MERCYHURST (1-7, 0-3 NEC) at STONEHILL (3-5, 2-1 NEC)
Saturday, Oct. 31 – 12:00 p.m. (ET)
Easton, Mass. – W.B. Mason Stadium (2,400)
TV: NEC Front Row / RYZ Sports Network

Mercyhurst heads to Easton, Mass., on Saturday to face Stonehill at W.B. Mason Stadium. Kickoff is at noon ET, and the game streams on NEC Front Row and the RYZ Sports Network. The Lakers are still chasing their first NEC win and their first road win of the season. All three of their conference losses have come by 3, 3 and 14 points. They face a Stonehill team that is 0-2 at home and still looking for its first win in front of its own fans. It is only the second meeting between the programs. Stonehill won last year's game in Erie, 22-15.

Mercyhurst Lakers

Mercyhurst is 1-7 overall and 0-3 in the NEC after a 28-14 loss at Robert Morris. The Lakers got back into the game quickly after falling behind 7-0. Sophomore safety Jayonn Saunders intercepted Carson Haggard to set up an 88-yard touchdown drive that tied it at 7-7 in the second quarter. RMU went up 28-7 early in the fourth quarter, aided by four Mercyhurst turnovers, including an 89-yard interception return. The Lakers answered with an 11-play, 90-yard drive that ended in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Alex Gevaudan to Amare Lattimore. They are 0-6 away from Saxon Stadium this season.

Junior quarterback Gevaudan ranks second in the NEC in passing with 1,653 yards and 14 touchdowns. He earned NEC Offensive Player of the Week honors after a career-high 409 yards and four touchdowns against Central Connecticut, and he threw a career-high 48 passes at RMU. Senior Dylan Evans is second in the league in receiving with 32 catches for 480 yards and five touchdowns, including a 64-yard score against Glenville State. Lattimore has 24 catches for 336 yards and five touchdowns, and he has caught a touchdown pass in three straight games, including two at RMU. Tight end Sha'lik Hampton has three touchdown catches. Junior running back Ethen Knox made his first start of the season at RMU and accounted for 173 yards of offense, with 95 rushing yards and a career-high nine catches for 78 yards. 

Defensively, junior safety Braylon Beckwith leads the Lakers with 53 tackles and four tackles for loss, and he returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown against Glenville State. Senior captain and linebacker Jeff Leavell has 46 tackles and a season-high 12 against CCSU. Junior Mark Hawkins Jr. has 40 tackles and a 59-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Saunders has 39 tackles and two interceptions, one returned for a score. Junior Teddy McDuffie leads the team with 6.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. As a team, the Lakers have 35 tackles for loss and 13 sacks through eight games. Freshman kicker Rocco Marcantonio is 3-of-4 on field goals and has made all 20 of his extra points. Freshman punter Thomas O'Neill is averaging 43.6 yards per punt, with a long of 58.

Scouting the Skyhawks

Stonehill is 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the NEC, tied for third in the league, after an 18-14 comeback win at LIU on Oct. 24. Senior quarterback Jack O'Connell hit Jaylin Baker for a 32-yard touchdown with five seconds left. Baker finished with seven catches for 103 yards and was named NEC Offensive Player of the Week. Adjatay Abegesah had two sacks, including a strip sack that led to a safety, Stonehill's first since 2023.

O'Connell, a senior captain, has 1,500 passing yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He ranks fifth in program history with 4,055 career passing yards and set career highs with 380 yards and four touchdowns at New Hampshire. Eli Gardner is in his 11th season as head coach (44-57 at Stonehill). His defense ranks eighth nationally in red zone defense and 16th in passing yards allowed (175.4 per game), and it leads the NEC in scoring defense at 21.9 points per game. Punter Logan Chenette, the league's Special Teams Player of the Week for the LIU game, is on the preseason FCS Punter of the Year watch list. Trevon Baxter's 98-yard fumble return for a touchdown at Sacred Heart was the longest in the Skyhawks' Division I era.

On the other side of the ball, Stonehill averages 17.0 points and 300.0 total yards per game, with 103.4 yards on the ground and 196.6 through the air. Mercyhurst averages 20.6 points and 302.4 yards per game, including 226.3 passing yards, third in the NEC. The Lakers are second in the NEC in third-down conversion rate at 38.0%.

Series History

Stonehill leads the all-time series 1-0 after a 22-15 win at Saxon Stadium last season. This will be the first meeting in Easton. There is also a personal connection: Mercyhurst head coach Thomas Sydeski began his collegiate career as a quarterback at Stonehill in 2013-14, when the Skyhawks were still a Division II program. He appeared in five games and threw for 1,166 yards and seven touchdowns.

Broadcast Information

The game streams live on NEC Front Row and the RYZ Sports Network, with Charlie Bergeron and Chris Costich on the call. Live stats are available at stonehillskyhawks.com.

Up Next

Mercyhurst returns to Saxon Stadium to host Wagner on Saturday, Nov. 7, at noon ET.