Mercyhurst Game Notes
Millersville Game Notes

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ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team will be looking to bounce back after a tough 17-16 loss at Bentley last Saturday when it hosts the Marauders of Millersville University in the team's home opener on Saturday. Kickoff from Tullio Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

The contest will be Millersville's first trip to Erie and marks just the second meeting between the two schools in the all-time series, with the Lakers winning the first meeting last season by a 45-7 final in Millersville. In last season's victory, Brown-Dukes rushed for 213 yards and three touchdowns in just his second collegiate start and Allen Jones II added a career-best 132 rushing yards and a score. All told, the Lakers racked up 379 yards on the ground against Millersville last season, the most by a Laker team since a 48-0 victory at Pace on November 6, 1993. In that game, Mercyhurst rushed for 402 yards.

Mercyhurst outgained Millersville 487-255 for the game last season.

In last Saturday's season opener, the Lakers (0-1, 0-0 PSAC West) traveled to suburban Boston, Massachusetts to take on the Falcons for the first time in school history. Mercyhurst led 7-0 after the team's first offensive possession of the season when redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Vendemia hooked up with senior fullback Jeff Groene on a six-yard touchdown. After allowing Bentley to score the next 10 points, Mercyhurst scored with four seconds left in the first half on a three-yard run by the reigning PSAC Freshman of the Year, Brandon Brown-Dukes, to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room. The Lakers would add a field goal midway through the third, but Bentley would score the final seven points of the game with 2:49 left in the third quarter to leave with the one-point victory.

Mercyhurst did not commit a turnover and outgained the Falcons 379-299 in the total yardage department, but could not overcome several dropped passes and eight penalties.

"We played a very good football team that didn't make very many mistakes today," said Mercyhurst head coach Marty Schaetzle after the one-point loss. "I think we're a good football team, we just made too many mistakes today - a lot of which you can't see on the box score."

Meanwhile, Millersville (0-1, 0-0 PSAC East) hosted former PSAC East rival, LIU Post, last Saturday and suffered a 46-17 setback to lose its season opener. The Marauders trailed 20-9 at halftime, but the Pioneers scored on each of their first three possessions of the second half to pull away. The Marauders would allow 515 yards of total offense to LIU Post in the loss, with 266 of those yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Millersville compiled 297 yards of total offense in the loss, with 232 of those through the air.

Mercyhurst was picked to finish second in the PSAC West according to the annual preseason coaches' poll which was announced in early August. The Marauders were picked to finish seventh in the PSAC East.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

MERCYHURST

Redshirt sophomore RB, Brandon Brown-Dukes (5-8, 195, Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Brown-Dukes was given the ball just 16 times in the season-opener last Saturday at Bentley after averaging just over 22 carries last season. He rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Falcons. He is 10th on the school's all-time rushing yardage list, despite only 12 career games, with 1,372 yards. He needs 91 yards to pass Justin Adams (2001-04) for ninth, 96 yards to pass Brian Hamlin (1994-97) for eighth, and 112 yards to pass Ben Jennings (2006-09) for seventh on the all-time list. His touchdown was the 17th of his career. He rushed for 213 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Millersville last season.

Redshirt senior QB, Anthony Vendemia (6-3, 210, Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional)
Vendemia completed 20-of-34 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown in last Saturday's loss at Bentley. He also rushed six times for 20 yards. Vendemia now ranks fourth on the school's all-time passing list with 3,665 career passing yards. He passed Brian Rostek (1984-87), Jeff Nowling (2002-06), and Travis Rearick (2007-11) last week, and now trails Matt Golga (1993-96) by 300 yards for sole possession of third on the all-time list. He also ranks sixth on the total offense list with 3,652 yards and needs 139 to pass Rearick for fifth.

Senior DL, Dustin Galich (6-2, 255, Erie, Pa./McDowell)
Galich was held in check on Saturday, finishing with four tackles and a tackle for a loss. He has been an All-PSAC West Second Team selection for the past two seasons and ranks tied for 49th on the school's all-time tackles list with 152. He needs 48 tackles to become the 28th player in school history to reach 200 career stops. He ranks 23rd with 23 career tackles for a loss and ranks tied for 22nd with 9.5 career sacks.

Redshirt junior LB, Pat Behm (6-2, 210, Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston)
Behm led the Lakers with six total tackles last Saturday at Bentley. He has taken over as the captain of the Laker defense in 2013 and firmly has a hold on the starting middle linebacker role. He has 65 total tackles, with a career-high 43 stops last season.

Junior DB, Colin Kimball (5-11, 160, Erie, Pa./McDowell)
Kimball forced the only turnover of last Saturday's game when he picked off a Bentley pass in the third quarter. It was his third career interception after recording a team-high tying two picks as a freshman. Kimball also had three tackles in the loss as the starting free safety.

MILLERSVILLE

Redshirt senior RB, Ian Sadon (5-10, 212, Baltimore, Md./Parkville)
Sadon led the Marauders on the ground in last Saturday's loss against LIU Post with 19 carries for 58 yards. He led Millersville in rushing last season with 464 yards and five touchdowns. He had just one carry for six yards in the game against Mercyhurst last season.

Sophomore QB, Connor Casey (6-2, 211, Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
Casey had a strong season debut for Millersville last Saturday, completing 24-of-44 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 21 yards on the ground. Last season, Casey took over midway through the season and completed better than 57% of his passes (67-of-117) for 665 yards and four touchdowns in five contests.

Redshirt freshman WR, Dante Barkley (6-0, 179, Philadelphia, Pa./Furness)
Barkley led the Marauders in receptions (8) and receiving yards (86) in last Saturday's loss against LIU Post. He teamed up with Brent Collins to combine for 15 catches and 148 yards and appear to be the favorite targets for Casey.

Redshirt junior LB, Reggie Slaton (6-2, 220, Philadelphia, Pa./Bensalem)
Slaton led Millersville with nine total tackles in last Saturday's loss. He also had one tackle for a loss and the team's only quarterback sack. Slaton was fourth on last year's squad with 61 total tackles, led the team with nine tackles for a loss, and was third on the team with two sacks.