BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – It was a tale of two halves on Saturday afternoon for the Mercyhurst University football team. Fortunately for the Lakers, Mercyhurst's first half was slightly better than Bloomsburg's second half.

Redshirt senior quarterback Brendan Boylan threw three first-half touchdowns and senior linebacker Joe Dever picked off two first-half passes, one that led to a Laker score, as Mercyhurst improved to 3-0 with a 20-14 victory over Bloomsburg at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium. The Huskies dropped to 1-2 on the season.

With the victory, Mercyhurst starts 3-0 for the first time since 1989 under head coach Ken Brasington. That season, still as a Division III program, the Lakers opened with wins over Waynesburg, Grove City, and Duquesne. Saturday afternoon's victory was also the tenth straight win for the Lakers dating back to last season – the longest winning streak in school history.

Mercyhurst improved to 3-3 lifetime against Bloomsburg and avenged a 38-22 loss to the Huskies last season.

The first half was dominated by the Lakers as they jumped out to a 20-0 lead after thirty minutes of action. Despite having the ball for just over ten minutes in the opening half, Mercyhurst outgained Bloomsburg, 225-155, which included a 169-43 margin through the air.

Boylan was sensational, throwing for 169 yards and three first half touchdowns – two to senior wide receiver FJ Williams, who finished the half with four catches for 82 yards.

The two hooked up with 9:06 left in the opening quarter on a 42-yard touchdown connection. Boylan hit FJ Williams in stride at the Bloomsburg 20 and the senior did the rest. Junior Dylan Kondis added the point after for a 7-0 Mercyhurst advantage. Just 3:20 later, with 5:46 left in the first quarter, Boylan hit FJ Williams from three yards out capping off a six-play, 71-yard drive. After Kondis added the point after, the Lakers held a 14-0 lead.

Mercyhurst put together another impressive drive to start the second quarter – a nine-play, 80-yard possession that was culminated with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Boylan to senior tight end John Matarazzo.

The Lakers took a timeout facing a 4th-and-5 and, instead of trying a 36-yard field goal attempt, elected to go for six. Matarazzo, who missed last Saturday's game with a shoulder injury, was able to make the catch in the back of the endzone despite a deflection off of a Bloomsburg defender. Kondis, however, had his point after try blocked – his first miss in 61 career attempts – but Mercyhurst still took a 20-0 lead into the locker room.

Bloomsburg, however, turned up the heat in the second half, limiting Mercyhurst to just 67 yards of total offense and holding Boylan to 6-of-16 for 53 yards and an interception throwing the football.

The Huskies finally dented the scoreboard with 8:07 left in the third quarter when Lawrence Elliott, Jr. scampered into the endzone from four yards out. Tyler Smith added the point after to cut the Laker lead to 20-7.

Later in the third, Bloomsburg chipped into the Mercyhurst advantage again when Joe Parsnik plunged in from a yard out with 1:18 left in the quarter. Smith added the extra point, again, and suddenly the Laker lead was 20-14.

But, when the going got tough, the Laker defense got going.

Mercyhurst's unit, under defensive coordinator Jeff Gutowski, played a superb game and stiffened in the fourth quarter. With the Lakers' offense struggling to move the football, the defense stood tall, forcing a turnover on downs, a missed field goal opportunity, and a punt in the final quarter.

Even with Dever's two interceptions, the biggest defensive play came on, what turned out to be, Bloomsburg's final drive. With the Huskies driving at the Mercyhurst 40-yard line, quarterback Tim Kelly was sacked by sophomore Rocky Owens for a loss of 11 yards thwarting the Huskies' rhythm. The play enabled the Lakers to force a punt.

When Mercyhurst got the ball back with 3:18 left, the Lakers were able to string a pair of first downs together to close out the win. The biggest play came on 3rd-and-10 from the Mercyhurst 23, Boylan hit redshirt junior running back Richie Sanders on a 19-yard pass play which enabled the Lakers to run out the clock.

With Boylan's second half struggles, thanks to Bloomsburg's swarming defense, his streak of consecutive 300-yard passing games ended at four on Saturday. He finished by completing 16-of-35 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. FJ Williams caught five passes for 99 yards and two scores while senior Jaquan Williams added two catches for 49 yards. Matarazzo and Sanders also caught two passes.

Redshirt senior running back Brandon Brown-Dukes finished with just 43 rushing yards on 13 carries. He did, however, inch a little closer to the school record for career rushing yards and now trails Richard Stokes (2005-08) by 63 for the record.

The story for Mercyhurst was the defense. Despite allowing 212 yards on the ground to the Huskies, the Lakers limited Bloomsburg to just 319 total yards and 4.1 yards per play. Elliott, Jr. carried the ball 25 times for an even 100 yards and one score while Parsnik added 93 yards on 20 carries. Kelly was 13-of-29 passing for 107 yards and two interceptions.

Redshirt junior Tarique Ellis led the Lakers with 13 total tackles. Dever finished with 12 tackles, a tackle for a loss, and two interceptions – the first of which led to the 42-yard touchdown pass from Boylan to FJ Williams. Redshirt sophomore Jakob Plonski added 11 tackles and a tackle for a loss.

Mercyhurst will return home on Saturday, September 26 when it hosts the Crimson Hawks of Indiana (Pa.) at Tullio Field. The contest, part of Homecoming Weekend, will kick off at 1:00 p.m.