EDINBORO Fighting Scots (4-4, 2-3 PSAC West) at MERCYHURST Lakers (4-4, 2-3 PSAC West)
Saturday, November 2, 2013 l 12 noon
Tullio Field (2,300) l Erie, Pa.
Radio: WFSE?88.9 FM
TV: America One
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/hurst/football/
Next: Saturday, November 9 vs. Clarion, 12 noon

Complete Game Notes

SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: Edinboro leads 5-4
The Fighting Scots own a slim lead in a series which has seen the visiting team claim the last five meetings. That includes a 24-21 win by Mercyhurst at Sox Harrison Stadium a year ago. Three of those five meetings have been decided by three points or less. Edinboro came away with a 30-20 win at Tullio Field in 2011.

THE LAST MEETING
2012 – Mercyhurst 24, Edinboro 21
Mercyhurst scored with just under seven minutes remaining to avoid Edinboro's upset bid and make it five years in a row that the visiting team has won in the series. The Fighting Scots fell behind 14-0 after one quarter, but Branden Williams fueled the comeback. The senior cornerback blocked a field goal, and then later got Edinboro on the scoreboard when he blocked a punt, scooped it up and covered the final nine yards for a touchdown. Cody Harris tied the game just before the half on a one-yard run, and Edinboro grabbed a 21-14 lead when Harris directed a 16-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a spectacular diving catch by Kevin Sonnie for a seven-yard touchdown. With a strong wind at their back, the Lakers would score the final ten points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. The backbreaker was a 75-yard pass from backup quarterback Alec Swartz to Paris Bruner, who enjoyed a career day with six catches for 187 yards. On the next play Brandon Brown-Dukes scored from a yard out for the winning score midway through the fourth quarter. The Scots ran for a season-high 158 yards, but threw for just 88 yards. Harris accounted for 77 yards rushing on 22 carries. Brown-Dukes was held to 64 yards on 29 carries but scored a pair of touchdowns. The Lakers did most of their damage through the air, finishing with 298 yards passing.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Slippery Rock 44, Edinboro 20
Edinboro struggled to slow down a Slippery Rock offense that came in leading the PSAC?and ranked in the top ten in scoring offense and total offense. SRU would end the day with 637 total yards, the fourth-highest total ever vs. Edinboro. The Rock also benefited from a strong wind that blew from one end of the field to the other. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead on drives that covered 47, 54 and 45 yards. Despite the huge offensive output, the Fighting Scots came up with five turnovers, but could not take advantage of them. Edinboro would get on the board thanks to a spectacular 69-yard punt return by Ben Eisel. SRU would go up 31-7 less than two minutes into the second half, but a 71-yard pass from Jon Girvin to Darren Massey, followed by a five-yard scoring run by Girvin, closed the deficit to 31-20 with 13:53 to play. Slippery Rock would answer with 85 and 80 yards drives to put the game away. Girvin attempted 51 passes, the fourth-highest single-game total, completing 20 for 214 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Unfortunately, he was also the leading rusher with 29 yards as the Scots were held to 64 yards on the ground.

Indiana(Pa.) 28, Mercyhurst 6
The Crimson Hawks relied on a strong defensive effort to halt Mercyhurst's three-game winning streak. IUP held the Lakers to 257 total yards and just a pair of Steven Wakefield field goals. Laker quarterbacks Anthony Vendemia and Alec Swartz combined to complete just 7 of 27 passes for 58 yards with a pair of interceptions. With a strong wind blowing, three of IUP's four touchdown drives covered 47 yards or less. The Crimson Hawks would finish with just 310 yards of offense.


HEAD COACHES
EDINBORO
Head Coach: Scott Browning (Ohio State '81)
Record at Edinboro: 53-33, eighth year
Career Record: 53-33, eighth year

Scott Browning (Ohio State '81) took over as Edinboro's 13th head coach on January 5, 2006, and in his first six seasons he tied the record for most wins by a coach during that period. Browning is now in his eighth season with a 53-33 record. With the season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill McDonald. He is now one win away from tying McDonald for second in career victories. Browning was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football when he was hired as head coach, serving as an assistant coach for the previous twenty years. While at Edinboro he has coached the offensive linemen, defensive backs and running backs, along with serving as the offensive coordinator. Browning became the first head coach at Edinboro to debut with a win since McDonald in 1969 when the Fighting Scots opened the 2006 season with a 28-14 win at West Chester. He went on to lead Edinboro to a 6-5 finish, the most wins ever by a first-year coach. That was followed by a 7-4 finish in 2007. His next two Fighting Scot editions recorded a school-record tying nine wins. in 2008 Edinboro ended the year at 9-2 and was ranked 20th in the final AFCA?Top 25. The Fighting Scots had a 9-4 record in 2009, making the NCAA?playoffs for the first time in his tenure. Edinboro would end the year 24th in the AFCA?poll. The Boro posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011. Last year's 4-6 finish represented Browning's first losing season as head coach.

MERCYHURST
Head Coach: Marty Schaetzle (Bucknell '83)
Record at Mercyhurst: 59-70, 12th year
Career Record: 59-70, 12th year
Marty Schaetzle (Bucknell '83) is in his 12th season at the helm of the Lakers, and has a 59-70 career record. He has surpassed current Mercyhurst Director of Athletics Joe Kimball as the longest tenured football coach at the Hurst, and his 59 wins represent a school record. Three years ago he guided Mercyhurst to the finest season in school history, winning the PSAC?Championship and reaching the Super Regional One Championship Game. The Lakers finished with a 10-3 record and was recognized as the PSAC West?Coach of the Year and Don Hansen Football Gazette Co-Coach of the Year. A year ago he led the Lakers to a 9-2 finish. Schaetzle took over the Mercyhurst program after working as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Bucknell, for five years.

RADIO/TV
Radio: WFSE?FM 88.9 -- The Edinboro-Mercyhurst game can be heard live on WFSE FM?88.9, with Mike Telek and Jeff Snyder providing the commentary.
TV: America One
Twitter updates at @BoroAthletics


THE GAME STORY
Edinboro and Mercyhurts renew acquaintances in a local rivalry with a very odd twist. The visiting team has won the last five meetings, or every contest since the Lakers joined the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in 2008. The games have also been hotly-contested, with three of those five meetings decided by three points or less. That includes last year's 24-21 win for Mercyhurst at Edinboro. Both teams come into the game with identical 4-4 overall records and 2-3 in the PSAC?West.

The rollercoaster ride that has been the 2013 season for Edinboro continued last Saturday as the Fighting Scots followed up a 36-30 win at 22nd-ranked Indiana(Pa.) with a 44-20 setback to Slippery Rock. The Rock came in ranked 22nd in the D2Football.com Top 25 and possessing one of the top offenses in Division II. The Edinboro defense actually held SRU a field goal below its season scoring average and was helped by five turnovers, but Slippery Rock still totaled 637 yards in offense. Edinboro finished with 278 yards in total offense. SRU shut down the ground game (64 yards), forcing redshirt freshman quarterback Jon Girvin to the air 51 times. He would complete 20 passes. Such are the travails of a very young team.

Edinboro pulled off one of its best wins in the Browning Era with the 36-30 upset at IUP. It snapped a three-game losing streak to IUP and marked the first home loss for the Crimson Hawks in almost two years. The win was the first against a nationally-ranked opponent since 2010, when Edinboro started the season with a 20-19 win at seventh-ranked West Liberty.

Mercyhurst had been one of the hottest teams in the PSAC until meeting up with Indiana(Pa.) last week. The Lakers had run off three straight wins, averaging 54.7 points per game in those three contests. IUP cooled off the Lakers, handing them a 28-6 defeat. The defenses ruled, as IUP held Mercyhurst to 257 yards while managing just 310 yards. Like Edinboro, the Lakers played in a strong wind. Three of IUP's four scoring drives covered less than 50 yards. Mercyhurst will be playing its final home game before heading out on the road for its final two games.

Edinboro and Mercyhurst have played four common opponents -- Gannon, Indiana(Pa.), Slippery Rock and Seton Hill. Both defeated a struggling Seton Hill squad, and both felt the brunt of Slippery Rock's high-powered attack. The other two results were vastly different. Edinboro won at IUP while Mercyhurst suffered a home loss to the Crimson Hawks, and the Fighting Scots suffered a 55-14 defeat at Gannon, while five days later Mercyhurst handed the Golden Knights a 51-21 defeat.

The Fighting Scots have battled a host of injuries all year long. Many of the injured have returned, although Chris Mitchell and Kyle Matula, projected to be two-thirds of the starting linebackers corps, have played a combined four games. Two-time All-PSAC?West performer Cody Harris was lost for the season after two games, and tailback D'Andrea Vaughn has been in and out of the lineup. He missed the Slippery Rock game. Wide receiver Kevin Sonnie went down for the second time this year against The Rock.

In addition to the numerous injuries, turnovers have proven a major story in 2013. The Fighting Scots have turned the ball over just four times in their four victories, but 11 times in the three losses, including five against both Bloomsburg and California(Pa.).
Cornerback Devin Ghafoor was named the PSAC?West Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks. He blocked a punt against IUP which was returned for a touchdown, along with intercepting two passes, breaking up another pass, and registering five tackles.

Edinboro was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC?West in the coaches' preseason poll, while Mercyhurst was chosen second.

Edinboro head coach Scott Browning needs one more win to tie Bill McDonald for second place in career wins at Edinboro. He became just the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 career wins with the Walsh victory. Now in his eighth season at the helm, the Fighting Scots are 53-32 under Browning. McDonald won 54 games in ten seasons.

Three of Edinboro's six losses in 2012 came to nationally-ranked teams, and the Scots' first defeat in 2013 was also to a ranked outfit. Edinboro dropped a 47-35 decision to 15th-ranked Bloomsburg. The Huskies are now 7-0 and ranked sixth in the latest AFCA?Top 25.


Browning Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"Slippery Rock is the best team we've played. They're firing on all cylinders right now. We did some uncharacteristic things. We dropped passes and we didn't play up front as well as we have all year on offense. Defensively we missed tackles and sometimes were misaligned. You can't do that against a good football team."


Browning Comments ... on the Lakers
"Mercyhurst was on a roll until they ran into IUP. A lot of people thought this was their year. They're very strong offensively. They're very good up front and have three tailbacks as good as we'll see. They have a senior quarterback who does a very good job managing the game and can make the throws, too. Defensively, schematically they present problems. They always seem to be in the right position."