Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Football played their season finale on Saturday, November 12th, against the Huskies inside Saxon Stadium with the Lakers unable to get the win. Both teams battled throughout, but it was Bloomsburg who was able to get the final blow as a field goal in the final two minutes sealed the 16-13 win.

How it Happened

Offense was hard to come by in the early going as there were a total of six points in the first half. The first period ended up belonging to the Lakers with them putting three points up on the board to help them take a lead going into the second. Mercyhurst's advantage extended past points as they had a major advantage in time of possession and yards. Coach Riemedio's crew held the Huskies to just over four minutes of offense in the opening canto while Bloomsburg could muster only five yards on their four drives.

Mercyhurst finally put a dent in the scoreboard on their fourth drive of the game. They found themselves in favorable field position after their defense did a good job of pinning Bloomsburg back deep, starting the drive on the Huskies' 42. The Lakers connected on their biggest play of the game up to that point as Brian Alsobrooks found Cameron Barmore for a 16-yard completion before Alsobrooks nailed the field goal five plays later to give Mercyhurst a 3-0 lead with 2:03 to go in the first.

The second period was one where the two teams played each other almost dead even. Bloomsburg regrouped after failing to score in the opening stanza and tied the game before the halftime break. They managed to hold the ball a bit longer than the Lakers with eight minutes of possession to Mercyhurst's seven while accumulating 102 yards to the Laker's 36. The end result of the Huskies' turnaround was a tied game at the half.

Bloomsburg didn't wait long to take their first lead of the game as they scored just one minute into the second half. After a pair of running plays accrued 23 yards on the ground for the Huskies, they went to the air for a long, 39-yard reception which ended in a touchdown as Bloomsburg had grabbed a 10-3 lead. After a three-and-out on the ensuing drive by Mercyhurst, Bloomsburg added on with a field goal on their next possession to jump out to a 13-3 lead with 6:40 to go in the third.

After seeing their counterpart score twice, the Lakers finally had a rebuttal as they found the end zone for the first time in the game. After a solid return by Keith Brickman put the Lakers on the 39-yard line, they went to work with a pair of runs, netting 13 yards thanks to David Alize. Once the defense began to look run, Alsobrooks and Barmore connected for one of the bigger plays in the game on a 36-yard reception that saw a few more yards tacked on as a penalty on the Huskies put the ball on the four-yard line. From there, Alize did the rest to make it a 13-10 game with just over four minutes remaining in the third period.

After the Lakers managed to tie things up on a 31-yard field goal from Alsobrooks in the early stages of the final frame, Bloomsburg went to work. The Huskies went on a prolonged drive that chewed up over eight minutes on 15 plays for 77 yards. The final play was a field goal from 22 yards out that put Bloomsburg up 16-13 with just under two minutes to go in the game.

Mercyhurst's offense was in a real rhythm to begin their final drive as they amassed 58 yards on the first four plays with all four plays being through the air. Bloomsburg's defense stepped up to stop the Lakers right there, though, as an incomplete pass and a sack moved Mercyhurst back to the Huskies' 29. Laker QB Michael Lowery felt the pressure on the very next play after being sacked, causing a miscue from the play caller as he was called for intentional grounding, taking Mercyhurst out of field goal range with just 38 seconds to go with fourth down coming up. All that was left for the Lakers was a heave toward the end zone which ended up being broken up by a mass of Bloomsburg defenders as they celebrated the turnover on downs before a kneel-down rounded out the game.

By the Numbers

David Alize led the way on the ground for Mercyhurst with 19 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. Cameron Barmore continued his string of dominant performances of late with another great game. The sophomore wide receiver caught seven passes for 120 yards while having a pair of his receptions go for 30 or more yards. Jacob Holl was a major factor for the Laker defense as he accumulated 15 total tackles on the day to give him double-digit tackles in every game this season. He finishes the year with 128 takedowns which put him in the lead for the PSAC while coming in third in the entire country.