Merrimack's Liam Davis kicked four field goals, including a 39-yarder with 36 seconds left to seal the 32-24 victory over Morgan State on Saturday.

It was something they needed - and lacked - over the last few games.

The big play.

And it happened on the opening kick-off.

Merrimack's Jermaine Corbett went 99 yards for the touchdown, and later sealed the deal with his second TD of the game to overcome a one-point deficit and help push the Warriors to a 32-24 win over Morgan State on Saturday.

The win improves Merrimack to 2-4, but that kickoff return TD may have salvaged the tough season, with two more potential victories ahead with one-win Stonehill and Colgate teams coming to town the next two Saturdays.

"I felt like we were due for a big play by that unit and for Jermaine to start that game like that, just shows what type of player he is," said Merrimack head coach Mike Gennetti. "He's always been a really good player and he's been playing really, really well for us, but that was a huge play, and a huge lift for us."

Morgan State came into the game as one of the top ten defensive FCS teams in the country. Merrimack didn't put up huge numbers - in fact offensively they had just 37 snaps, compared to 77 for Morgan State. Merrimack's defense gave up 12 of 19 third down conversions, which took away chances for the offense to come on the field.

But unlike prior losses to Maine and Dartmouth, this time Merrimack closed the door. In the final 3:05, Corbett scored on a 2-yard run and with 36 seconds later, Liam Davis connected for his fourth field goal of the day, this one from 39 yards out.

"We were down 24-23 (with 11:56 left in the game), and we responded offensively and then responded defensively," said Gennetti. "After that we responded again offensively to set up the field goal with 36 seconds left, and responded again defensively, just making them work against the clock. We did a great job of that."

Besides Corbett's two touchdowns, the kicking of Davis and the strong defense down the stretch, quarterback Ayden Pereira did his part and looks to have a comfortable spot as the starter. While he only connected for 5 of 8 passes for 65 yards, he was terrific on the ground, rushing for 91 yards (net gain of 66 after three sacks for -25 yards), with an 8-yard TD run.

"You've got to stabilize the position and I think Ayden's done that. There's going to be some things when he looks back on film, like all players, that he knows he has to fix," said Gennetti. "It's just about making sure that he knows where the progress needs to be made and to address that so we can see him making those adjustments. He played tough. He made some good decisions, he protected the football, he ran hard and he did what he had to do to win a game."

Twitter:@JamiePote