Complete Mercyhurst Game Notes
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ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team will play its final home game of the 2013 season on Saturday when it hosts Edinboro University at Tullio Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

Mercyhurst trails Edinboro in the all-time series 5-4, but the Lakers prevailed last season with a 24-21 victory at Sox Harrison Stadium last October. In that contest, backup quarterback Alec Swartz replaced Anthony Vendemia and led the Lakers on the game-winning drive with 6:36 left in regulation. He hit Paris Bruner on a 75-yard touchdown pass down to the Edinboro one-yard line. Brandon Brown-Dukes capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Swartz and the Lakers then sealed the game by converting a fourth down-and-six with a 15-yard pass to Ryan Bartizal late in the closing seconds.

In an odd twist in the all-time series, the visiting team has won the last five meetings between the two schools - every year that Mercyhurst has been a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Three of the five contests have been decided by three points or less and the other two, during that stretch, were decided by a mere ten points each.

The Lakers (4-4, 2-3 PSAC West) had their three-game winning streak snapped last Saturday at the hands of Indiana (Pa.) by a 28-6 final. It also marked the end of Mercyhurst's consecutive-game streak of 50-or-more points, which also ended at three. Laker quarterbacks combined to complete just 7-of-27 passes for 58 yards in the loss - the fewest passing yards by Mercyhurst in a game since a 10-5 win at Ithaca on September 13, 1997. In that game, two quarterbacks, including Hall of Famer and Mercyhurst's all-time leading passer Matt Kissell, combined to go 0-for-8 for zero yards.

The six points by the Lakers were the fewest since a 17-6 loss to California (Pa.) on November 1, 2008. It marked the first time the Lakers did not score a touchdown since a 24-0 loss at Bloomsburg on September 13, 2008. It was the first time the Lakers did not score a touchdown at home since a 26-3 loss to Saginaw Valley State on September 20, 2003.

Despite last week's struggles, the Lakers are still on record-setting pace for both points and total yards. Mercyhurst is on pace to 387 points this season (35.2 per game), which would break last season's total of 369 (33.5 per game). Mercyhurst is also on pace for 4,566 yards of total offense, which would surpass the 4,473 yards established by the 2000 Lakers.

Redshirt sophomore Brandon Brown-Dukes paces the Laker ground game with 886 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He ranks fourth on the school's all-time rushing list with 2,181 rushing yards and trails only Tim Ruth (1982-85 - 2,205), Craig Woodard (1992-95 - 2,315), and Richard Stokes (2005-08 - 3,381). He is joined by senior Allen Jones II in the backfield, who has rushed for 587 yards and five scores. He needs to average 90 yards over the last three games to get to 2,000 yards for his career. Redshirt sophomore Richie Sanders is also back, giving the Lakers a three-headed monster in the backfield. He has rushed for 110 yards in two games after missing 17 consecutive contests due to injuries.

Redshirt senior Anthony Vendemia will be under center for the seventh time this season. He has thrown for 1,001 yards and ten touchdowns and ranks third on the program's all-time passing list with 4,459 passing yards.

Defensively, junior Colin Kimball leads the Lakers with 46 tackles and four interceptions. Redshirt junior Pat Behm is right behind with 45 stops. Senior Dustin Galich, who had three tackles for a loss last week against IUP, leads Mercyhurst in that department with 10.

The Fighting Scots (4-4, 2-3 PSAC) enter with an identical record, and, similar to Mercyhurst, has had a very streaky year. Last week, Edinboro ran into Slippery Rock, which handed the Scots a 44-20 loss. The Rock accumulated 637 yards of total offense against the Edinboro defense - the fourth-highest total an Edinboro team has ever allowed in a game.

The Scots will be without quarterback Cody Harris who was injured early in the season and will miss the rest of 2013. Jon Girvin has filled in admirably for Harris, completing 43.8% of his passes for 1,029 yards and six touchdowns. Girvin has also rushed for 134 yards and five more scores.

Jeremy Donaldson leads the ground attack with 529 yards and five touchdowns.

Defensively, Delano Faber leads the way with 68 total tackles and four interceptions. Devin Ghafoor also has four picks in the Edinboro secondary. The Fighting Scots are among the nation's leaders in takeaways, accounting for 22 in eight games. Meanwhile, the Lakers have turned the ball over just eight times in eight games.

Prior to kickoff, Mercyhurst will honor 21 seniors - Serge Augustin, Mike Brown, Aunre' Davis, Ross Deglau, Tony Ferraro, Dustin Galich, Jeff Groene, Bobby Haraczy, Matt Hyland, Allen Jones II, Nick Kurpakus, Ozzie Lumpkin, Ricky Mathews, R.J. Miller, Matt Molle', Steve Reinhardt, Vladmir Rock, Alex Schneider, Anthony Vendemia, Steven Wakefield, and Stephen Yarbrough.