GREENSBURG, Pa. – In a game that featured 81 points, 1,145 total yards of offense, 14 combined turnovers, and several school records for both teams, the Mercyhurst University football team escaped Offutt Field on Saturday afternoon with a 49-32 victory at Seton Hill to win its fifth consecutive contest. The Lakers improved to 5-4 overall and 5-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division while the Griffins fell to 2-7 overall and 2-6 in the conference standings.

Mercyhurst's defense set a school-record on Saturday by picking off Seton Hill quarterbacks seven times in the victory – one each by seven different players. The previous record was six against Ferris State in 2000 when Mercyhurst was still a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).

On the flip side, however, the Griffins set Mercyhurst opponent records for attempts (72), completions (43), and passing yards (568).

All told, Seton Hill ran 100 plays on Saturday afternoon, totaling a whopping 651 yards. But, the Griffins turned the ball over eight times, resulting in 35 Mercyhurst points. The Lakers, meanwhile, ran 36 fewer plays (64), but managed 494 yards of total offense, averaging 7.7 yards per play against the Griffin defense.  Although Mercyhurst turned it over six times, Seton Hill could muster only six points.

Redshirt junior running back Brandon Brown-Dukes became the program's all-time leader in career 100-yard games after finishing the afternoon with a season-high 158 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. He also became the second running back in school history to eclipse 3,000 career rushing yards (3,022) and now trails all-time leader Richard Stokes by 360 yards to take over the top spot.

Seton Hill jumped in front with 7:36 remaining in the opening quarter after Christian Strong connected with Jarvis McClam on a 41-yard touchdown pass. However, the point after attempt by Jesse Boulnemour hit the right upright to keep the score 6-0. Mercyhurst responded with 39 seconds left in the first when redshirt junior Brendan Boylan hooked up with redshirt senior tight end R.J. Miller from 11 yards out. Sophomore Dylan Kondis booted the extra point to give the Lakers a 7-6 lead.

Brown-Dukes scored his first touchdown of the afternoon, from two yards out, with 6:46 left in the first half to give the Lakers, wit Kondis' extra point, a 14-6 advantage. Quarterback Dan Pietrangelo, who replaced Strong at the outset of the second quarter, then led the Griffins on a six-play, 79-yard drive, capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Brandon Stout to cut the Mercyhurst lead to 14-13 with 4:04 left in the first half.

Then came the turning point of the game. Boylan hooked up with junior tight end John Matarazzo on a long pass play to the Seton Hill 29-yard line. However, as Matarazzo was sprinting down the right sideline, the ball was knocked free and recovered by the Griffin defense. But, on the very first play after the Laker turnover, Pietrangelo was picked off by senior free safety Colin Kimball, who returned it 41 yards for a Mercyhurst touchdown to put the visitors back in front by eight points, 21-13.

Seton Hill drove into Laker territory on its next possession, but Stout had the ball knocked free by redshirt senior Nick Kurpakus, who recovered the fumble to give Mercyhurst the ball right back.

On the Lakers' drive, Boylan, faced with a 3rd-and-24, threw a perfect pass to junior wideout Jaquan Williams, who made an over-the-shoulder catch for a 42-yard completion to keep the drive alive. On the next play, Brown-Dukes scampered into the endzone from 28 yards out to give the Lakers a 28-13 lead at halftime.

Drew Jackson, Seton Hill's usual starting quarterback, came on in the third quarter, and, on his very first play from scrimmage, hooked up with FJ Williams on a 66-yard touchdown pass to cut the Mercyhurst lead to 28-20 just 18 seconds into the second half.

But, Boylan and the Lakers responded when redshirt junior Donny Holl caught a nine-yard touchdown pass with 1:28 left in the third quarter to put the Lakers ahead 35-20 heading to the final 15 minutes.

Jackson and McClam collaborated on a 13-yard touchdown with 12:07 left in the fourth, but Boulnemour's point after was blocked by Kurpakus, keeping the Lakers ahead by a nine-point margin, 35-26.

Sophomore Drew Robinson returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to put Mercyhurst ahead 42-26 with 11:55 left. The 87-yarder was the longest career return by Robinson and was the sixth-longest in school history. It was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown by a Laker since Paris Bruner returned one 97 yards against East Stroudsburg in November of 2012.

Redshirt sophomore Zach Emerick, who took over for Boylan in the fourth quarter, finished the Laker scoring when he connected with Matarazzo on a four-yard touchdown strike with 4:26 left in regulation. It was Matarazzo's first collegiate touchdown reception.

Then, on Seton Hill's next drive, senior Vishawn Williams intercepted a pass from Jackson, but then fumbled it right back to the Griffins, which led to a 23-yard pass from Strong to Larry Joshua with 1:13 left for the final points of the day.

Kimball recovered an onside kick attempt to end the afternoon.

Boylan finished the day by completing 13-of-29 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. He was picked off three times, two of which occurred just outside of the Seton Hill endzone. One of those picks was batted straight up in the air at the line and collected by linebacker Nicholas Boynton. Another went off the hands of redshirt senior Stephen Yarbrough and into the hands of Otis Williams.

The quarterback did add a career-high 63 yards rushing on just four carries.

Jaquan Williams was the leading receiver, catching three passes for 92 yards.

Jackson, who played only the second half, completed 25-of-42 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns, but was picked off three times. Strong threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions while Pietrangelo had 124 yards passing and was picked off twice.

FJ Williams set a Seton Hill record with 261 yards receiving on 11 catches. Eric Brown had 13 catches for 118 yards while McClam also topped 100 yards receiving with eight catches for 107 yards and two scores.

Mercyhurst's school record seven interceptions were recorded by seven different players – Kimball, Tevin Stewart, Michael Foster, Vishawn Williams, Dorian Stevens, Garrett Wild, and Jakob Plonski. The Lakers had three interceptions from its defense through the first eight games of the season.

The Lakers return home for the final two weeks of the season, beginning with a contest against California (Pa.) next Saturday, November 8. Kickoff from Tullio Field is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.