Game Notes at Cheyney

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team (3-1, 2-0 PSAC West) looks to extend its winning streak to four straight games as they travel to Cheyney University (1-3, 0-2 PSAC East) on Saturday, September 29 to take on the Wolves. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium in Cheyney, Pa.

It has been nearly a month since the Lakers' season-opening 59-42 loss at Notre Dame College on August 30. Since then, the Lakers have gone 3-0 and have outscored its opponents 105-44, including a 38-23 victory over the defending PSAC West Champions, Slippery Rock, last Saturday at Tullio Field.

Getting a majority of the headlines over the last three weeks has been the dynamic duo in the Laker backfield, redshirt freshman Brandon Brown-Dukes and junior Allen Jones II. Brown-Dukes, after opening the season with just 39 yards against Notre Dame College, has rushed for 530 yards and six touchdowns over the last three games. Meanwhile, Jones has posted 100-yard games in two of the last three weeks as the change of pace back to Brown-Dukes.

On the other hand, Cheyney posted a season-high 27 points last week, but lost to East Stroudsburg 59-27 to drop to 1-3 on the season. The Wolves' quarterback, Blaze Wesserleben, leads the team in rushing with 220 yards and also has thrown for 329 yards on the season.

Mercyhurst is 2-0 lifetime against Cheyney, outscoring the Wolves in the two meetings 80-15. The last time these two teams met was back on September 5, 2009, when the Lakers defeated the Wolves 45-15 at Tullio Field.

NOTES

This Week
Mercyhurst travels to Cheyney to take on the Wolves in a PSAC crossover matchup. The Lakers are 2-0 lifetime against Cheyney, outscoring the Wolves 80-15 in two games. However, the two teams have not played each other since the 2009 season, a game which saw Mercyhurst win 45-15 at Tullio Field.

Running Wild
Over the course of the last three games, Mercyhurst has rushed for 866 yards and ten touchdowns on just 147 attempts (5.9 yards per carry). That number includes 254 yards last Saturday against Slippery Rock, a defense that had allowed 88 yards per game entering its contest with the Lakers. Redshirt freshman Brandon Brown-Dukes has taken over the reins as the lead back and, after rushing for just 39 yards in his first collegiate start against Notre Dame College, he has rushed for 530 yards and six touchdowns on just 71 carries (7.46 yards per carry) over his last three games. He currently ranks eighth among Division II players in rushing yards per game (142.3).

In just his second career start, Brown-Dukes became the fifth player in program history to rush for more than 200 yards in a game, finishing with 213 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Millersville. 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.

The record for rushing yards in a game by an individual was Brian Haberstock with 282 yards against Buffalo in 1990. For the team, the 1983 Lakers rushed for 469 yards against Gallaudet.

Three-Peat
Brown-Dukes tied a school record last Saturday with three consecutive games of 150 or more rushing yards. He tied the school's all-time rushing leader, Richard Stokes, who also rushed for 150 yards or more in three straight contests back in 2007.

On A Record Pace
Through the first four games of the season, nobody in program history as gotten off to a better start running the football than Brandon Brown-Dukes. His 569 rushing yards through the first three games is an all-time record. Gerald Anderson, who broke the school record in 2010 with 1,313 rushing yards, started the season with 550 yards through the first four games.

Don't Forget About Me
Junior running back Allen Jones II is also having a career start to the season. After rushing for 478 yards in his first season as a Laker last year, Jones has already rushed for 358 yards and four scores this season. Against Millersville, he posted his first career 100-yard game, rushing for 132 yards in the Laker win. He had his second 100-yard game against Slippery Rock last week, finishing with 102 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry last season, which was the third highest total in school history. This season, he is averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He has moved into the top 20 among rushers in school history, now ranked 19th,  with 836 career yards. Next up on the list is Ed Ricci, who is 18th with 854 from 1982-85.

Points At A Record Pace
Through four games, Mercyhurst has scored 147 points (36.8 points per game), marking the third-highest point total in school history to start a season. The 1985 Lakers, under head coach Tony DeMeo, racked up 186 points in their first four games, including a school-record 82 points in an 82-0 win over Niagara (September 14, 1985). The 1984 Lakers, also under DeMeo, scored 150 points in the first four games.

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.

Yards Coming Fast And Furious Too
Mercyhurst, through four games, has accumulated 1,665 yards of total offense, an average of 416.3 yards per game - again, on record-setting pace after only four weeks. The 2000 Lakers hold the record with 4,473 yards - an average of 406.6 per contest.

Bruner Reaches Milestone
With 114 yards receiving last Saturday against Slippery Rock, senior wide receiver Paris Bruner became the 12th player in school history to record 1,000 career receiving yards. Bruner has only caught eight passes this season, but averages 29.2 yards per catch (234 yards). Sam Scarpaci holds the single season record by averaing 26.7 yards per catch in Mercyhurst's inaugural season of 1981. Mercyhurst Hall of Famer Scott Gorring holds the career record by averaging 18.9 yards per reception. Bruner currently sits at 18.0 yards per catch for his career.

He has 1,044 receiving yards, 12th on the all-time list and just 11 yards behind Faheem Williams (1999-02) for 11th place.

Vendemia Also Hits Milestone
With 141 yards of total offense in Saturday's 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 2,103 for his career - 16th on the all-time list and 46 yards behind Joe Laffey (2005-09).

Vendemia earlier became the 10th quarterback to throw for 2,000 career yards in week three's victory over Clarion. He has 2,153 passing yards for his career - ninth on the all-time list and 92 yards behind Chris Logero (1990-92) for eighth.

ECAC Honors A-Plenty
For their performances against Slippery Rock, Brandon Brown-Dukes and Serge Augustin were honored as Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively by the ECAC. Five players have now been honored by the ECAC over the last three weeks. Brown-Dukes and junior placekicker Steven Wakefield earned honors after the victory over Millersville, while junior Vladmir Rock earned an award after the Lakers' win over Clarion.

Off The Blocks
Mercyhurst blocked a school-record three punts two Saturdays ago against Clarion, two by junior Vladmir Rock and one by sophomore Chris Lyle in the Lakers' 22-14 win over the Golden Eagles. One of the blocked punts resulted in a touchdown run by Brandon Brown-Dukes that put Mercyhurst up 19-7 at the end of the third quarter. The NCAA Division II record is five blocked punts in a game (Winston-Salem State in 1986 and Southeastern Louisiana in 1978).