Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team got a career-best performance from redshirt sophomore running back Richie Sanders and earned a convincing 37-20 win over East Stroudsburg University on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season. The Lakers end the 2013 campaign with a 7-4 record, the team's second consecutive winning season. The Warriors end their season with an identical 7-4 mark.

Sanders, who missed 17 consecutive regular season games before playing the final five contests this year, made his presence felt on Saturday. Despite only carrying the ball nine times, he earned his second career 100-yard game with 121 yards and one touchdown - a career-long 74-yarder score in the second quarter. Sanders also added one catch for 22 yards and had four kickoff returns for 155 yards to finish the afternoon with a career-shattering 298 all-purpose yards. His previous best was 148 against Clarion on November 5, 2011.

The Painesville, Ohio native finished four yards shy of his personal best of 125 yards rushing in that contest against the Golden Eagles.

Sanders had help from senior Allen Jones II, who earned his third consecutive 100-yard game, and fifth of the season, with 104 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries. Jones II finished just seven yards shy of becoming the fifth different running back in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He established a career-high with 993 yards on the ground and finished the season with seven rushing touchdowns which tied his previous best.

However, redshirt sophomore Brandon Brown-Dukes, returning from an injury that kept him out of last Saturday's game at California (Pa.), did just enough on Saturday to earn his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. He rushed for 55 yards on 13 carries to finish the campaign with 1,008 rushing yards, becoming the first player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau in consecutive seasons.

Defensively, the Lakers did a marvelous job of containing Harlon Hill Trophy candidate, East Stroudsburg quarterback Matt Soltes. The redshirt sophomore completed 18-of-32 passes for 221 yards, no touchdowns, and was picked off twice by junior defensive back Colin Kimball. Soltes entered the contest having thrown 34 touchdowns to only three interceptions all season. Redshirt junior defensive back Deonte Huggins picked off Tim Wilson on ESU's final drive of the game.

It was Kimball's second game of two interceptions this season and he finished the year with six picks for 151 return yards and two touchdowns. He set new school record for interception return yards in a game (86), interception return yards in a season (151), and interception returns for touchdowns in a season (2). He now has eight career interceptions, tying him for tenth on the all-time list.

East Stroudsburg took a 7-0 lead on its opening possession driving 66 yards on six plays, capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Thomas Tippett. Taylor Groff added the extra point for a 7-0 Warrior lead just 2:19 into the contest.

But, Mercyhurst rattled off the next ten points to close out the quarter with a 10-7 advantage. After the Warriors took the 7-0 lead, Sanders struck on the ensuing kickoff, returning the ball 59 yards to the East Stroudsburg 41-yard line. Quarterback Anthony Vendemia then hit senior fullback Jeff Groene on a 29-yard pass to the ESU 12 on the Lakers' first play from scrimmage. The drive, however, would stall, and the Lakers had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by senior Steven Wakefield, cutting the ESU lead to 7-3.

After Mercyhurst forced the Warriors to punt, the Lakers drove right down the field and capped off a nine-play scoring drive with a four-yard touchdown pass from Vendemia to redshirt junior defensive lineman Matt Hyland with 1:05 left in the opening quarter. It was Hyland's second catch of the season, both going for touchdowns.

The Lakers forced a three-and-out by the Warriors, and, on the first play from scrimmage to start the second quarter, Sanders broke off a career-long 74-yard touchdown run to give Mercyhurst a 17-7 lead, after Wakefield's extra point. It was Mercyhurst's second-longest run this season (Brown-Dukes had a 77-yard run at Clarion) and was the sixth-longest run in program history.

East Stroudsburg chipped into the Mercyhurst lead with 2:37 left in the first half on a one-yard run by Gerald Van De Cruz, finishing off a 12-play, 80-yard drive.

But, Wakefield and the Lakers struck back with a 40-yard field goal by the senior placekicker as the horn sounded, giving Mercyhurst a 20-14 lead at halftime.

Mercyhurst got the only points of the third quarter when Jones II got into the scoring act on a 59-yard touchdown run with 8:28 left. The run tied his career-long when he broke off a 59-yarder at Shippensburg in the final game of the 2011 season.

Van De Cruz would make things interesting, getting his second one-yard touchdown run of the game with 12:02 left in the fourth quarter. However, Groff missed the extra point to keep the Laker lead at 27-20.

The missed extra point wouldn't matter as the Laker defense came up with huge plays down the stretch, allowing the offense to generate ten more points to close out the scoring. Wakefield booted a 32-yard field goal with 2:23 left and Jones II scored on a eight-yard run with 1:20 left for the final margin.

Mercyhurst outgained East Stroudsburg 269-99 on the ground and held a 454-320 advantage in total yards. Vendemia finished the afternoon, and his career, by completing 14-of-19 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Jaquan Williams was his favorite target, hauling in five passes for 76 yards.

Soltes hooked up with Robert Bleiler eight times for 106 yards on the afternoon.

Redshirt junior linebacker Pat Behm established a new career-high with 15 total tackles, including a dozen solo stops. Junior Garrett Wild had seven stops while Kimball and redshirt senior Aunre' Davis had six tackles apiece. Redshirt senior Serge Augustin had two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Sam Trunzo led the Warriors with 12 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and two-and-a-half sacks.

With the Lakers finishing the season with a 7-4 record, it marks the second-best two-year stretch in program history. Over the last two seasons, Mercyhurst has gone 16-6 under head coach Marty Schaetzle. Only Tony DeMeo's 1984 and 1985 teams, that went a combined 16-3, had a better two-year stretch.