Sept. 2, 2006

Stats

ERIE, Pa. - Mercyhurst's Dave Stallard rushed for 103 yards and two scores, but the Lakers turned the ball over four times as No. 25 Northwood defeated the Lakers, 33-14, at a waterlogged Tullio Field.

The two teams combined to fumble nine times in a game plagued by the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto. Bad bounces and heady play by Northwood led to Mercyhurst (0-1, 0-1 GLIAC) losing four of its five fumbles, while Northwood (1-0, 1-0 GLIAC) recovered all four by their offense.

Stallard topped the century mark for the first time in his career on just 16 carries.

Total yards were nearly even. Northwood tallied 319 total yards to Mercyhurst's 281, but only four of the Timberwolves yards came through the air. The Lakers rushed for 133 yards as a team, but the Timberwolves ran for 315 yards with both quarterback Kyle Kolbe and wing back Casey Steffen topping 100 yards.

Northwood's Asa Jenkins blocked a punt after Mercyhurst's first possession of the game and Northwood took over at the Mercyhurst 24, but Chris Kollias missed a 32 yard field goal after a bad snap.

On Mercyhurst's second possession, the Lakers were stopped short on fourth and one from their own 29. Northwood capped the short drive with the first of Torris Childs' three scores on the day, a one-yard plunge with 6:00 to play in the first quarter.

The Lakers evened the score at 7-7 early in the second period when Stallard rushed for 37 yards on six carries during an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Stallard capped the drive with a score from the four yard line. The drive was highlighted by a leaping grab in traffic by the Lakers' David Lough on a 34-yard strike from Mitch Phillis that moved the ball from the Mercyhurst 46 to the Northwood 20.

Kollias made the score 10-7 with just 48 seconds in the half on a 22-yard field goal and the teams entered the intermission with the Timberwolves ahead by three.

Northwood scored on the opening drive of the second on a 48-yard run by Childs to make the count 17-7. A Kollias 21-yarder made it 20-7 at the end of the period.

On the second play of hte fourth quarter, Dexter Reid forced a Mercyhurst fumble and the Timberwolves' Charleston Hughes picked up the ball and rambled 29 yards for a 27-7 Northwood advantage.

A 31-yard touchdown run by Stallard cut the lead to 27-14 on the Lakers' next possession with 12:07 left in the game. A Timberwolf defender had a chance at Stallard near the 10 yardline, but Stallard stiff-armed the defender to the turf to finish the run.

Childs ran for his third touchdown of the afternoon to cap the scoring with 3:11 to play.

Mitch Phillis was 16-of-30 through the air for 148 yards. The junior spread the ball around, hitting seven different receivers. Brandon Hill caought four passes for 31 yards and Lough made three grabs for 44 yards.

Kolbe led all players with 20 carries in the game, rushing for 103 yards. He attempted just six passes in the game, completing two for six yards. Steffen ran for 106 yards on just eight attempts. In addition to his three scores, Childs totaled 85 yards on 11 carries.

The Laker defense carried over its 2005 trend of holding foes in check on third downs, allowing the Timberwolves to convert just 2-of-11 on third down.

Preseason All-American middle linebacker Jimmy Kokrak made nine stops to lead Mercyhurst. Fellow linebacker Charlie Gleisner made eight tackles and forced a fumble.

NU's Richard Davis made 11 tackles in the game to lead all players. Charleston Hughes made nine tackles, forced a fumble and returned one 29 yards for a touchdown.

Mercyhurst will try to get back in the win column on Saturday, September 9 with another home contest against Ferris State at 1:30 PM at Tullio Field.