Boxscore

EDINBORO, Pa. – Back-to-back thrillers. Back-to-back victories. 

Mercyhurst College (5-2, 3-1 PSAC West) engineered its second come-from-behind victory in as many weeks with a 22-21 overtime win at county-rival Edinboro (4-3, 1-3 PSAC West) Saturday afternoon.
 
Mercyhurst now sits in second place in the Western Division behind undefeated and nationally-ranked No. 4 California (Pa.). The Vulcans, who defeated Slippery Rock 28-3 this afternoon, visit Tullio Field next week for a 12 noon kickoff. 

After the Lakers Bryant Kimball recovered a fumble at the Edinboro 31-yardline, Gerald Anderson's nine-yard touchdown run with 59 seconds left in regulation knotted the game at 14-14. In that series, Mercyhurst remained perfect fourth-down conversions as Travis Rearick connected with Trevor Kennedy for a 16-yard gain on fourth-and-10 to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Anderson scored the equalizer. 

In overtime, Mercyhurst won the toss and chose to begin on defense. Five plays later, Edinboro scored on a one-yard run by quarterback Cody Harris and put the pressure back on the Lakers. 

And just as it did a week ago when the team posted a 28-27 come-from-behind win at Indiana (Pa.) in the final 26 seconds, a resilient Mercyhurst squad responded for the win. 

The methodical Lakers marched the 25 yards to paydirt in four plays to seal the victory, beginning with Anderson's five-yard rush. Then, Rearick hit Trevor Kennedy for an 11-yard gain. After Anderson was hit for a 2-yard loss on first-and-goal, Rearick connected with Terrence Coon for an 11-yard touchdown strike. 

Edinboro's offsides penalty moved the ball to the one-yard for the ensuing two-point conversion try, and Rearick completed his pass to Kennedy for the go-ahead score. The Lakers had lined up for the point-after attempt but decided to go for two in the timeout following the Fighting Scots penalty. 

The Lakers had a chance to win the game in regulation after Edinboro failed to pick up a first down on the series following Anderson's score, however, Steven Wakefield's 47-yard field goal attempt went just left. 

Edinboro had several short-field opportunities in the second half after forcing a fumble and an interception on the Lakers first two drives but could not put Mercyhurst away. 

The Lakers scored on their first possession of the game when Rearick found Ryan Bartizal for a nine-yard touchdown strike. It capped an 11-play, 60-yard drive that took 4:32 off the clock. 

The Lakers fumbled the punt return on their next series, then were forced to punt five straight times to close out the first half. Meanwhile, Edinboro added a six-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Josh Brown with 1:42 remaining in the opening quarter then missed a field goal with just less than nine minutes left in the second quarter. 

Credit a stingy Mercyhurst defense in the first half for holding Edinboro to just seven points as the Fighting Scots had the ball deep in Laker territory on five total occasions. 

After halftime, Edinboro became just the third team this season to score on the Lakers in the third quarter when the Fighting Scots put together their longest drive of the game, going 84 yards in nine plays to take a 14-7 advantage. 

But it was again a strong-willed defensive unit that stood the charge as the Lakers forced Edinboro to punt four times and forced a fumble to close out the Fighting Scot possessions in the second half. On two of those possessions Edinboro earned the ball deep in Mercyhurst territory, recovering a fumble at the Mercyhurst 46-yardline and intercepting the ball at the Mercyhurst 29-yardline. 

All told, both offenses were held in check as Edinboro slightly outgained Mercyhurst 283-271 in total offense. 

Anderson led all rushers with 104 yards. Rearick, in his second career start, completed 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards with just one interception and two touchdowns. Kennedy added eight catches for 80 yards and finished with 128 all-purpose yards after returning two punts for 50 yards. 

Bryan Boyce led the defense with a game- and career-high 14 tackles,  Ryan Taylor, the reigning PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week added nine stops.  Both players added a half-sack.

The Lakers return home next week for the first time since Sept. 25 and will close out the season with four consecutive home contests, beginning with No. 4 California. 

Notes:
The Lakers played in an overtime contest for the first time since 2007 when they defeated Wayne State 58-50 in triple-overtime on Sept. 15 at Tullio Field. 

It is the Lakers second come-from-behind victory in as many weeks as Mercyhurst also posted a comeback effort last week in a 28-27 win at IUP. 

The Lakers have now won two in a row at Sox Harrison Stadium in Edinboro. Mercyhurst knocked off then-ranked No. 15 Edinboro in 2008 by a 24-21 count in a Thursday night contest. 

Head coach Marty Schaetzle is now 2-1 all-time against Edinboro. 

The Lakers five wins is the most since the 2008 season went Mercyhurst went 7-4 overall, 5-2 in the PSAC West. It is also the tied for the second-highest season win total during Schaetzle's tenure at Mercyhurst. 

Bryan Boyce registered a career-high 14 tackles while Ryan Taylor also registered a career-high with 11 tackles. 

Gerald Anderson posted his fifth 100-yard performance of the season, giving him seven for his career to date. He is just the fifth Laker to have seven or more career 100-yard rushing performances. He now stands at 784 rushing yards this season, the seventh-best single-season mark. Today (Oct. 16) is also Anderson's birthday.

Fullback Jeff Groene also established new career-highs with three catches for 26 yards. 

The Edinboro contest was the first this season that the Lakers have not recorded an interception. 

Andrew Bailey moved into third-place all-time in kickoff returns. He now owns 43 returns for 1,057 yards. 

Boyce moves into sole possession of ninth-place all-time in sacks (15), fifth place in tackles for loss (37.5) and 11th in total tackles (268).