ERIE, Pa.—The Mercyhurst football team rebounded from a close loss against Slippery Rock with a 38-20 victory on the road in Clarion Saturday.

Neither team was able to gain an advantage in the first quarter. Clarion's Zechariah Sanderson did connect with receiver Terrell Ford for a 51-yard touchdown pass halfway through the first quarter, but the play was called back due to holding.

The Golden Eagles were first to put points on the board with a 55-yard touchdown pass between Sanderson and Ford. The play capped off a 95-yard drive and was the first time the Golden Eagles offense was able to move the ball past midfield.

A balanced attack from the Mercyhurst offense helped them answer immediately. Starting from their own 29-yard line, the Lakers put together a drive that included 24 yards on the ground from David Alize and two 20-plus-yard passes from Joe Carter, to Rylan Davison and then to Jason Armstrong for the touchdown.

After the defense forced a Clarion punt, the Lakers took the lead with a 42-yard drive, capped off by a Carter-Davison 5-yard pass. Davison wound up with five receptions for 58 yards. He also contributed seven net yards on the ground in two carries.

The Lakers were marred with penalties during the Golden Eagles' next drive. They were flagged for four different penalties that helped Clarion continue their 61-yard drive and eventually score to tie the game.

With just over three minutes remaining in the half, Mercyhurst put together a 10-play drive that required two of their timeouts to take back the lead. The drive was capped off by a 9-yard rush from Trevon Tate.

The Lakers left 34 seconds on the clock after their score, but Clarion's deep pass as the clock expired was intercepted by Mercyhurst's Keith Brickman at the 2-yard line. The Lakers took a 21-14 lead into the second half.

Mercyhurst sat in the driver's seat for most of the second half, adding three points with a Brian Alsobrooks field goal five minutes into the third quarter. Alsobrooks finished the afternoon 5-for-5 in PAT attempts as well.

Ryan Funa intercepted a pass from Sanderson and ran it back 33 yards for a touchdown to give the Lakers a 31-14 lead with :28 left in the third quarter.

Neither team would score again in the third quarter, as Ayron Thompson intercepted a pass in Mercyhurst's own endzone to end a Clarion drive that started from their own 46-yard line.

The Lakers scored for the final time with 7:57 left in the game on a 23-yard connection between Carter and Cameron Barmore for Barmore's only touch of the game. Carter finished 15-25 with 202 yards through the air.

Clarion would score one last time to bring the final score to 38-20.

Similar to the first half, the second half ended with a Mercyhurst interception. This time, it was Zack Helsley that intercepted a pass in the Mercyhurst endzone and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown, but that play was called back for holding, ending the game.

The Lakers defense finished with five interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles. Jacob Holl, John Allen and Helsley each finished with four solo tackles, and Thompson and Camden White each added a sack.