Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Football hosted Slippery Rock Saturday afternoon in their homecoming game with things not ending how they wanted. After a very competitive opening half, the Rock managed to score 34 unanswered points in the third period to help them to a 75-31 win.

How it Happened

The Rock fired the opening salvo just a couple of minutes into the game with a rush up the middle to make it a 7-0 game. The Lakers had a rebuttal, though, as they managed to scored on their next drive. Jaylen Butera broke off a big run from 25 yards out to push past the pylon and tie things up.

Slippery Rock began to establish themselves as the first quarter continued with them able to score twice in the span of 53 seconds to make it a 21-7 game. Mercyhurst did not allow it to stay a multi-score game for long with them able to find the end zone for the second time in the first with Adam Urena finding the open Braydon Black.

The second period was another offensive showcase with Mercyhurst scoring 10 points in the frame. Their touchdown came from Butera once again he broke off a 45-yard rush for the score. He was followed by Nathan Nagucki hitting a 22-yard field goal as time expired. Despite back-to-back double-digit frames, Mercyhurst still found themselves down at the halftime break, 35-24.

The third quarter was all Slippery Rock as they managed to outscore Mercyhurst 34 to zero. The Lakers were able to find the scoreboard once again in the fourth, but the damage had been done in a game in which they gave up their most points allowed since 1985.

Highlights

Jaylen Butera had a huge day, eclipsing 200 yards on the ground with 204 to his line while adding in three touchdowns to his line for the most rushing yards by a Laker since 2018 when Garrett Owens had 268 against Gannon. He also had five catches on the day for 43 yards, both good enough for second on the team. Joe Kerbacher finished with seven catches with a career-high 103 yards while Braydon Black rounded out the top three with five catches for 27 yards and the lone receiving score of the game. On defense, Anthony Mackey led the way with seven total tackles while Zack Hensley, Christian Taylor, and Marquis Mauney each had five.

Next Game

The Lakers go on the road in their next game with the team visiting Clarion on Saturday, October 14th, with the two teams set to begin things at 12:00 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium