Overall analysis
Mercyhurst College came, saw and pulled off the upset Thursday night.
The Lakers came back from an 11-point, second-half deficit to beat the No. 15-ranked Edinboro Scots at Sox Harrison Stadium. The PSAC West win does more than guarantee the Lakers a winning record for the first time under seven-year coach Marty Schaetzle.
Simply put, the Lakers were the more aggressive team as they got three turnovers and pressured junior quarterback Trevor Harris in completing less than 50 percent of his passes for the first time in his career. Mercyhurst will now take on No. 6 California next Saturday to determine which team will earn a spot in the PSAC title game.

Key plays
1. Mercyhurst forced two fumbles on consecutive possessions, but the first set up the Lakers’ go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Harris was scrambling for a first down when Mercyhurst senior defensive end Zac Wild stripped him of the ball.

2. After Demond McDonald recovered the Harris fumble, Mercyhurst senior tailback Richard Stokes scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. Stokes broke two tackles and outran Edinboro defenders to the right corner of the Edinboro to put the Lakers up 24-21.

3. The Scots had a chance to win the game, but Denayne Dixon dropped a touchdown on a 3rd-and-goal play from the Mercyhurst 8-yard line. The Scots decided to kick the field goal on fourth down, but Theo Hall blocked the attempt with 23 seconds left in the game.

Key stats
1. The Lakers got three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception). Junior quarterback Trevor Harris hasn’t thrown an interception in 110 pass attempts before Hall picked him off to set up a touchdown for the Lakers to take a 10-7 halftime lead.

2. Edinboro was 0-for-2 on field goal attempts. True freshman Merle Bouchat missed 33-yarder right before the end of the first half while Alex Romanias had his 25-yarder blocked by Hall late in the second half.

3. Mercyhurst won despite gaining only 194 yards of total offense and going 3-of-12 on 3rd-down conversions. Edinboro lost despite having two players go for over 100 yards (Ulysee Davis – 107, Houston Brown – 106) and possessing the ball for 35 minutes.

Top players
1. Theo Hall (Mercyhurst) – The senior cornerback blocked a game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter, intercepted Harris and returned three kickoffs for 90 yards. His 49-yard kickoff return and 46-yard interception return set up touchdown drives for Mercyhurst.

2. Richard Stokes (Mercyhurst) – The senior tailback rushed for 91 of his 122 yards in the second half. His 31-yard score put the Lakers ahead for good. He tied his own single-season school records for rushing touchdowns (13) and total touchdowns (14).

3. Zac Wild and Ian Wild (Mercyhurst) – The two brothers totaled 21 tackles. Wild forced a fumble.

4. Dave Stallard (Mercyhurst) - The Meadville native scored twice for the Lakers. He recovered a fumble in the endzone and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Kensy.

Flop players

1. Trevor Harris (Edinboro) – Playing through pain of bruised ribs, the junior quarterback lost a fumble that set up Mercyhurst’s go-ahead touchdown drive. His interception set up another touchdown drive for the Lakers. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes (16-of-33) for the first time in his career.

2. Edinboro special teams – The Scots did block a punt that set up a touchdown drive, but they missed two field goals and allowed 96 yards on four kickoff returns. Hall’s 49-yard kickoff return set up a touchdown drive. On the play, the Scots were called for a 15-yard facemask penalty that put the ball at the Edinboro 24.

3. Denayne Dixon – The senior tight end Caught a touchdown to put Edinboro up, 21-10, in the second half, but dropped a game winner in the fourth quarter.

They said it.
“We bended, but we didn’t break. We had to come out here with a winner’s mentality. Not even before we came on the field. When we woke up this morning. Even last night, we had to have a winner’s mentality that from kickoff, we knew we had to dominate this game. We weren’t going to stop and we weren’t going to step off this field without a victory – Mercyhurst sophomore defensive end Fred Hale, who recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter.

“We knew the quarterback was their best player. We said he was the head to their giant, you know. We had to cut off the head to kill the giant. That’s what we had to do.” – Mercyhurst senior defensive end Zac Wild talking about Edinboro junior Trevor Harris.

“Our season was on the line. I told Adam Brown I was going to get this. It was all about effort on that one. Nothing special. A lot of it had to do with their blocking scheme, but at the same time, a lot of it has to do with effort. If I tell myself I’m going to go get it, if I can believe it, then I’ve got to believe that no one can stop us from getting the block.” – Mercyhurst senior cornerback Theo Hall on the game-saving blocked field goal.

“We’re taking the right steps in this conference. For the seniors, we’ve been waiting for this for a while. We have a chance to win our conference with this being our first year in the conference. It’s something we’ve all worked hard for and it’s been a long time coming, man. We’ve been waiting for this. ” Mercyhurst senior linebacker Jim Kokrak.

“We did everything we had to do, but we still could barely win because I really think this was the like when the (New York) Giants and (Buffalo) Bills played in the Super Bowl? We had just as much ability and chance of beating them by one point as they had a chance to beat us by 25 points because they have that much firepower.” – Mercyhurst coach Marty Schaetzle.

“We just never got in rhythm I don’t think on offense or defense. I don’t know if we weren’t prepared, but we didn’t play well. We saved our worst game on both sides of the ball for one day in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams. Not to take anything away from Mercyhurst. I don’t mean that. The credit goes to them.” Edinboro coach Scott Browning said.

“I just don’t think we came ready to play. It’s just that simple. You just wish you could rewind time and play with the urgency we played with in that last minute and half the entire game, but you know, you can’t really do much. Whatever happens, that was in God’s plan. This was God’s will for this to happen. Tip my cap to Mercyhurst. Good for them. It’s tough.” – Edinboro junior quarterback Trevor Harris said.

“It’s hard. I’ve got to give them credit. Hats off to them. They came in here and played a great football game.” – Edinboro senior defensive end Mike Enoch about Mercyhurst.

“I was just thinking just get the first down, but coach always tells me if it’s there, take it. He always tells me he remembers the O.J. Simpson run when they were down. It was fourth and one. He went like 90 something yards, 80 something yards. I was just thinking like, let me get this first down, keep the chains moving and if it’s possible, run for a touchdown – Mercyhurst senior tailback Richard Stokes about his game-winning touchdown.

Next: Mercyhurst will have eight days to get ready for next Saturday’s game against California (7-1, 5-0) while Edinboro plays at Clarion (2-6, 1-4) next Saturday.

– Duane Rankin