Marist turned three first half turnovers into points, jumping out to a 24-0 lead over Stetson, but the Hatters made a furious comeback in the second half, tying the game with 57 seconds left before eventually falling, 45-38.
 
The loss dropped Stetson to 4-5 overall on the year and 2-4 in Pioneer Football League play while Marist improved to 5-4 overall, 5-1 in conference play. For the Hatters, it was the first Homecoming loss since restarting the program.
 
Marist was driving late in the game, looking for a knockout punch against a valiant Stetson team. The Red Foxes had a first down at the Stetson 13 with just more than two minutes to play, leading 38-35. Stetson was able to get a stop when senior linebacker Dylan Wydronkowski scooped up a Marist fumble. He raced 60 yards to the Red Foxes' 27 and the Hatters got 15 extra yards for a sideline interference penalty against Marist.
 
Sophomore quarterback Nick Andreas, making his first career appearance for Stetson, picked up three yards, to the nine, on first down, but the Hatters were unable to get any closer. Grant Amick's 28-yard field goal with 57 seconds to play knotted the score and all but assured overtime.
 
The Red Foxes had other ideas. Marist QB Mike  White, who threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns while also running for 102 yards and a score, found Christian Keenan behind the Stetson defense on the first play after the field goal. The result was a 76-yard game-winning TD pass.
 
"We misjudged the ball," Hatters coach Roger Hughes said of the winning TD. "They threw the ball up in the wind and we just misjudged it. If we had played the ball correctly, we would have knocked it down.
 
"It was a hugely emotional game. It was like a roller coaster for lack of a better analogy. They got out to the huge lead, we came back to tie it and had a chance to win it and then we all thought the game was going to go into overtime. Then you have the deflation that they made, to their credit, to win the game."
 
Marist got things started on its opening possession, driving 98 yards on nine plays. White did most of the damage on the drive, running for 64 yards on two carries before Marcellus Calhoun covered the final 24 yards for the touchdown.
 
Andreas completed his first four pass attempts, but was intercepted on the second Hatters' possession, setting up another Marist score. White completed the six-play drive with a one-yard TD plunge, pushing the Marist lead to 14-0.
 
"He is a very good player and the sad thing is that he is just a redshirt sophomore, so we have to see him for two more years," Hughes said of the Marist QB. "He does a great job, is hard to tackle and is very composed when he runs because he is always looking down field."
 
A special teams mistake early in the second quarter led to another Marist score. Stetson's freshman returner Cam Adams was hit on the leg by a Red Foxes punt, and Marist recovered at the Hatters' 28. The Stetson defense held, forcing a 30-yard field goal by Mike Maccarone for a 17-0 Marist lead.
 
That lead immediately jumped to 24-0 on the next offensive play for the Hatters. Stetson tried a reverse pass and the play blew up when Marist's Mike Marston stepped in front of the pass from Jonathan Jerozal and returned the pick 16-yards for a touchdown.
 
"I attribute at least 17 points to the turnovers," Hughes said. "The one Nick had early in the game was when we tried to back them up because they had nine guys in the box. Experience will help him understand where to place that ball because if he had thrown it a little more outside it probably would not have been a pick.
 
"The second pick was on me. I tried a trick play and I knew there was risk involved. They were able to pick it for a touchdown, but we felt that we had to take some chances with as good as Marist is. We didn't know how we were going to be able to manufacture points because of the inexperience we had at quarterback. That one was totally my fault, and the difference in the game was a turnover I caused."
 
The Hatters finally got their offense going on the next possession and struck it big when Andreas hit Darian Wright for a 55-yard touchdown.
 
After getting the ball back with 6:50 to go in the half, Stetson put together a 12-play drive with the help of two 15-yard penalties against the Red Foxes. Andreas hooked up with Kegan Moore for 14 yards to the Marist three and then hit Mike Yonker out of the backfield for the touchdown.
 
Stetson was unable to carry the momentum from that score into halftime because Marist needed just 1:38 to find the end zone again. White completed four consecutive passes on the drive, including the last one for 15 yards to Joe Jordan for the score. The PAT made it 31-14 at halftime.
 
Marist went right back to work to start the second half, marching 75 yards in just five plays with White hitting on three of four passes for 82 yards, including a 20-yard TD pass to Anthony Olivencia.
 
Stetson answered quickly, driving 65 yards in seven plays with Andreas completing passes for 30 yards to Parham and 18 yards to Jerozal to the one before Cole Mazza plowed in for the score. The PAT cut the Marist lead to 38-21.
 
The Hatters' defense came to life after that score, stuffing the Red Foxes on consecutive possessions. After a short punt to midfield by Marist, the Red Foxes were flagged for pass interference, setting the Hatters up for Andreas to find Moore for a 23-yard TD pass. With the PAT, Stetson was within10 at 38-28 with 3:29 left in the third quarter.
 
Stetson got back to within three points early in the fourth quarter when Andreas threw his fourth TD pass of the game, this time from eight-yards out to tight end Donald Parham. The TD pass capped a quick five-play drive, covering 76 yards.
 
Andreas finished with 339 passing yards and the four touchdowns, completing 24-of-42 passes with two interceptions. Parham was the leading receiver for Stetson with 109 yards on six catches. Mazza led the way on the ground with 66 yards on 15 attempts.
 
"I am very proud of our effort and proud of the way the kids fought back to tie the game," Hughes said. "A lot of teams would have just cashed it in, but it speaks to the character of our players, coaching staff and team with the way they fought back.
 
"Marist is a good team. Offensively, they are one of the best teams we have faced. When you play a team like that, you can't make the mistakes we made that put us into the position we were in."
 
Defensively, Donald Payne led the way with 12 tackles, but the Hatters managed just six tackles for loss and no sacks against the Marist offense. Marist piled up a total of 515 yards of offense in the game.
 
The Hatters will have little time to recover from the emotional loss with a trip to the west coast next week to face league-leading San Diego on the schedule. Following the west coach trip Stetson will close the season at home against Drake.
 
"It doesn't get any easier and no one is going to feel sorry for us," Hughes said. "If we can clean up the mistakes, we can play with, and beat, anyone in this league. That is what we have to continue to try to do."

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.