day where all three phases of the game would eventually thrive, it was special teams, a unit that has been a strength for the program, that set the tone early. Gundy ripped off a 95-yard punt return, giving Valpo a 7-3 lead with 5:45 left in the first quarter. The Beacons would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
• Special teams struck again on the ensuing kickoff, as Nick Beidl (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) forced a fumble, and Kaiser Wilhelm (Mason, Ohio / William Mason) recovered at the bottom of a pile at the Morehead State 24, giving the Beacons golden field position.
• The Eagles had a special-teams response of their own, as a blocked field goal kept the Beacons from capitalizing on that opportunity.
• Valpo's defense forced a quick three-and-out, and then Rowan Keefe (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) went to Marty O'Keeffe (Orland Park, Ill. / Brother Rice) for 46 yards for the first big pass of the day for the Beacons. Morehead's defense got a stop on 4^th-and-1 from the Morehead 15 to end that drive, but the Beacons responded as Connor Cervantes (Griffith, Ind. / Griffith) made an interception on the first snap of the next drive, allowing the Brown & Gold to take over at the Morehead 15.
• Valpo got points on that drive as Luke Scoma (Bellevue, Wash. / Bellevue) split the uprights from 25 yards out to extend the lead to 10-3 with 8:41 left in the second quarter.
• The Beacons forced a turnover on downs, then Valpo added on with a 21-yard Scoma field goal that made it 13-3 in the closing seconds of the half. Although Valpo couldn't find the endzone offensively on their redzone chances, the Beacons still held a 13-3 edge at the break.
• Early in the second half, freshman punter Will Orlando (Avon, Ind. / Brownsburg) boomed one 62 yards to flip the field and pin Morehead State inside its 10-yard line.
• After a three-and-out from the Valpo defense, Daniel White (Country Club Hills, Ill. / Brother Rice [Carroll]) had a 19-yard TD catch to build the edge to 17 at 20-3 with 7:46 left in the third.
• Valpo continued to add on later in the third when Colin Hayes (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington Central) caught a 7-yard TD pass from Keefe to make it 27-3.
• The rout continued when Jason Salman (Pittsburg, Pa. / Thomas Jefferson [Marietta]) intercepted a pass at midfield late in the third. On the first drive of the fourth, Cedric Benning III (Baltimore, Md. / Episcopal [Dickinson]) poked one in from a yard out to stretch the edge to 31.
• The defense forced another turnover on downs, then Noah Ehrlich (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Miami]) came in at quarterback and engineered a 16-play, 41-yard drive that ran 9:09 off the clock and resulted in a 26-yard field goal by Talan Samosky (Riverside, Calif. / Riverside [Orange Coast College]) with 1:55 to play, accounting for the final score of 37-3.
• Morehead State had a number of offensive starters still in and moved the ball some against Valpo reserves on the final drive, but several Valpo players made big plays to force 4^th-and-goal from the 5. Wyatt Little (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead) provided one final exclamation mark with an interception on that play with 11 seconds remaining, setting up a joyous bus ride back to Northwest Indiana.  

Inside the Game

• Valpo defeated Morehead State for just the sixth time ever as the Eagles held a 26-5 edge in the all-time series prior to Saturday. This marked Valpo's first win over the Eagles since 2022 (40-35 in Morehead). Saturday was Valpo's fourth-ever win in Morehead in 16 trips and just the second time since 2006 that Valpo has gone to Morehead and come away with a victory.
• All three prior wins at Morehead State came by 10 points or fewer before Saturday's 34-point blowout. Saturday was the most lopsided win over Morehead State in the 32 all-time matchups in any location, as the 34-point margin outdid a 31-point victory (63-32) from Oct. 28, 2017 at Brown Field for the most one-sided win over the Eagles.  
• The 34-point margin of victory was Valpo's largest in league play since a 47-3 victory at Butler on Nov. 13, 2021. Saturday's 34-point margin of victory tied for Valpo's second largest in league play since the Pioneer Football League was formed prior to the 1993 season. In 34 years of the PFL, Valpo has three league wins by 34 points or more – 10/14/17 home vs. Marist 49-15 (34), 11/13/21 at Butler 47-3 (44) and now 10/3/26 at Morehead State (34).
• The three points allowed marked the fewest permitted by the Valpo defense since the aforementioned 47-3 victory at Butler on Nov. 13, 2021. This marked just the third time since the PFL was formed in 1993 that Valpo has held a league opponent to three points or fewer – 11/8/14 vs. Butler W 17-3, 11/13/21 W 47-3 at Butler and now 10/3/26 W 34-3 at Morehead State.
• Valpo tied the program record for the fewest points allowed in a league game since joining the PFL on Saturday. This tied for the fewest points allowed by Valpo in league play since 1984 (W 31-0 vs. Saint Joseph in Heartland Collegiate Conference action).
• Winning on the road is never easy in the PFL. Prior to Saturday's victory, Valpo was just 1-19 in its last 20 road games. Saturday marked the program's second road win since Nov. 12, 2022 at Marist (45-24) and first since Oct. 26, 2024 at Marist. 
• The 37 points marked Valpo's highest total in a league game since the aforementioned 45-24 win at Marist on Nov. 12, 2022.
• Valpo outgained Morehead State 389-251 on Saturday. The Beacons rushed for 161 yards and threw for 228. The 389 yards of total offense marked a season high and the team's most in a game since the 2025 season opener vs. Virginia Lynchburg. The 389 total yards marked Valpo's highest accumulation in a PFL game since Nov. 12, 2022 at Marist (460).
• Valpo forced a season-high four turnovers and committed zero. This was Valpo's first game with four takeaways since the 2025 season opener vs. Virginia Lynchburg.
• Saturday marked the first time Valpo had four takeaways in a PFL game since 2019 vs. Stetson. This marked the first time Valpo was +4 or better in turnover margin since 2017 vs. Morehead State (+5, 6-1).
• This was Valpo's first three-interception game since Nov. 11, 2023 vs. Stetson.
• Gundy had his third punt return touchdown of the season, becoming the first player in program history with three in a season. He entered the day already tied for the FCS lead in punt return touchdowns as one of five players with multiple.
• This marked Valpo's fourth punt return TD of the season after the Beacons entered the day already leading the FCS nation outright with three. Entering Saturday, Valpo and James Madison were the only two teams in the NCAA nation (FBS, FBS, Division-II and Division-III) with three punt returns TDs.
• The 95-yard punt return was the longest in the FCS nation this season, as 79 was the longest entering Saturday. In fact, Gundy now owns the season's longest punt return in all of Division-I (FBS and FCS), outdoing an 88 yarder by Oklahoma's Isaiah Satenga III.
• Gundy's punt return broke a 60-year-old school record for longest punt return that had stood since Sept. 17, 1966 (Tom Dohrmann's 92-yard return at Wabash).
• Little's interception was the second of his collegiate career, and both have come against Morehead State. Salman made his second pick of the season, as he also had one against Lawrence Tech, becoming the first Beacon with multiple this year. Cervantes made the first interception of his collegiate career.
• Scoma made two of his three field-goal tries (one blocked) and went 4-for-4 on PATs. Samosky made his first field-goal try in a Valpo uniform.
• White became the first Valpo player with multiple touchdown catches this season. Hayes' TD reception was the third of his career and his first of the season.
• Making his first career start at running back, Benning had his second TD run of the season and accumulated a season-high 84 yards on the ground on 18 carries. Valpo quarterbacks combined for another 60 rushing yards as each QB had eight rushes.
• Keefe went 14-for-21 for 174 yards before Ehrlich went 5-for-7 for 54.
• O'Keeffe squeezed three catches for a team-high 90 yards, while White collected a team-high four grabs for 62 yards on a day where 11 different Beacons caught passes.
• After entering the game already ranked second nationally in tackles for loss per game and leading all D1 linebackers, Max Samuel (Edina, Minn. / Edina) racked up another 2.5 tackles for loss including a sack. He and Nic Lendino (Naperville, Ill. / Neuqua Valley) shared the team lead with six stops apiece.
• Orlando's 62-yard punt was Valpo's longest since Sam Johnson sent one 65 yards on Sept. 7, 2024 at Youngstown State.
• Valpo went 10-of-18 on third down, while the Valpo defense limited Morehead State to 2-of-11 on third down and 0-of-3 on fourth down. Morehead State did not have any third-down conversions until the final drive of the game.
• The Eagles actually held a 118-27 advantage in total offense in the first quarter before the Beacons outgained them 362-133 the rest of the way.
• The good day for the Beacons started from the outset, when the team snapped a streak of losing the coin toss in 15 consecutive games by winning the toss and electing to defer their choice to the second half.

Thoughts From Head Coach Andy Waddle
"This team has put a lot of trust and faith in each other and in our coaching staff. We knew that we were on the right path, but today we showed that. We weren't great in every facet of the game, but certainly the final outcome was one that we can be proud of. This can show our guys to keep trusting the process, and the process will lead to good results."
 
"If you're going to be a good football team, you need all three phases to show up and make plays. We certainly did that today. All three phases have some things they can work on, but it was a complete team win."
 
Up Next
Valpo will return home to host Drake as part of Times Family Day on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. at Brown Field. To purchase tickets, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.