• Score:  Edinboro 28, Mercyhurst 25
• Records:  Edinboro (4-3, 2-2 PSAC West), Mercyhurst (3-4, 2-2 PSAC West) 
• Location:  Edinboro, Pa. – Sox Harrison Stadium
• The Short Story:  An opportunistic Edinboro team celebrated Homecoming with a 28-25 win over Mercyhurst. Three Mercyhurst fumbles led to short drives, and redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Tomko guided the Fighting Scots on a 75-yard drive. Making his first career start, Tomko scored on a pair of three-yard runs. Walter Fletcher accounted for the other two scores on touchdown runs of 10 and one-yard runs. Fletcher finished with his fifth 100-yard game of the season with 132 yards. The defense limited Mercyhurst to 285 yards, with Edinboro finishing with a season-low 231 yards in total offense.    

• Box Score:  Click Here

• Edinboro picked up its first break of the game on the first possession of the contest. The Fighting Scots took the opening kickoff and drove to midfield before being forced to punt. Mike Cushma's punt was muffed by Mercyhurst, with Zuril Hendrick recovering at the Laker 19. Four plays later the Fighting Scots owned a 7-0 lead, with Andrew Tomko scoring his first career touchdown on a three-yard run with 10:44 left in the first quarter.
• Mercyhurst would take the ensuing kickoff and march 65 yards on nine plays. The Lakers would knot the score at 7-7 on a three-yard touchdown run by Grayson Taylor with 6:18 in the period. Taylor carried four times for 30 yards on the drive.
• Tomko would score on his second three yard run with 3:45 left in the first quarter to cap Edinboro's longest drive of the day. The six-play, 75-yard drive showcased an incredible 16-yard run by Walter Fletcher, who avoided a pair of tackles and sprinted outside.
• After leading 14-7 after one quarter, Mercyhurst would lead 17-14 at the half. The Lakers used a 14-play, 59-yard drive that took 7 minutes, 49 seconds to pull to within 14-10. Mercyhurst drove inside the Edinboro 20 before the Fighting Scots' defense stiffened and held the Lakers to a 25-yard field goal by Mark Shafer.
• The Lakers grabbed their first lead of the game following the first of two Tomko interceptions. Dante' Redwood returned the pickoff 63 yards to the EU 2. On the next play, Taylor powered in for a two-yard touchdown and a 17-14 lead.
  Edinboro put together a late first-half drive to the Mercyhurst 21, but Tomko was intercepted by Tarique Ellis at the Mercyhurst 17 in the final 30 seconds.
• Edinboro caught its second big break of the game two plays into the third quarter. Doug Altavilla completed a short pass to Joe Carbone, who would fumble the ball. Maurice Sims recovered the fumkble and returned it 16 yards to the Mercyhurst 10. On the next play, Fletcher scored the first of his two touchdowns, bursting up the middle for a 10-yard TD. Cushma's PAT gave Edinboro the lead for good at 21-17 with 13:56 left in the third period.
• Another Mercyhurst miscue gave Edinboro a short field late in the third quarter. Altavilla missed connections on a handoff, as Derek Dorr forced the fumble. Ethan Upperco picked it up the ball and ran 10 yards to the Mercyhurst 28. The Scots needed 11 plays to cover the 28 yards, and actually scored twice. Fletcher and Tomko took turns running the ball to the one, with Fletcher scoring on a one-yard run. A penalty pushed Edinboro back to the 16, and the Scots would need four more plays to reach the end zone again. On 3rd-and-goal from the 10, Tomko scrambled and ended up picking up nine yards to the one. On fourth down, Fletcher took a handoff from Ta'Nauz Gregory from the wildcat formation, and sprinted to the left pylon. The redshirt sophomore's second touchdown gave Edinboro a 28-17 lead with 11 seconds remaining.
• Mercyhurst put together two long drives in the fourth quarter, but could score just once. The first featured 13 plays but ended at the Edinboro eight yard line. On a 3rd-and-one play, Dorr threw Taylor for a four-yard loss.  Upperco then chased Altavilla into a completion on fourth down.
• After a three-and-out by Edinboro, Mercyhurst regained possession at their own 36 with 5:48 remaining. The Lakers drove 64-yards on 13 plays as Altavilla completed eight passes. The last was a three-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Novak with 2:32 remaining. The lakers went for two and pulled to within a field goal at 28-25 on an Altavilla pass to Zach Smith.
• With just one timeout remaining, Mercyhurst was forced to attempt an onside kick. The kick was recovered by offensive tackle Trey Staunch near midfield. The Fighting Scots gained one first down to run out the clock.           
   

• Edinboro won its second straight Homecoming game after three straight losses. A Homecoming crowd of 4,548 took in the first-ever meeting between Edinboro and Mercyhurst on Edinboro's Homecoming.
• The Fighting Scots also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Lakers at Sox Harrison Stadium.  While making it two straight wins over Mercyhurst, Edinboro won for the first time over the Lakers at home since 2000.
• Andrew Tomko made the first start of his career at quarterback. The redshirt freshman was a record-setting quarterback at Sharon High School. He entered last week's game at Gannon midway through the second quarter for his first extended action. Tomko completed 7-of-16 passes for 52 yards with the two interceptions. He was more of a threat running the ball, rushing for 33 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries. Jake Sisson missed his first start after 17 straight starts.
• Walter Fletcher enjoyed his fifth 100-yard game of the season, and third straight, finishing with 132 yards on 26 carries. He now has 958 yards rushing, needing 42 yards to become Edinboro's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2004. Fletcher entered the game ranked second in the PSAC and fourth in Division II in rushing yards.
• James Clark saw his string of five straight games with at least eight receptions. The junior wide receiver would catch six passes for 49 yards. He also had a string of back-to-back games with 100 yards receiving come to an end. Clark came into the contest ranked first in the PSAC and sixth in Division II in receptions per game.
• Neither team reached 300 yards in total offense, with Mercyhurst finishing with 285 yards and Edinboro 231. Doug Altavilla completed 25-of-37 passes, but for just 172 yards. Brad Novak caught six passes for 62 yards, with fullback Theo Blackston adding five catches for 31 yards.     
• Edinboro won the turnover battle for the first time since week number one, when the Fighting Scots forced six Lake Erie turnovers and turned the ball over three times. Mercyhurst lost three fumbles, while Edinboro was guilty of two interceptions. 
• Trey Hall ended the game as Edinboro's leading tackler with 11 tackles. It marked the first time a defensive back did not lead the team in tackles.
• The last time Edinboro won a game without throwing a touchdown pass was October 5, 2013 in a 31-6 win over Lock Haven. (research provided by Tom Reisenweber, Erie Times News)
• Trey Staunch came to Edinboro after an outstanding career as a quarterback at West Middlesex High School. He was moved to tight end upon his arrival, then last year was moved inside to right tackle, where he has started 18 straight games. On Saturday, the junior was part of the front row of the "hands team". He recovered Mercyhurst's on-side kick with 2:32 remaining in the game to seal the win.
• Edinboro remained undefeated at home at 4-0. The defense has allowed just 41 points in those four games. The temperature at kickoff was in the low 70's, the warmest at home this year.
   

• James Clark continues to climb the career receiving charts. He caught six passes vs. Mercyhurst to move into 10^th place in career receptions with 129. In addition, he climbed two spots into 12^th place in career receiving yards with 1,803. Clark has 56 receptions this season, which ranks eighth in a season.
• Walter Fletcher now has 1,507 yards to move up two spots into 16th place in career rushing. Fletcher ran for 132 yards and now has five games of 100-or-more yards rushing in 2017 and seven for his career. He boosted his season total to 958 yards, which ranks 16th in a season. He needs 42 yards to become the first 1,000-yard rusher in a season since Andre Burke set the school record with 1,713 yards in 2004.      
  

UP NEXT

• Edinboro plays back-to-back home games, with Slippery Rock visiting Sox Harrison Stadium in Saturday, October 21. Kickoff is set for 12 noon as the Fighting Scots wrap up a string of four straight games in Erie County.
• Slippery Rock comes in with a 6-1 record after suffering its first loss on Saturday. In a matchup of top 10 teams, third-ranked IUP defeated ninth-ranked Slippery Rock, 34-17.
• Edinboro snapped a six-game losing streak to Slippery Rock a year ago, winning 37-35 on the final play of the game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.