Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team turned the ball over six times on Saturday afternoon, resulting in 28 Bloomsburg points, as the Lakers dropped to 0-3 on the season with a 38-22 loss to the 15th-ranked Huskies in front of nearly 2200 sun-drenched fans at Tullio Field watching Mercyhurst's home opener. With each game against a PSAC opponent counting towards the conference record this season, the Lakers fell to 0-2 in the PSAC West standings. Bloomsburg, meanwhile, improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC East.

The Lakers' six turnovers were the most since turning the ball over eight times in a 59-42 loss at Notre Dame College in the season opener of the 2012 campaign. All six of Mercyhurst's turnovers on Saturday resulted in points for the Huskies, including two interception returns for touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the second quarter. It was the first time that a Mercyhurst opponent had two pick-sixes in the same game since September 30, 2000 when Indianapolis' Chris Volz intercepted Mercyhurst's Mac McArdle twice in the third quarter of a Greyhound 50-8 win over the Lakers.

Mercyhurst, seemingly amped up by playing its first home game of the season, jumped out to a 14-0 lead with 14:37 left in the second quarter. Redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Boylan, making his first collegiate start, hooked up with redshirt senior tight end R.J. Miller on a 13-yard connection late in the first quarter, capping off a 13-play, 88-yard drive that took 6:19 off the clock. Then, after the Laker defense forced a three-and-out on Bloomsburg's ensuing drive, senior free safety Colin Kimball, aided by some excellent blocking, returned a punt 61 yards down the right sideline to give the Lakers a two-touchdown lead.

Bloomsburg got on the board on a 34-yard field goal from Braden Drexler with 6:12 left in the first half, cutting the Laker lead to 14-3.

Then, three turnovers on three straight possessions by the Lakers resulted in 15 Bloomsburg points to close out the first half. With Boylan under heavy pressure on a 3rd-and-7, the Laker signal caller tried a screen pass that was picked off by defensive lineman, Bill LaBadie, who rumbled 41 yards for a touchdown. Drexler, however, missed the extra point, so the Lakers still led 14-9 with 3:33 left. On the Lakers' next drive, after converting a 4th-and-1 at their own 27 yard line, Boylan tried to find junior Dylan Bongiorni down the right sideline. But, Bloomsburg's DJ Robinson cut in front of the Laker wideout and sprinted 48 yards to paydirt for the Huskies' second pick-six of the quarter. Bloomsburg's two-point conversion was missed, but the Huskies had a one-point lead with 46 seconds remaining.

After the kickoff, the usually sure-handed running back Brandon Brown-Dukes fumbled on the very first play from scrimmage, giving Bloomsburg the ball back at the Laker 26-yard line with 37 seconds remaining. That turnover resulted in a 36-yard field goal by Drexler to end the first half with Bloomsburg leading 18-14.

The visitors extended their lead to 25-14 with 5:55 left in the third quarter when running back Eddie Mateo broke off a 60-yard run into the Laker endzone. Mateo tiptoed down the right sideline, avoiding getting bumped out-of-bounds by both Kimball and senior Deonte Huggins in the process. But, the Lakers responded with another long drive, this time a 13-play, 75-yard trip down the field that resulted in a six-yard touchdown pass from Boylan to junior Jaquan Williams. Mercyhurst went for two and converted when the duo hooked up again to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 25-22 with 14:45 left in the fourth quarter.

Momentum appeared to have changed back in the Lakers' favor at that point because, on the first play from scrimmage on Bloomsburg's ensuing drive, Kimball picked off Huskies' quarterback Tim Kelly on a highlight-reel grab to give Mercyhurst the ball right back. It was Kimball's ninth career interception, which now ties him for eighth on the school's all-time list.

Mercyhurst got to midfield, but, after a Laker timeout, Boylan fumbled the snap, the second time in the game that Mercyhurst had a bad exchange between the center and the quarterback,. This time, Bloomsburg's took over at the Laker 47-yard line. Six plays later, Mateo scored his second touchdown of the game to give the Huskies a 31-22 lead with 10:03 left.

After a Laker three-and-out, Bloomsburg got its final points of the day on a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown by Lawrence Elliott, Jr. with 9:18 left in regulation.

The Lakers had their best day, by far, from a yardage standpoint on offense. Mercyhurst racked up 368 yards of total offense, getting a season-high 151 yards on the ground and a season-high 217 through the air. Meanwhile, the Laker defense held the Huskies to just 256 yards of total offense. Brown-Dukes recorded his 12th career 100-yard game on the ground, finishing the day with 102 yards on 23 carries. Boylan had 35 yards on 11 carries, picking up a number of first downs on quarterback keepers and using the line to push the pile forward.

Boylan completed 18-of-32 passes for 173 yards and two scores, but was picked off three times. The Lakers also got their first look at true freshman quarterback Ramroth Finnegan late in the fourth quarter on Saturday. The Columbus, Ohio native completed 2-of-5 passes for 29 yards. Senior tight end R.J. Miller hauled in a game-high six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown to lead the Laker receivers.

Mateo finished with 117 yards on just 14 carries. Kelly was 14-of-25 for just 91 yards through the air. Connor Gades was his favorite target, catching six passes for 30 yards.

Defensively, Kimball led the Lakers with nine solo tackles, one tackle for a loss, one interception, and his 61-yard punt return for a touchdown. Dylan Spangler had eight tackles to lead Bloomsburg.

Mercyhurst fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2006, when the Lakers were still part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). Mercyhurst finished that season with a 3-7 overall record. The Lakers will be back on the road next Saturday, September 27, when they travel to Indiana, Pennsylvania for a PSAC West contest against the Crimson Hawks. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.