ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team scored 28 unanswered points in the second half en route to a 31-10 victory over Edinboro University at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium on Thursday night. The win was the fourth consecutive victory for the Lakers, who now evened their overall record at 4-4 on the season while improving to 4-3 in the PSAC West standings. The Fighting Scots fell to 1-7 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

Mercyhurst, which has now won three straight over Edinboro, improved to 6-5 lifetime against the Fighting Scots. Meanwhile, Thursday night's contest was the first time since 1982 that Mercyhurst and Edinboro played at Veterans Stadium, with the Fighting Scots claiming a 38-8 victory in that contest 32 years ago.

Redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Boylan broke a school record by throwing for at least 300 passing yards in three consecutive games. After throwing for a career-high 446 yards against Gannon, Boylan followed up that performance with 385 yards against Slippery Rock last Saturday. On Thursday, Boylan completed 19-of-33 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns, both to redshirt senior wide receiver Stephen Yarbrough. The Laker quarterback also rushed for his first two collegiate touchdowns in the victory.

Boylan's total could have been much higher had it not been for four dropped passes by Laker receivers, including two that would have been for lengthy touchdowns.

After a scoreless first quarter in which neither team could generate much in the way of offense, Edinboro got on the board first when Paul Ortiz booted a 23-yard field goal with 5:45 left in the second quarter to give the Fighting Scots a 3-0 lead. The Lakers responded by driving down the field on their ensuing possession, getting to the Edinboro four-yard line before having to settle for a 21-yard field goal by sophomore Dylan Kondis with 48 seconds left in the first half.

Despite having under a minute and no timeouts remaining, Edinboro's sixth-year senior quarterback Cody Harris led the Fighting Scots down the field. Aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on the kickoff return, Edinboro drove 61 yards on five plays in just 33 seconds, capped off by a 36-yard touchdown strike from Harris to Kolbe Hughes down the left sideline with eight seconds remaining. Ortiz added the extra point and Edinboro had a 10-3 lead at halftime.

But, Mercyhurst, as it did last week against Slippery Rock, outscored Edinboro 28-0 in the second half for the final margin of victory.

The Lakers tied the game at 10-10 on their first possession of the third quarter, thanks to another fourth-down conversion during the drive - something head coach Marty Schaetzle and the Lakers have been accustomed to during their four-game winning streak. After two successive dropped passes by Yarbrough and junior Jaquan Williams, Mercyhurst was faced with a 4th-and-6 from the Edinboro 36-yard line. Boylan made another big throw, threading the needle to redshirt senior tight end R.J. Miller on a 20-yard completion to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Boylan snuck his way into the endzone from a yard out for his first collegiate rushing touchdown with 11:26 left in the third.

Mercyhurst took its first lead of the game with 3:12 left in the third quarter when Boylan found Yarbrough behind the Fighting Scot secondary for a 57-yard touchdown connection down the left sideline. Kondis added the extra point for a 17-10 Laker advantage.

The turning point of the game came on Edinboro's next possession. The Fighting Scots had the ball with a first-and-goal from the Mercyhurst two-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Running back Anfreenee Williams carried up the middle but before he could cross the plane of the goal line, freshman defensive lineman Michael Gonzalez got his helmet on the football, knocking the ball loose. Redshirt senior Pat Behm fell on the fumble in the endzone for the touchback. It was just Mercyhurst's sixth forced turnover of the season.

On the Lakers' second play from scrimmage after the turnover, Boylan found Williams for 38 yards which, aided by a 15-yard roughing the passes penalty, gave Mercyhurst the ball at the Edinboro 26-yard line. Four plays later, Boylan again kept and crossed the goal line from a yard out to put Mercyhurst ahead 24-10 following the extra point by Kondis.

Mercyhurst got its final touchdown with 5:14 left in regulation. On a third-down play, Boylan connected with Yarbrough again, this time for 55 yards, to give the Lakers their 31-10 victory. It proved to be Boylan's last pass attempt of the game and got him over the 300-yard mark for the third consecutive game.

The Lakers held an edge in total yards, 427-367, but ran 11 fewer plays than the Fighting Scots. Each team committed one turnover with Boylan throwing an interception in the second quarter - his first pick in 127 pass attempts. But, the redshirt junior from Independence, Ohio, had a hand in all four touchdowns and has now completed 84-of-139 (60.4%) for 1,393 yards and 13 touchdowns (one interception) during the Lakers' four-game winning streak.

Williams caught six passes for 91 yards while Yarbrough only had two catches but they went for a combined 112 yards and two scores. Brown-Dukes fell ten yards short of breaking the school record for most career 100-yard games, a feat he would have accomplished in the third quarter had his apparent 28-yard touchdown run not been wiped out by a holding penalty. He finished with 90 yards on 21 carries and remains tied with Richard Stokes with 14 career 100-yard efforts.

Harris completed 25-of-47 passes for 271 yards and one touchdown. Anfreenee Williams had 98 yards on 22 carries, but his fumble early in the fourth that was the turning point.

Junior linebacker Joe Dever had a huge game defensively, finishing with a game-high nine tackles, three tackles for a loss, and two pass breakups. Freshman Austin Brooks and redshirt senior Jazz Wright each collected his first career sack. DeVon Groves, Kyle Matula, and Veuntrae Robinson each had seven tackles for Edinboro.

Mercyhurst will play its final road game of the 2014 season next Saturday, November 1, when it travels to Greensburg, Pa., to play the Griffins of Seton Hill. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from Offutt Field.