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Bischof, Ryan vs Mercyhurst
Matt Durisko
Ryan Bischof scored Edinboro's first touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone.
44
Winner Mercyhurst MER 3-3 , 1-2
23
Edinboro EDIN 1-5 , 1-2
Winner
Mercyhurst MER
3-3 , 1-2
44
Final
23
Edinboro EDIN
1-5 , 1-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MER Mercyhurst 7 13 10 14 44
EDIN Edinboro 17 0 0 6 23

Game Recap: Football | | Bob Shreve, Sports Information Director

Gregory Nears Receiving Marks as Mercyhurst Spoils Boro Homecoming, 44-23

THE GAME FACTS
  • Score:  Mercyhurst 44, Edinboro 23
  • Records:  Edinboro (1-5, 1-2 PSAC West), Mercyhurst (3-3, 1-2 PSAC West) 
  • Location:  Edinboro, Pa. – Sox Harrison Stadium 
  • The Short Story:  Edinboro jumped out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter, but Mercyhurst would ultimately spoil Homecoming with a 44-23 win at Sox Harrison Stadium. The Lakers ran off 30 straight points to wear down the Fighting Scots, who played most of the game without starting quarterback Jordan Castelli, who was replacing injured starter Andrew Tomko. Edinboro's first two touchdowns came courtesy of the defense, as Ryan Bischof recovered a fumble in the end zone and Anthony Mendicino stripped a laker and returned a fumble 15 yards for six points. The final score was courtesy of a 43-yard connection from Levi Becker to Ta'Nauz Gregory. It was the first career touchdown pass for Becker, and the 31st touchdown reception for Gregory.   
GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The contest started with the first three scores all scored by the defense, and even the fourth score was attributable to a defensive play.  It all made for a 17-7 lead for Edinboro after just one quarter. The scoring began just two plays into the game. Doug Altavilla's lateral from the Mercyhurst 18 rolled to near the goal line, where the ball was tipped around by several players from both teams before linebacker Ryan Bischof fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown, the first of his career.    
  • Mercyhurst failed to gain a first down on its next possession, and punter Brendan Cole attempted a fake on 4th-and-7. He was brought down short of the line to gain, with Edinboro taking over at the MU 34. The Fighting Scots looked poised to make it 14-0, driving to the MU 15. However, Joseph Scro stepped in front of a Jordan Castelli pass at the 20 and raced 80 yards for a touchdown, and with 10:18 still left in the first quarter, it was tied at 7-7.
  • The Fighting Scots were forced to punt on their next possession, and Castelli was also forced out of the game with an injury. Corey Badaracco's 43-yard punt was fielded by Cortez Watson at the MU 26. Watson was knocked backward but continued to fight for yardage. At the MU 15, Anthony Mendicino stripped the ball from Watson and went the remaining 15 yards for a second fumble return for a score by the defense. It was the first career touchdown for the freshman, who was making his first start at free safety. The score gave Edinboro a 14-7 lead with 9:00 minutes left in the first quarter.
  • Mercyhurst had the ball for just two plays before suffering a third turnover. Brandon Anderson made a diving interception of Altavilla's pass to give the Scots the ball at the MU 41.
  • Levi Becker would enter at quarterback and help Edinboro boost its lead to 17-7. Facing a 4th-and-5 at the MU 36, Becker scrambled for nine yards, and a personal fould moved the ball to the MU 14. While the drive would stall at that point, redshirt freshman Vicente Arriagada came in and booted a 32-yard field goal for the 17-7 lead with 4:47 left in the quarter.
  • Unfortunately, Mercyhurst would run off the next 30 points. The Lakers took a 20-17 lead at the half with 13 second-quarter markers on a pair of long drives. The first was 13 plays for 92 yards, culminated by an 18-yard pass from Altavilla to Watson on a 4th-and-9 play. The second march covered 89 yards in nine plays. Altavilla threw his second touchdown pass of the afternoon, this one covering 12 yards to Jason Armstrong with 3:42 remaining in the half. Mark Shafer's extra point attempt was blocked by Myles Turner.
  • Mercyhurst would build its lead to 30-17 after three quarters. The Lakers picked up a safety midway through the third period when Badaracco was unable to field a low snap in the back of the end zone on a punt. A Fighting Scot would fall on it for a safety. The Lakers then took advantage of a long return on the free kick by standout running back Garrett Owens to score less than two minutes later. Owens' 47-yard return gave the Lakers the ball at the EU 25. Three plays later, Owens was in the end zone on a nine-yard scoring run with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
  • Owens would add a pair of scoring runs in the fourth quarter, sandwiching an Edinboro touchdown. The Lakers took advantage of a Becker interception to make it 30 points in a row as Mercyhurst had a short field for a 15-yard drive. Owens scored from three yards out with 13:39 left in the fourth quarter to make the deficit 37-17.
  • Edinboro answered with a six-play, 55-yard drive that began with a 36-yard kickoff return by Ta'nauz Gregory and ended with the senior wide receiver hauling in his 31st career touchdown reception. Becker accounted for his first career touchdown pass as he found Gregory with a short pass on the right sideline, and Gregory did the rest. He broke a tackle, sprinting down the sideline then cut to the middle, outracing several Mercyhurst defenders for a 43-yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion run by Becker failed to make it 37-23 with 10:38 remaining.   
  • Owens wrapped up the scoring following another Lakers' interception. He finished off a four-play, 50-yard drive, scoring his third touchdown on a four-yard run with 2:24 remaining in the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
  • While losing a second quarterback this year, the Edinboro offense continues tio struggle, finishing with 188 yards. Mercyhurst was able to hold the Fighting scots to just 31 yards on the ground. The Lakers ended the day with 337 yards, with 218 of that through the air.
  • A closer look at the statistics shows the Edinboro defense finally wore down late in the game. At halftime, both teams had 22 yards rushing. With Garrett Owens leading the way, Mercyhurst would finish the day with 119 yards on the ground. The total yards were also very close, with Mercyhurst showing 128 and Edinboro 99.
  • Both teams finished with three turnovers. Edinboro's all came on interceptions, while Mercyhurst lost a pair of fumbles to go with an interception. Edinboro was 4-of-16 on 3rd down conversions, and while the Lakers were at a similar percentage, they had just seven tries, converting two.
  • Jordan Castelli made his third career start in place of injured starter Andrew Tomko, but he would not make it through the first half before exiting with an injury. The redshirt sophomore completed 6-of-13 passes for 73 yards with an interception. Redshirt sophomore Levi Becker saw his first extended action and would complete 7-of-19 passes for 84 yards with a touchdown and 2 INTs.
  • The Edinboro ground game could not gain any traction as the Fighting Scots were held to 31 yards on 29 carries. Freshman Dorian Woody led the team in rushing with 36 yards on 17 carries.
  • Ta'Nauz Gregory led all receivers with 8 receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown.  Woody caught 3 passes but for just 5 yards. Andre Dowdell was held to one catch, but that was a 38-yarder for the redshirt senior. It was his fifth of 35-or-more yards in the last three games.
  • Doug Altavilla completed 18-of-27 passes for 202 yards with 2 TDs and an interception. Mercyhurst's all-time leading passer also caught a 16-yard pass. After a slow start, Garrett Owens ran for 103 yards and 3 TDs on 23 carries. Fellow running back Cortez Watson added 35 yards on the ground and caught 4 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Jason Armstrong, another running back, led the Lakers with 5 receptions for 68 yards and a TD.
  • Edinboro's top four tacklers were defensive backs. Aaron Rogers led the way with a career-high 11 tackles, including 1.5 for losses. Brandon Anderson added 7 stops, while Maurice Sims and Joshua Boyd had 6 tackles apiece. Anderson had a tackle for a loss and an interception
THE RECORD BOOK 
  • Ta'Nauz Gregory continued his assault on the record book. The senior wide receiver caught 8 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown, falling a yard short of his 11th career 100-yard game. He is second in career receptions with 203, pulling to within six of James Clark's record of 209. In addition, Gregory moved into second place in career receiving yards with 2,772. Ernest Priester holds the school record with 3,064 yards, leaving Gregory 292 yards from the record. Thanks to a 43rd-yard TD catch, Gregory now has 31 career receiving TDs. That is second all-time, trailing only Priester (35). Finally, Gregory now holds the record for career kickoff return yards with 1,887, moving past former record-holder Cleveland Pratt (1,844).
  • Levi Becker threw his first career touchdown pass, the 43-yarder to Gregory, after coming off the bench to replace starter Jordan Castelli.
  • Edinboro's first two scores were the result of the first career touchdowns for linebacker Ryan Bischof and defesnive back Anthony Mendicino. Bischof recovered a fumble in the end zone, while Mendicino stripped a Laker of the ball and returned it 15 yards in his first career start at free safety.  
  • Before scoring 17 points in the first quarter against Mercyhurst, Edinboro had scored just 12 points in the previous five games in the first quarter. 
  • The 1989 PSAC West championship team was recognized prior to the game. The team dominated the Western Division, with the lone losses in the regular season to Division IAA teams Liberty and Youngstown State. Edinboro made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, losing to defending national champion North Dakota State, 45-32. In addition, members of the Teams of the 1970's were honored before the game.     
UP NEXT
  • Edinboro plays for the second straight week at home and the third time in the last four weeks, hosting ninth-ranked Slippery Rock.  Kickoff is set for 12 noon at Sox Harrison Stadium.
  • Slippery Rock snapped a two-game winning streak by Edinboro in the series with a 59-24 win.           
  • Slippery Rock handed 16th-ranked Indiana(Pa.) a 45-42 defeat this afternoon in a battle of PSAC West powerhouses. SRU is now 6-0 overall and 3-0 in PSAC West action.  
 
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Players from the Teams of the 1970's and the 1989 PSAC West championship team were honored.
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