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(STATS) -- Morehead State posted its first winning season in eight years in 2015, but that campaign began with a blowout loss at James Madison. The Eagles return to the scene of that defeat Saturday night when they take on the 12th-ranked Dukes, one of two matchups for Pioneer Football League teams against STATS FCS Top 25 squads in Week 1.The Eagles went 7-4 last season, their most wins since matching that record in 2007, and finished third in the 11-team PFL. Theyre picked to finish fourth in 2016 despite being led by senior quarterback Austin Gahafer, the reigning PFL Offensive Player of the Year and active FCS leader with 8,514 passing yards.Gahafer, on the STATS FCS National Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Watch List, set career highs with 291 completions, 3,244 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. His worst game -- and Morehead States -- came at James Madison in the opener.Gahafer had season lows of 18 completions and 173 yards in a 56-7 loss Sept. 5, one of two games in 2015 in which he didnt throw a touchdown pass. The Eagles were held to season lows in points and total yards (252), while James Madison established a then-school record with 713 yards.Still, first-year Dukes coach Mike Houston knows his team is in for a challenge.Weve got to do a good job of putting pressure on (Gahafer), making him uncomfortable in the pocket, Houston said. Weve got to do a good job of making him move around in the pocket. And weve got to do a great job in the secondary of being disciplined in our coverages and not give up the big play.Fourth-year Morehead State coach Rob Tenyer is hoping his team puts on a better performance in this years opening game with the Dukes, who finished in a three-way tie for first place in CAA Football last season before being eliminated in the second round of the FCS playoffs.I told our team that we want to eat Thanksgiving dinner here in Morehead because that will mean we are getting ready for the FCS playoffs, Tenyer said. ... We have the makings to be a very successful team this year because of our depth. We do need to clean up some areas, and I feel like both sides of the ball need to play with a little more urgency and well be OK.Valparaiso, which visits the defending back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference champion in No. 10 Illinois State on Saturday night, isnt in the FCS playoff conversation.The Crusaders lost their last six games in 2015 to finish 1-9, are 9-68 overall since 2009 and have dropped 51 of their last 57 PFL contests. The Redbirds, meanwhile, reached the FCS championship game in 2014 and lost in the quarterfinals of the playoffs last season.Our players relish that opportunity to play against a Division I scholarship program, Valparaiso coach Dave Cecchini said Tuesday. The better the team, the bigger the challenge, the more excited they are to prove that they belong on that field. So theyve got a little bit of a chip on their shoulders.Valparaiso and Illinois State are playing for the first time since 1948. The Crusaders won the first two matchups in 1933 and 34 before the Redbirds took the last meeting.James Madison has won three in a row against Morehead State to improve to 6-2 in the all-time series, including a 5-0 mark at home.Were in year four, Tenyer said. Our goal ultimately is to take the next step and I think we made some tremendous progress in our first three years.A win over a James Madison program thats won 16 of its last 18 regular-season games would certainly be a step in the right direction. Rams Jerseys Outlet . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Cheap Rams Jerseys .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http://www.cheapramsjerseyschina.com/jamil-demby-jersey/ . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Rams Jerseys From China . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Discount Rams Jerseys . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. NEW YORK -- New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back.Walker said the microdiscectomy procedure will require a three-month recovery time and has a high success rate. Walker contemplated trying to complete the season, but was strongly advised while seeking a third medical opinion on Wednesday that the disk condition would have worsened, resulting in additional leg weakness.It was a very difficult decision, Walker said Thursday afternoon. There were a lot of factors that were involved -- the way the team was playing, the way I felt. I did everything I could. Twice I played a couple of days, tried to give myself a couple of days off, and the biggest issue with it was that it was hitting a nerve. I still cant feel my toe. Thats caused just a chain reaction.Acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in December when the Mets determined they did not wish to extend a multiyear offer to Daniel Murphy, Walker hit .282 with a career-high-matching 23 homers and 55 RBIs in 412 at-bats this season. He is eligible for free agency this offseason, but insisted that played no part in the timing of the surgery.That was the farthest thing from my mind. My thought process has always been to help the team on the field, do whatever I can to help the team, said Walker, who expressed receptiveness to re-signing with the Mets.General manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins had expressed confidence as recently as Wednesday that Walker could play the remainder of the season with the disk issue as long as he received regular rest. The second and third medical opinions seemingly weere more forceful in advocating immediate surgery than the initial recommendation from Mets doctors.ddddddddddddAfter two or three eyes on the MRI, some of the best back specialists in the world, theyve told me that the best course of action is to get it done now, Walker said. The success rate of this is very high. Its something a lot of guys have gone through. So I feel very confident in my ability to return from this in good shape.Put it this way, I would have been playing probably at 60 percent, Walker added. With the way my back felt, it wasnt the swinging from either side. It was below the waist. It was the sliding, the diving, the leg weakness. At this time of year, with the possibility of breaking up double plays, diving for balls, trying to score from first, I just didnt feel like its the right thing for me to do, and to do to the team. And playing one day and taking a couple days off, or playing two days in a row and taking a day off, as much as I was willing to do that, after talking to the doctors, they felt like that was not a good thing to do.Collins said he expects Wilmer Flores and Kelly Johnson primarily will handle second base minus Walker.Neil has played absolutely great, Collins said. He had a little bit in the middle of the season where he struggled for a while. What he did early, he carried us in April and early May. Who would have expected all of the home runs? And then the way hes played lately. ... He had a great year for us. I sure hope that we get the opportunity to get him back. ' ' '