Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst football goes on the road for their week seven matchup as they travel to see the Golden Eagles on Saturday, October 14th at 12:00 p.m. After falling to Slippery Rock this past weekend to move to 1-5 on the year, Mercyhurst hopes to rebound against Clarion.
Where They Stand
Mercyhurst currently finds themselves at the bottom of the PSAC West as they are 1-5 on the year with a 0-3 record in conference. Clarion finds themselves in the same position, looking to leapfrog the Lakers with a win on Saturday. Slippery Rock is atop the division with a 6-0 record overall while Cal (Pa.) comes in next at 4-1 and Gannon rounds out the top three at 3-3.
Looking Back
Mercyhurst hosted the Golden Eagles in a very exciting game that ultimately saw Clarion come out on top 23-21. It was a back-and-forth affair with plenty of scoring in the early going as there were a total of 34 points on the board in the opening half. The second was a different story as Clarion's defense held strong to claim the two-point win. The Lakers look to exact some revenge and play spoilers this time around.
Laker Leaders
Adam Urena is now up to 1,571 passing yards with 13 passing touchdowns to his line, both good enough to crack the top two in the PSAC. After a career effort against the Rock this past weekend, Joe Kerbacher now leads the team in receiving yards with 271 on 20 catches, averaging over 45 yards per game. On the ground, Jaylen Butera has been the top rusher with 321 yards to his line to go along with four rushing touchdowns with much of his production coming this past weekend. Defensively, Christian Taylor remains the team's leader in tackled while Camden White leads the team in both tackles for a loss (3.5) and sacks (2.5).
Butera's Big Day
Jaylen Butera had a monster game against Slippery Rock on homecoming as he was able to rusher for 204 yards on 27 carries while pushing pas the pylon on three occasions. The sophomore added on with five catches for 43 yards through the air to give him 247 yards total on the day. Butera became the first Laker to eclipse 200 yards on the ground in a single game since Garrett Owens did so in 2018 when he recorded 268 against Gannon, making for a historical effort from the Jamestown, N.Y. native.
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Clarion is 1-5 to this point in the season with their lone win coming in the season opener against Lincoln in a matchup they won 30-20. Since then the team has lost five straight with a 24-17 defeat at the hands of Seton Hill being their most recent one. The team has found it tough sledding on offense as they average 278.8 yards per game for the second fewest in the conference and have scored on 11 touchdowns to tie Bloomsburg for the fewest in the PSAC. The team has shown a well-balanced attack on the ground as they have four rushers with over 100 yards on the year with Kahlil Owens' 180 leading the way.
