Final Statistics

MURRAY, Ky. – Two third quarter touchdown runs by Alonzo Booth, the second set up by an Aaron Patrick interception, fueled Eastern Kentucky's 34-27 victory at Murray State on Saturday.
 
Booth came into the game first in the Ohio Valley Conference and 11th in the nation with eight rushing scores.  He finished with 42 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
 
Leading by seven, EKU faced a 3rd-and-4 on the opening drive of the second half when Keyion Dixon hauled in a contested pass down the right sideline for 34 yards to the Murray State 28 yard line.  Daryl McCleskey Jr. moved the ball to the 13 on two carries.  Two plays later, Booth took it to the house right up the middle from 11 yards out.
 
On the ensuing possession, linebacker Steven Crowder got pressure on the QB with a blitz up the middle, and Patrick dropped back and picked off the pass, his first career interception.  The senior returned it 39 yards to the MSU six yard line.  Three runs up the middle later, Booth took it in for another touchdown. 
 
In a period of three minutes and 27 seconds, the Colonels turned a seven-point margin into a 21-point lead, 31-10, with 8:02 to go in the third.
 
After Samuel Hayworth connected on a 36-yard field goal with 1:54 left in the third to stretch the margin to 24, the Racers scored 17 unanswered to get back in the game.  Kendrick Catis returned an interception 56 yards for a touchdown.  Zaden Webber's 19-yard field goal with 10:47 left in the game made it 34-27.
 
The Racers drove to the EKU three yard line in the closing minute.  On 2nd-and-goal with seven seconds remaining, Frank Sumpter intercepted a pass in the end zone to secure the victory.
 
Quarterback Parker McKinney finished 16-for-30 for 256 yards.  He threw two touchdown passes and had one interception.  McCleskey had 73 yards on 22 carries.  Dixon caught four passes for 83 yards.  Crowder and Josh Hayes had seven tackles each.
 
Eastern Kentucky limited Murray State to 22 yards rushing yards and had three interceptions in the game.
 
The Colonels built a 7-point halftime lead with the help of a pair of touchdown passes from McKinney.  With EKU down 3-0, the redshirt freshman quarterback connected with Alex Cabrera on a screen pass to the left side.  Cabrera weaved through traffic and took it 56 yards down the left sideline for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
 
With 9:52 on the clock in the second quarter, McKinney hooked up with Jerome Gross in the end zone near the left sideline.  Gross caught it just inside the line.  The extra-point made it 14-3.  The Racers answered with a scoring drive of their own to get within four.  As the clock expired in the first half, Eastern's Samuel Hayworth put a 38-yard field goal through the uprights for a 17-10 lead at intermission. 
 
The Colonels continue a stretch of two straight road games next Saturday at Eastern Illinois.  The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN+.