Sept. 23, 2007

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst football team gained over 500 yards of total offense and the Lakers defeated rival Gannon in the annual Battle For The Niagara Cup 49-28 Saturday night at Gannon University Field.

Mercyhurst quarterback Mitch Phillis was 23-of-33 for a career-high 313 yards and four touchdown passes, while running back Richard Stokes went over 150 yards on the ground for the third straight game. Stokes finished with 30 carries for 151 yards and two scores as the Lakers pulled away from Gannon in the second half.

Although Mercyhurst dominated play in the opening half, Gannon used a 44-yard touchdown on a fumble recovery and capitalized on Phillis' only interception of the game to keep the game tied at 14-14 late in the first half.

With less than 30 seconds to play in the half, Laker Head Coach Marty Schaetzle called on the field goal unit to try a 36-yard attempt that would have given Mercyhurst a 17-14 lead at the break. But after Gannon used its final two timeouts to ice kicker Chris Ryan, Schaetzle changed his mind and marched the offensive unit back on the field. Phillis found tight end Josh Szeluga from 19 yards out for his second touchdown pass of the game and the Lakers went into the break with momentum.

Mercyhurst came out of the locker room and began to build its led. Phillis hit freshman fullback Neil Apfelbaum for a touchdown pass, Apfelbaum's second of the game, early in the third quarter to make it 28-14. Aaron Haynes added some electricity on special teams later in the period, returning a punt 67 yards for a touchdown that made it 35-14.

While Gannon got a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Lakers answered with the same. Stokes scored from two yards out to make it 42-21 and tight end Brandon Hill put the final nail in the coffin with a 55-yard touchdown reception with 6:30 to play in the game.

With the win, Mercyhurst retained the Niagara Cup for the second consecutive season and are now 7-3-1 all-time against Gannon. The Lakers took the trophy a year ago with a 35-14 victory.

Mercyhurst improves to 4-1 on the season and 3-1 in the GLIAC. The Lakers have not won four of their first five games since 1992 and will look to make it 5-1 for the first time since 1989 when they host Ashland Saturday for Homecoming at 1:30 p.m.

Postgame Notes: Mercyhurst is averaging 49.7 points per game over their past three contests and have scored at least 40 points in three consecutive games for the first time in program history...Richard Stokes is the only running back to rush for 150 yards or more in back-to-back games and he has now done it in three straight. He has 548 yards rushing over the past three weeks...Mitch Phillis threw four touchdown passes for the second consecutive game and added a career-high 313 yards passing, the first 300-yard passing game by a Laker quarterback since 2004...Zac Wild was unblockable on the defensive side of the ball. He had ten tackles, of which six were for loss, and three quarterback sacks...Mercyhurst is now 3-1 on the road and has clinched a .500 regular season in road games for the first time since the 2000 team went 3-3 away from Tullio Field...Mercyhurst had 313 yards passing and 207 yards rushing, the second time in the past three weeks that the Lakers had 200+ yards in each facet of the offense. Prior to the current streak, Mercyhurst had not done that since 1997.