Complete Game Notes

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team (6-2, 4-1 PSAC West) will look to get back in the win column and keep its playoff chances alive when they travel to Sox Harrison Stadium to battle the Fighting Scots of Edinboro (3-4, 2-3 PSAC West) on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff from Edinboro is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

Edinboro leads the all-time series 5-3, which includes a pair of lopsided Fighting Scot victories in 1982 and 1983 - just Mercyhurst's second and third seasons of football. The road team has won the last four meetings, including Mercyhurst's thrilling 22-21 overtime victory at Sox Harrison Stadium during the Lakers' 2010 PSAC Championship season. Edinboro won last season at Tullio Field by a 30-20 margin.

Mercyhurst saw its six-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of Indiana (Pa.) by the final score of 31-13 last Saturday from George P. Miller Stadium in Indiana. The Lakers led 13-7 at halftime but allowed 24 unanswered points in the second half to the Crimson Hawks to suffer their first loss since the season opener at Notre Dame College on August 30. The Lakers, who controlled their own fate for the postseason entering last Saturday's game, now will need to win out and get some help to have an opportunity to play for their second conference championship in the last three seasons.

Meanwhile, Edinboro, who has faced a daunting first seven games of the season, enters the contest with a 3-4 overall record and a 2-3 conference mark. The Fighting Scots lost their second straight game last Saturday - a 38-31 overtime setback against Slippery Rock. It was Edinboro's first loss of the season against a team that was unranked in the country.

You can hear all of the action on WMCE 88.5 FM beginning with the pregame show at 11:45 a.m. from Edinboro.

NOTES

Brown-Dukes Trying To Re-Write History
Redshirt freshman Brandon Brown-Dukes rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown against IUP's defense last Saturday - a team that was allowing under 53 yards per game going in. It was his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season. He also has four 150-yard rushing outputs of the season, including a career-high 213 yards and three touchdowns in a week two win over Millersville. He was just the fifth back in school history to rush for more than 200 yards in a game. He was the first played to rush for more than 200 yards since Gerald Anderson rushed for 237 against LIU Post in 2010. His yardage output was the fifth-highest total in program history. All told, Mercyhurst had 379 yards rushing in the victory over the Marauders, the most by the Lakers in a game since rushing for 402 yards in a 48-0 win over Pace on November 6, 1993.

Brown-Dukes has now rushed for 1,033 yards and 11 touchdowns this season and is averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He became the fourth player in Mercyhurst's 31-year history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a season, joining Craig Woodard (1,166 in 1992), Richard Stokes (1,177 in 2007), and Gerald Anderson (1,313 in 2010). He trails Woodard by 134 yards to set the single-season rushing record by a freshman and trails Anderson by 281 yards for the all-time school record. He averages 129.1 yards per game, which is the highest in school history at the moment. Woodard holds the record with 116.6 yards per game in 1992.

Brown-Dukes also has 11 rushing touchdowns this season, which is two shy of tying the all-time record of 13 held by Tim Ruth in 1985 and Richard Stokes in 2007 and 2008.

Just For Kicks
Junior placekicker Steven Wakefield has had a fantastic season handling all of the kicking duties for Mercyhurst. Wakefield currently leads the PSAC in punting, averaging 42.6 yards per punt on 28 attempts, including a long of 77 yards against Millersville - the second-longest kick in school history. Wakefield also handles the kickoff duties and has had 19 touchbacks in 46 kickoffs (41.3%). He averages 61 yards per kickoff.

Wakefield is also perfect on field goal attempts (6-for-6) including a career-long of 46 against Millersville. He is also 27-for-31 on PATs, giving him 45 points this season. His 165 career points has tied Mercyhurst's program all-time record for points by a kicker. Phil Scanlon (2002-06) scored 165 points while at Mercyhurst. 

Jones-ing For More
Junior Allen Jones II rushed for 111 yards against Lock Haven to become the 12th player in school history to record 1,000 career rushing yards. Jones has three 100-yard games this season and now has 1,049 rushing yards at Mercyhurst in just 19 games. He needs 223 yards to pass Brian Haberstock (1987-90) to crack the school's top ten.

Into The Top Ten
With 114 yards receiving against Slippery Rock, senior wide receiver Paris Bruner became the 12th player in school history to record 1,000 career receiving yards.

With his 66 yards against Gannon on Saturday, Bruner moved ahead of Calvin Kelly for tenth on the school's all-time list with 1,183 career receiving yards. He surpassed Mercyhurst Hall of Famer Craig Zonna last Saturday at Indiana (Pa.) and how has 1,225 career receiving yards - ninth on the all-time list. He needs 59 yards to pass Todd Melfi (1,283 from 1992-95) for eighth on the list.

Even Stevens
Senior L.J. Stevens was named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week and was honored by Beyond Sports Network as the Kick Returner of the Week for Division II after his performance against Gannon two Saturdays ago. Stevens recovered a fumble on Gannon's first possession which led to Mercyhurst's first touchdown. He then intercepted a pass on Gannon's next possession. After Gannon tied the game at 14-14 late in the second quarter, Stevens returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown - the seventh-longest return in school history - which put the Lakers ahead for good. He finished the day with five tackles, one fumble recovery, one interception, one pass break up, and 103 kick return yards.

Record Pace
Brandon Brown-Dukes has 1,033 yards this season through eight games, an average of 129.1 yards per game. On his pace, Brown-Dukes would finish the season with 1,420 yards, 107 yards ahead of the school record of 1,313 held by Gerald Anderson in 2010. Anderson also played in 13 games in 2010 as the Lakers went on to make their first trip to the NCAA playoffs. Brown-Dukes needs to average 44.7 yards per game over the last three to set the freshman record and needs to average 93.6 yards per game to break to school's all-time mark.

Near Record Paces
Mercyhurst has rushed for 1,794 yards this season, an average of 224.2 yards per game. On its current pace, Mercyhurst would finish with 2,466 rushing yards, just 243 shy of the school's record of 2,709 set back in 1985.

Mercyhurst also averages 374.4 yards per game of total offense, which would give them 4,118 yards at its current pace. The 2000 Laker squad finished with 4,473 yards of total offense.

Through seven games, Mercyhurst has scored 253 points (31.6 points per game), marking the second-highest point total in school history to start a season. The 1985 Lakers, under head coach Tony DeMeo, racked up 259 points in their first seven games, including a school-record 82 points in an 82-0 win over Niagara (September 14, 1985). The 2010 team holds the record for most points in a season with 354, while the 2007 squad holds the record by averaging 32.1 points per contest.

Vendemia Also Hits Milestone
With 141 yards of total offense in the Lakers' win over Slippery Rock, redshirt junior quarterback Anthony Vendemia became the 16th player in school history to record 2,000 yards of total offense. He has 2,649 for his career - 10th on the all-time list. He trails Ed Ricci (1982-85) by 14 yards to move into ninth place.

Vendemia earlier became the 10th quarterback to throw for 2,000 career yards in week three's victory over Clarion. He has 2,680 passing yards for his career - eighth on the all-time list. He needs 594 yards to catch Mac McArdle (3,274 from 1999-01) for seventh.

Safety First
Against Cheyney, Mercyhurst redshirt freshman T.J. Latimer blocked a Wolves' punt that ended up resulting as a safety for the Lakers. It was Mercyhurst's first safety since August 27, 2005 against Gannon.