EDINBORO Fighting Scots (5-1, 2-1 PSAC West) at MERCYHURST Lakers (2-4, 1-2 PSAC West) 
Date: Saturday, October 15, 2016
Site: Erie, Pa.
Stadium: Tullio Field (2,300)
Kickoff: 12 noon
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/hurst/football/
Radio: WFSE 88.9 (Streamed on www.edinboronow.com)
TV: None

Edinboro Game Notes
Mercyhurst Game Notes
 
The Game Story
 
After handing Gannon a 41-17 defeat last Saturday, Edinboro now looks for a sweep of its Erie County rivals with a win at Mercyhurst. The Fighting Scots are 5-1, the best start since the 2007 season. They are riding an offense that ranks third in the PSAC and fourth in Division II with 43.3 ppg. Mercyhurst owns a deceiving 2-4 record. Two of the Lakers' losses have come to nationally-ranked opponents, including a 37-25 loss at 19th-ranked Slippery Rock last Saturday night. This is the first meeting between Justin Lustig and Marty Schaetzle. Both are Bucknell grads, and Schaetzle coached Lustig in the late '90's.  

The Justin Lustig Era is off to a fast start at 5-1 after the 2015 squad went 0-11.  Edinboro opened the season with road wins at Saint Joseph's(In.) (31-30) and at Lock Haven (44-38), followed by a classic 54-51 double overtime win over West Chester in the home opener. The Fighting Scots opened PSAC West action with a 56-28 loss to ninth-ranked Indiana(Pa.) three weeks ago, but righted themselves nicely with an impressive 62-14 win at Clarion.  That was followed by last week's 41-17 Homecoming win over Gannon. The last time Edinboro got off to a 5-1 start was 2009. 

Justin Lustig was the first head coach at Edinboro to win his first three games, and is now the first head coach to win five of his first six games. Lustig and former head coach Scott Browning had been the only Edinboro head coaches to win their first two games and also their first two road games. Lustig is Edinboro's 14th head coach. 

The Mercyhurst game has special meaning to Justin Lustig. Lustig is a 2000 graduate of Bucknell, while Mercyhurst head coach Marty Schaetzle graduated from Bucknell in 1983 and served as an assistant coach for the Bison for five years, including offensive coordinator in 1999.

Mercyhurst comes in with a 2-4 record, and is 1-2 in the PSAC?West. However, two of the Lakers' losses have come to nationally-ranked teams -- 48-0 at sixth-ranked Ashland and 37-25 last week at Slippery Rock. The Lakers own a 23-19 win at Kutztown, a team which is now leading the PSAC?East. In addition, Mercyhurst was a one-point loser to Clarion when they scored in the final seconds, but had to go for two with their holder hurt. They would fall to the Golden Eagles, 35-34.  

Edinboro's win at Saint Joseph's snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Fighting Scots after Edinboro suffered its first winless season since 1951 and the seventh in school history.  The Fighting Scots finished 0-11 a year ago, the most losses in school history. The win also snapped a string of eight straight setbacks on the road dating back to October 2014. Edinboro has now won three straight games road games for the first time since 2007.

Edinboro enters the game ranked second in the PSAC and fifth in Division II in passing offense (344.3 ypg.). The Fighting Scots are third in the PSAC and fourth in the country in scoring offense at 43.3 ppg.

Edinboro was picked to finish eighth in the PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll after being picked to finish seventh a year ago.  Mercyhurst was picked sixth in the Western Division. At 2-1, the Fighting scots are one game behind PSAC?West leader California(Pa.).

The Fighting Scots returned a total of 15 starters from 2015 -- seven on offense, six on defense, and two specialists. However, the offense will be without leading rusher Cory Bell, who is out indefinitely with injuries.

Youth is featured on the 2016 roster, along with a touch of seniority. After having just five seniors in 2015, this year's roster has six redshirt seniors and nine seniors. However, 50 of the 83 players on the opening day roster have a year experience or less. That breaks down to 24 freshman, nine redshirt freshmen, and 17 sophomores. The youth was evident in the season opener, with two redshirt freshmen starting and a total of three true freshmen and six redshirt freshmen playing.

Edinboro has been riding an incredibly hot Jake Sisson. The junior quarterback has passed for 22 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions over the last five games, and has 24 TDs and 8 INTs on the season. He has been named the PSAC?West Offensive Player of the Week two of the last four weeks, and has been named the D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Week twice. He was responsible for a school-record seven touchdowns at Clarion. Sisson currently leads NCAA Division II in points responsible for (168) and is second in passing touchdowns (24). He ranks second in the PSAC and third nationally in yards passing (2,047) and passing yards per game (341.2), while ranking third in the conference and fourth nationally in total offense (361.7 ypg.).    


On Radio/TV
The Edinboro-Mercyhurst game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Drew Patrick providing the play-by-play and George Schmidt the commentary. The WFSE stream can be heard at www.edinboronow.com.  In addition, all Edinboro radio broadcasts will be aired by the Keystone Sports Network. The games will be broadcast on WWCB 1370 AM in Corry, Pa. and WLOA 1470 AM in Greenville, Pa. The Keystone Sports Network streams live at www.keystonesports.net.


The All-Time Series
Mercyhurst leads 7-5
The Fighting Scots won the first two meetings, but Mercyhurst has claimed the last three to take the lead in the series. For five straight years the visiting team had prevailed before Mercyhurst held the home field advantage with a 19-6 win at Tullio Field in 2013. The two teams met the last two years on Thursday night, with Mercyhurst prevailing 31-10 at Erie Veterans Stadium in 2014 and 38-38 at Sox Harrison Stadium last year.

The Last Meeting
2015 -- Mercyhurst 38, Edinboro 28 
Edinboro jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than four minutes into the game, but the Fighting Scots' offense struggled all night. Edinboro had just seven first downs and a season-low 206 total yards. Mitch Thomas gave the Scots a quick 7-0 lead with a 47-yard punt return for a touchdown. Cory Bell followed with a two-yard TD run after noseguard Josh Kibbie picked off his first career pass and returned it to the three. Mercyhurst would take a 17-14 halftime lead as Edinboro had 11 yards at the half. The Fighting Scots regained the lead at 21-17 on Jake Sisson's three-yard scoring run. The score came after a Zuril Hendrick fumble recovery at the Mercyhurst 25. Unfortunately, the Lakers ran off the next 21 points, starting with a 75-yard run by Richie Sanders. Sanders capped an 83-yard drive with a one-yard TD run, and the Lakers intercepted Sisson on the next play from scrimmage and scored four plays later. Edinboro closed the gap to 38-28 with 2:36 remaining on a 76-yard catch-and-run by Alex Caratelli from Sisson, but Mercyhurst was able to recover the ensuing onside kick. Caratelli had his third 100-yard game with 5 catches for 116 yards. Sisson completed 14 of 28 passes for 169 yards with a touchdown and 2 INTs. He was also the leading rusher with 28 yards as Edinboro ran for just 37 yards.  

 
Last Week
Edinboro 41, Gannon 17
The Fighting Scots, wearing throwback helmets from 1965, celebrated Homecoming in front of 5,662 fans with an impressive offensive showing, along with the top defensive effort of the year. Edinboro totaled a season-high 572 yards, including 400 through the air, while holding Gannon to 379 yards. That included limiting the Golden Knights to just 82 yards on the ground. they came in ranked second in the PSAC in rushing at 215.6 ypg.  In addition, Edinboro intercepted four passes and recorded six sacks.  Edinboro led 13-0 after one period on a Walter Fletcher one-yard TD run and a pair of Austin Reese field goals. They would boost the margin to 20-3 at the half thanks to a 41-yard touchdown connection from Jake Sisson to Alex Caratelli, and led 27-3 after three periods. Ta'Nauz Gregory caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Sisson for the lone points in the third quarter. The two teams exchanged a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with Fletcher scoring on a 21-yard run and Caratelli catching a 23-yard TD pass. Caratelli matched his career high with 13 receptions for 188 yards, while Gregory posted season-highs with 10 catches for 136 yards. Sisson would set career highs for completions (33) and attempts (56) while recording his second career 400-yard game. Fletcher powered the ground game with 135 yards on 13 carries, his second 100-yard effort.     
 
Slippery Rock 37, Mercyhurst 25
Mercyhurst fell behind 31-9 at the half, then put a scare into 19th-ranked Slippery Rock before suffering their third loss in the last four games. The Lakers pulled to within 31-23 late in the third quarter on a pair of Doug Altavilla touchdown passes, but SRU would score eraly in the fourth quarter to hold off the Lakers. Running back Richie Sanders racked up 292 all-purpose yards on 28 touches for the Lakers. He had 19 carries for 84 yards, three receptions for 42 yards and six kickoff returns for 166 yards.  Altavilla completed 19 of 30 passes for 208 yards with 3 TDs and an interception. Fullback Pierce Bauer hauled in two of those TD passes. 
 


The Coaches
Justin Lustig (Bucknell '00) took over as Edinboro's 14th head coach on January 11, 2016. This marks Lustig's first head coaching position after serving as an assistant coach at Ball State since 2011. A native of western Pennsylvania who played his high school football at nearby Cathedral prep, Lustig also has served as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, Eastern Illinois, Christopher Newport, and Villanova.  Lustig has been a part of four teams that earned bowl eligibility in eight years at the FBS level. He was an assistant on five teams that won conference championships in 14 years in the profession, including six NCAA playoff appearances and two bowl games. Five of the teams he has been associated with have been ranked in the top 25. Finally, he has helped develop 37 all-conference performers, including 12 at Ball State. Most recently, Lustig was the special teams coordinator/ running backs coach at Ball State since 2011, along with earning the title of assistant head coach prior to the 2015 season. The Cardinals played in two bowl games during Lustig's tenure. They faced UCF in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in 2012, then earned a spot in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl against Arkansas State. Ball State finished with a 10-3 record in 2013 and 9-4 in 2012. In addition, Ball State posted wins over four BCS conference teams -- Indiana twice, South Florida, and Virginia.     
 
Marty Schaetzle (Bucknell '83) is in his 15th season at the helm of the Lakers, and has a 76-84 career record.  He has surpassed current Mercyhurst Director of Athletics Joe Kimball as the longest-tenured football coach at the Hurst, and his 76 wins represent a school record.  In 2010, 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 he was recognized as the PSAC West?Coach of the Year and Don Hansen Football Gazette Co-Coach of the Year.  In 2012, 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.          
    

Lustig Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"I'm very proud of how our team is competing right now. We are playing with great confidence and energy, and our team is playing for each other. We still need to play more consistently in all three phases. We cannot afford to beat ourselves with penalties and turnovers." 


Lustig Comments ... on the Lakers
"I've always have had a great deal of respect for Coach Schaetzle, having played for him in the late 90's, and it will be a bit surreal coaching against him this Saturday. Mercyhurst is a very tough, well-coached football team that will present a very big challenge for our program."