Sept. 17, 2005

Stats

Erie, Pa. - No. 21 Northwood outrushed Mercyhurst 392-to-57 as the Timberwolves left Erie, Pa. with a 35-7 win over the Lakers.

NU quarterback Kyle Kolbe rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown to lead the Timberwolves. He also went 8-of-11 passing. Three other players also rumbled for at least 50 yards on the ground for Northwood (3-1, 2-1 GLIAC). Chris Gruse had 71 yards and a touchdown, Robert Height ran for 59 yards and Matt Haynes went for 50 yards and a score. Torris Childs scored a pair of rushing TDs.

For Mercyhurst (0-4, 0-4 GLIAC), Mitch Phillis led all players with 99 yards passing on 9-of-13 passing. Dan Schuler had a game-high 63 yards receiving and Calvin Kelly had five receptions for 52 yards. John Egbert caught an 18-yard score from Phillis and had two catches for 39 yards.

The two teams traded turnovers on their first possessions. Brandon Staley had a pass tipped and was picked off by Jon Horn deep in Northwood territory. On the Timberwolves' possession, Northwood advanced the ball to the Mercyhurst 30, where Kolbe misplayed a handoff. Grant Marshman jumped on the fumble for Mercyhurst.

Neither team scored in the first period, but Northwood broke the contest open with three scores in the second quarter. Childs capped a 10-play drive with a run from the four with 10:32 left in the half. Kolbe later scored on a nine-yard run and Matt Haynes had a nine-yard run of his own with 34 seconds left in the half as the Timberwolves entered the intermission up 21-0.

Northwood scored once in the third and once in the fourth to put the game away. With the ball on the Mercyhurst 38, Kolbe ran eight yards and pitched to Gruse who finished the run for the score. Childs had a one yard plunge in the fourth with 2:41 remaining.

Phillis led the Lakers 76 yards on their next possession and capped the drive with an 18-yard touchdown to Egbert to avoid the shutout with just 00:19 left.

Defensively for Mercyhurst, Brandon Zangaro and Ben Bluemle each had 10 tackles to lead all players. Charleston Hughes and Asa Jenkins had seven stops each for Northwood.

With the loss, Mercyhurst starts 0-4 for the first time since 2001. The Lakers will now look to their September 24 contest at Ferris State. Kickoff is set for 2:00 PM.