Sept. 1, 2007

Box Score

Midland, Mich. - The Mercyhurst football team hung with No. 15 Northwood for three quarters but a pair of touchdowns early in the fourth gave the Timberwolves breathing room and led to a 28-10 GLIAC loss for the Lakers. Mercyhurst fell to 1-1 on the year while Northwood was playing its season opener.

Chris Ryan's first career field goal got Mercyhurst to within four points at 14-10 with 1:06 to play in the third quarter. But Northwood followed with a five play, 67-yard touchdown drive. Two plays later, Mercyhurst committed its only turnover of the game, a fumble, and Northwood capitalized with a seven play, 38-yard drive for another touchdown to put the game away.

"The game went from 14-10 to 28-10 in a hurry," Head Coach Marty Schaetzle said. "We can't have turnovers in those situations. It doesn't matter if it's Northwood or anybody else."

Although not officially a turnover, Schaetzle also pointed to a blocked punt early in the third quarter that contributed to Northwood getting its first lead of the game. With the score tied at 7-7, second team All-GLIAC punter Brandon Hill's boot was blocked and the Timberwolves took over with good field position. Northwood ran the ball seven times, eventually scoring from two yards out to go ahead 14-7.

Despite those mistakes, Mercyhurst was the aggressor for much of the first half, totaling over 17 minutes of time of possession and leading for a portion of the opening 30 minutes. The Lakers' second possession was a 12-play, 89 yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from senior signal caller Mitch Phillis to sophomore tight end Josh Szeluga that put Mercyhurst ahead 7-0. Phillis was 6-of-7 for 76 yards on the drive.

Northwood answered back with a 13 play, 75-yard drive on its next possession, finished off with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Eric Chrisinske to Qualian Mathis to tie the game.

Mercyhurst and Northwood each had opportunities to take the lead into the half, but Ryan missed a 46-yard field goal with 4:15 to play in the second period and the Timberwolves' Chris Kollias had a 47-yard field goal attempt blocked by Theo Hall as the half ran out.

"We controlled what we could control in the first half," Schaetzle said. "Northwood did some nice things, but so did we."

After falling behind 14-7 midway through the third period, Mercyhurst put together another long drive, culminating with Ryan's 26-yard field goal to cut the deficit to four points at 14-10. On that possession, the big play was a 42-yard Aaron Haynes reception that gave the Lakers first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. From there, Northwood scored twice more early in the fourth to put the game away.

Phillis became Mercyhurst's second leading passer in school history after going 21-for-30 for 230 yards in the contest. He needed 96 to move past Matt Golga (3,964 yards from 1993-96). Two of Phillis' biggest benefactors were Frank Ziegler and Haynes. Both players set career highs as Ziegler had five catches for 66 yards and Haynes ended with four catches for 69 yards.

Northwood handed the Lakers a steady dose of the running game throughout. The Timberwolves ended with 53 carries for 360 yards. Three players ended with at least 80 yards rushing as quarterback Eric Chrisinske had 134, Casey Steffen had 91 and Antoine Ivy had 80.

Defensively, the Lakers had a number of strong performances. Sophomore Tim Herbener led the team with eight tackles, while senior Aaron Parks had seven tackles, including three for loss. Freshman Fred Hale also had three tackles for loss, while Hall blocked Northwood's field goal at the end of the first half and also intercepted a pass on the Timberwolves' first possession of the second half.

Mercyhurst will play its third consecutive road game to start the season next week when the Lakers travel back to Michigan, this time playing Ferris State for a 7:00 p.m. start.

Postgame Notes: Senior quarterback Mitch Phillis became the second leading passer in school history by throwing for 230 yards. He needed 96 to move past Matt Golga (3,964 yards from 1993-96) on the leaderboard...Frank Ziegler and Aaron Haynes had career days receiving. Ziegler had five catches for 66 yards and Haynes had four for 69, all career highs...Kicker Chris Ryan made the first field goal of his career, knocking down a 26-yarder in the third quarter...With three catches for 15 yards, running back Richard Stokes became just the third player in school history to have 1,000 career yards rushing and 400 receiving. He joins Craig Woodard (1992-95) and Justin Gibson (1996-00) in that club...True freshman Fred Hale showed signs of becoming an impact player along the defensive line, tallying five tackles, including three for loss...Cornerback Theo Hall blocked a field goal attempt and had an interception. The blocked kick was the team's seventh in the past 13 games...Seven different receivers caught a pass against Northwood. At least seven have caught a pass in 16 of the past 18 games...Mercyhurst's defense has been one of the stingiest in the GLIAC of the past year in red zone situations and on fourth down attempts, but that was not the case Saturday. Northwood scored on 4-of-5 opportunities inside the red zone and converted on its only fourth down attempt...Phillis has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in six consecutive games.