EDINBORO, Pa. — The Edinboro football team behind a 100-yard rushing performance from
Jerry Dinkins III defeated visiting Seton Hill 31-21 Saturday afternoon inside Sox Harrison Stadium.
The Scots had a promising opening drive, including a 16-yard third-down completion from
Nico Marchitelli to Dinkins, before a third-down sack forced an
Ethan Schlief punt.
Shamarr Joppy's third-down sack helped stop the Griffins' first possession, and the Scots turned the next drive into points. Dinkins broke a 43-yard run and scored from 5 yards out at 4:59 to give the Scots a 7-0 lead. The Griffins came back on their next series, starting at their 45 after Zach Schrockman's 41-yard kickoff return and getting completions of 44 and 26 yards from Boden St Marie to Jayden Llanos, with the second going for a touchdown knotting the game 7-7.
The Scots pushed back into scoring range late in the first with Marchitelli completions of 29 yards to
Jacob Coburn and 20 yards to
Jeremiah Neeley. Facing fourth-and-4 at the Griffins 24 on the opening play of the second quarter, Marchitelli hit Neeley for 12 yards setting Edinboro up first and goal. Marchitelli connected with
Clayton Bezon for a 15-yard touchdown at 13:38 putting the Scots back up 14-7. The Griffins moved from their 40 to the Scots 24 on their next full drive, but a personal foul pushed the Griffins back and
Elijah Wentz intercepted a third-and-24 pass at the Scots 7-yard line. Edinboro drove out from their own end with help from Marchitelli's 30-yard run before punting. The Griffins' final possession reached the Scots 33 before Rayyan Bataineh missed a 51-yard field goal at the horn, leaving the Scots ahead 14-7 at halftime.
The Scots forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter, with
Sunday Ikegwuonu batting the third down pass to force the punt. Marchitelli hit Coburn for 36 yards to the Griffins 8, and
Jairo Williams capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run pushing the advantage to 21-7. The Griffins moved into Scots territory on their next possession behind Ahmad Ward's 28-yard run, but
Parker Hoff broke up a third-down pass and Bataineh missed a 49-yard field goal at 8:05. The Scots responded with a 68-yard drive, using Jerry Dinkins' 19-yard run and Marchitelli's 37-yard completion to Bezon before Marchitelli found Neeley for a 10-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead. The Griffins later scored on Boden St Marie's 19-yard pass to Jayden Llanos with 30 seconds left to close the quarter at 28-14.
After the Scots' opening possession reached their own 40 it stalled out and ended in a punt. Seton Hill close the gap to 28-21 when Ahmad Ward broke a 77-yard touchdown run. Edinboro answered on the next drive behind Jerry Dinkins' 38-yard run and
Nico Marchitelli's 17-yard scamper, setting up
Tanner Bruzda's 29-yard field goal at 7:26 for a 31-21 lead. The Scots would hold keep the Griffins off the board the rest of the way for the victory.
Marchitelli completed 16 of 24 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns and added 66 rushing yards. Dinkins rushed 15 times for 118 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 42 yards. Coburn finished with five receptions for 86 yards.
Amari Jones led the defense with 10 tackles.
Ahmad Ward rushed for 180 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries and added two receptions for 10 yards. Jayden Llanos caught nine passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Boden St Marie completed 16 of 36 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns while adding 12 rushing yards. Lucas Simone recorded a team-high 13 tackles with one sack.
The Fighting Scots are back in action on Saturday when they travel to No. 7 Slippery Rock. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m.
