Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team scored three touchdowns in the opening 4:27 of its contest against visiting Millersville University on Saturday afternoon and cruised to a 49-7 victory over the Marauders to pick up its first win of the season. The Lakers evened their record at 1-1 on the season while Millersville dropped to 0-2.

The Lakers improved to 2-0 lifetime against the Marauders, outscoring Millersville 94-14 in the process.

Redshirt sophomore Brandon Brown-Dukes was up to his old tricks on Saturday after a bit of a disappointing opener last Saturday at Bentley. After rushing for 77 yards in the opener, the reigning PSAC West Freshman of the Year carried the ball 15 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns, his seventh career 100-yard game, as Mercyhurst outgained Millersville 220-77 on the ground. Brown-Dukes became the seventh Laker in school history to eclipse 1,500 career rushing yards and now has 1,518 in just 13 career games. His three touchdowns on Saturday gave him 20 for his career, already fourth in school history.

Meanwhile, the Laker defense forced four Millersville turnovers, led by junior Colin Kimball's two interceptions, and had six sacks, limiting the Marauders to 283 yards of total offense.

Kimball became the first Laker to record more than one interception in a game since Brandon Harper had three picks in a loss at Kutztown on September 11, 2010. He also became the first Laker since Linnell Robinson in last year's win over California (Pa.) on November 3 to return an interception for a touchdown when he ran his second pick of the game back 45 yards to paydirt. In the process, Kimball set the school record for most interception return yards in a single game, finishing the contest with 86 yards. The previous record was 85 by Casey Williams in a loss against Grand Valley State on October 21, 2000.

On the first play from scrimmage on Saturday, Brown-Dukes got Mercyhurst on the scoreboard with a 66-yard touchdown run - the longest carry of his career. Senior Steven Wakefield added the point after and Mercyhurst had a 7-0 lead just 21 seconds into the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, senior Ricky Mathews poked the ball free from Millersville's David Coates, which was then recovered by sophomore Joe Dever at the Millersville 16-yard line. Four plays later, redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Vendemia found junior defensive end Matt Hyland on a three-yard pass in the endzone. It was Hyland's first career reception and first career touchdown. After Wakefield added the extra point, the Lakers led 14-0 with 12:49 left in the first quarter.

But, Mercyhurst was not done. The Marauders finally got to run some offense, but on their fourth play from scrimmage, Kimball picked off quarterback Connor Casey at the Mercyhurst 49-yard line and returned it 41 yards to the Millersville 10. On the next play, Vendemia hit redshirt junior tight end R.J. Miller in the endzone, and, after Wakefield booted the PAT, it was 21-0.

On Millersville's next possession, redshirt senior Mike Brown picked off Casey for the Lakers' third caused turnover in the opening 8:19. Mercyhurst's offense would stall on that drive, and Millersville would respond with its only points of the game on its next drive. Ian Sadon would cap off a seven-play, 77-yard drive with a one-yard run, cutting the Mercyhurst lead to 21-7.

Mercyhurst would respond thanks to a 16-yard touchdown run by senior Allen Jones II on the team's ensuing possession as the Lakers would recapture their 21-point cushion early in the second quarter. The Lakers would score on their next drive as well, capped off by a Brown-Dukes one-yard run, and Mercyhurst would take a 35-7 lead into the locker room.

The Lakers would tack on two more touchdowns in the third quarter for the final points of the afternoon. Brown-Dukes scampered into the endzone from 14 yards out with 6:01 left in the third quarter, capping off a 10-play, 95-yard drive that took 5:34 off the clock. It was his third touchdown of the afternoon, marking the third time that the Orlando, Florida native has had three rushing touchdowns in a game.

After Brown-Dukes gave Mercyhurst a 42-7 lead, on Millersville's first play, Kimball picked off Casey for the second time on the afternoon and promptly took it all the way to the house from 45 yards out to cap off the scoring. Kimball, who already has three interceptions this season, now has five for his career, tying him for 30th on the school's all-time list. It was Kimball's first career interception return for a touchdown.

Mercyhurst opened up the bench in the fourth quarter, using redshirt junior quarterback Alec Swartz and redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Emerick on a drive that took 16-plays and more than nine minutes off of the clock.

Vendemia did not need to throw much but was extremely effective on Saturday. He completed 12-of-13 passes for 116 yards and two scores. Swartz finished 3-of-4 for 35 yards and Emerick was 2-for-3 for 18 yards. All told, the Lakers completed 17-of-20 passes on the day to 13 different receivers. Sophomore Dylan Bongiorni led Mercyhurst with three catches for 23 yards, while senior Vladmir Rock and redshirt junior Stephen Yarbrough each had two receptions. Ten Lakers had one catch apiece.

Brown-Dukes did most of the damage on the ground. Jones II had 38 yards on six carries and sophomore Milton Revell carried the ball seven times for 30 yards.

Sadon led Millersville with 108 yards on 21 carries. Casey and backup Curtis Frye combined to complete 19-of-27 passes for 206 yards but were picked off three times and were sacked on six different occasions. Brent Collins led all receivers with 11 catches for 123 yards.

Defensively, redshirt sophomore Niko Otto, senior Ricky Mathews, and redshirt junior Michael Foster had six tackles apiece. Redshirt senior Serge Augustin led the Lakers with two sacks and tied with redshirt senior Mike Brown with two tackles for a loss. While Kimball got most of the headlines on defense, Brown had a fantastic game as well, posting five tackles, one sack, two tackles for a loss, one forced fumble, and one interception.

Rasheed Johnson had seven stops in a losing effort for Millersville.

The Lakers will open PSAC West play next Saturday, September 21 with a trip to Clarion to take on the Golden Eagles. Kickoff from Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Lakers won the meeting between the two schools last season by a 22-14 final at Tullio Field. Mercyhurst is 4-1 lifetime against its PSAC West rival, outscoring Clarion 168-102 in the five prior meetings.