The Mercyhurst football team brought home a win after competing in a game against the Clarion University Golden Eagles on Oct. 30, at 12:00 p.m. The game was played at Clarion and ended with a score for the Lakers, 38-20.

“We won the turnover battle, rushed the ball better and won situational football,” said head coach Martin Schaetzle.

The scoring started during the second quarter when Clarion had a 55-yard touchdown pass and scored the first touchdown of the game. The play resulted in a 95-yard drive and was the only time the Clarion offense would move the ball down the midfield.

The Lakers immediately fought back after the Golden Eagles 55-yard touchdown pass. They started at their own 29-yard line, and had a drive down the field that included a 24-yard run from freshman running back, David Alize.

The drive continued with two 20-yard passes caught by sophomore wide receiver, Rylan Davison. The touchdown pass was caught by senior tight end, Jason Armstrong. This touchdown brought the game to a tie.

The ball was back in the hands of the Golden Eagles. Due to the Lakers defense, the Golden Eagles were unable to keep a drive going and score points, which meant they had to punt the ball.

In Mercyhurst’s next drive, they took the lead with a 42-yard drive. The drive started with a 5 yard pass, then continued when Davison got five receptions for 58-yards.

Clarion rebounded when their offence got the ball again. During Clarion’s drive, the Lakers were flagged for four penalties, which helped Clarion obtain a 61-yard drive and eventually a touchdown. This touchdown allowed the Golden Eagles to tie the game again. With a very back and forth second quarter, there were only three minutes remaining.

The Lakers were able to pull out a 10-play drive that ended with a 9-yard rush from sophomore wide receiver Trevon Tate. This drive required the Lakers to take two timeouts, which helped the Lakers reach their lead. The final score of the first half of the game was 21-14 in favor of Mercyhurst.

Despite Mercyhurst’s previous losses Coach Schaetzle did not alter any of the team’s strategies going into the game.

“We work from our base offensive, defensive and special teams schemes each week and also add wrinkles that we feel will be effective. The result was positive but we have corrections to make to improve for our next game,” said Schaetzle.

Mercyhurst came out with even more confidence in the third quarter which resulted in the Lakers being the only team to score points. The scoring started five minutes into the quarter when the Lakers scored three points with a good field goal kick. Senior line-backer Ryan Funa intercepted the ball from Clarion’s offense and ran it back 33-yards for a Mercyhurst touchdown with only .28 seconds left in the third quarter.

The score after the touchdown was 31-14 with the Lakers in the lead. The Lakers were not done scoring after the third quarter. With 7:57 left in the game, sophomore wide receiver Cameron Barmore caught a pass from senior quarterback Joe Carter. This play was the first catch for Barmore in the game.

Carter finished 15-25 with 202 yards in the air. Clarion also scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter making the final score 38-20.

“It was a great win for our team and seniors as we look to finish our season strong,” said Schaetzle.

The Lakers football team will take the field again for their second to last game of the season on Nov. 6, at 12:00 p.m. to face Gannon University at Saxon Stadium.