Erie, Pa. – Ben Jennings and Richard Stokes combined for 218 yards on the ground and the Mercyhurst defense held Clarion to just 25 yards rushing as the Lakers won their first PSAC Western Division game in program history 41-7 Saturday at Tullio Field.

 

Jennings averaged 6.0 yards per carry, picking up 137 yards on the day, and Stokes averaged 5.8, with 81 yards rushing, as Mercyhurst imposed its will on Clarion throughout the afternoon. The Golden Eagles, on the other hand, had 28 carries for 25 yards, averaging just 0.9 yards per rush. By winning the battle in the trenches, the Lakers were able to post 38:54 in time of possession, a statistic in which Mercyhurst entered the contest averaging 35:27, fifth-best in all of NCAA Division II.

 

The Lakers piled up 25 first downs to just nine for Clarion and Mercyhurst got it going right from the start, forcing the Golden Eagles to go three-and-out on their opening possession and then scoring 1:47 later. Jennings scored on a 31-yard scamper to put the Lakers on top 7-0 less than four minutes into the first quarter.

 

Mercyhurst really began to assert itself midway through the second quarter after taking over on its own 15-yard line with 10:28 to play in the first half after forcing Clarion to punt. The Lakers put together an 11-play, 85-yard drive in which Jennings carried the ball seven times. On that drive, quarterback Garrett Kensy found tight end Josh Szeluga for a big 26-yard completion on a third-and-eight and eventually threw the first of his three touchdown passes on the day with an eight yard strike to fullback Dave Stallard. The only negative on the drive came when Chris Ryan's extra point attempt was blocked to keep the score 13-0.

 

Clarion was forced to go three-and-out on its next drive and Mercyhurst took over on its own 20 with the opportunity to go to its two-minute offense. Offensive coordinator turned to Stokes on the possession and he took the second play 36 yards to the Clarion 41. Kensy found Szeluga for 14 yards to the 29-yard line and he capped off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kirk Campbell to make it 20-0 at the break.

 

The Lakers added insurance points on their first possession of the second half, going 54 yards on nine plays as Kensy hit Szeluga for a four-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-0. Mercyhurst picked up a defensive touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Clarion forced a fumble and took over own its own four-yard line. Golden Eagle quarterback Gino Rometo was hit by Charlie Gleisner in the end zone and fumbled the ball. Adam Brown jumped on the loose ball for his first career touchdown and a 34-0 Mercyhurst lead.

 

Mercyhurst head coach Marty Schaetzle went to the back-ups after that and Gerald Anderson picked up his first career touchdown on a three-yard rush with 5:11 to play to make it 41-0. Clarion was able to break up the shutout with 2:16 remaining on a 28-yard touchdown reception by Alfonso Hoggard that was deflected into the air by a Mercyhurst defender prior to the catch.

 

The Lakers just missed their second shutout of the season two weeks after defeating Cheyney 35-0. Mercyhurst was able to harass quarterback Gino Rometo all game, picking up six quarterback sacks, led by 1.5 from Jimmy Kokrak. Bryan Boyce had a team-high 10 tackles and Zac Wild had 2.0 tackles for loss.

 

Clarion falls to 1-3 with the loss and 0-1 in the PSAC West. Mercyhurst improves to 2-2 and 1-0 in the PSAC West. The Lakers will host Slippery Rock Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for Homecoming in another division game.

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