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Erie, Pa. – The Mercyhurst football team improved to 3-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division by rushing for 330 yards in a 49-14 win over Lock Haven Saturday. The Lakers averaged 6.3 yards per carry and picked up 21 of their 27 first downs on the ground.

 

Senior running back Richard Stokes became Mercyhurst's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns with the 30^th and 31^st of his standout career. He scored early in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter as the Lakers posted seven touchdowns on the day – the first two through the air and the final five rushing.

 

Stokes finished with 23 carries for 138 yards, marking the second consecutive game in which he has picked up at least that many rushing yards. He had 140 a week ago in a win over Slippery Rock. Ben Jennings returned from an injury to finish with 86 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Garrett Kensy ended with 39 yards rushing and fullback Dave Stallard added 32. Carnell Evans had 29 yards as well.

 

Mercyhurst asserted its dominance right away as Bryan Boyce stripped Jarryd Burkett on a quarterback sneak on the first play from scrimmage and Stew Myers recovered the loose ball. The Lakers took over on the Lock Haven 29-yard line and head coach Marty Schaetzle rolled the dice three plays later on fourth-and-three. Kensy found tight end Josh Szeluga for a 22-yard touchdown and Mercyhurst was quickly on top 7-0.

 

After Lock Haven was forced to punt on its next possession, Mercyhurst put together a 15-play, 78-yard drive that ate more than eight minutes off the clock. Stokes carried the ball nine times on the drive and Kensy found Szeluga wide open in the back of the end zone for the second scoring strike from the duo to make if 14-0 late in the first half.

 

The Bald Eagles put together one of their two long drives of the day on their next possession, cutting the deficit in half with a five-yard touchdown pass that closed out an 11-play, 68-yard drive.

 

Then Lock Haven got creative, catching Mercyhurst off-guard with an on-side kick and recovering it to get possession back. But the Bald Eagles were unable to capitalize and punted the ball back four plays later. Mercyhurst took over and handed the ball to Jennings, who had six carries on the possession and finished it with a one-yard touchdown rush.

 

Later in the second quarter, Mercyhurst put together a 12-play drive in which Kensy scored on an 11-yard scramble with just 44 seconds remaining in the half to make it 28-7. Lock Haven was able to drive into field goal position late but Brendon Pickle's 43-yard attempt with no time on the clock hit the crossbar and bounced out.

 

Mercyhurst continued to run the ball at will in the second half as Stokes scored a pair of touchdowns and Dave Stallard added an 18-yard fourth-quarter touchdown. The Lakers ran the ball 52 times in all, passing just 14 times.

 

Mercyhurst was extremely efficient with those passing attempts as Kensy went 8-for-12 for 80 yards and those two touchdowns. Cody Ladutko came on late and completed both of his pass attempts for 17 yards.

 

The Lakers entered the game with the best time of possession in the country and still won that battle, holding the ball for 32:46. Mercyhurst was 6-of-8 on third-down attempts and scored touchdowns on all five of its trips into the red zone.

 

Defensively, Jimmy Kokrak and Charlie Gleisner tied with a team-high nine tackles. Boyce had 1.5 sacks as the Lakers racked up 4.0 sacks on the day and held Lock Haven without one. Zac Wild had 2.5 tackles for loss and Theo Hall blocked a punt and had three pass break-ups.

 

Lock Haven drops to 0-6 with the loss and 0-3 in the PSAC West. Along with Mercyhurst's 3-0 division record, the Lakers are now 4-2 on the season heading into the Battle For The Niagara Cup game Saturday at rival Gannon at 7 p.m.