ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon-Mercyhurst rivalry lived up to its billing Saturday night. The two teams combined for 816 yards of total offense and 43 fourth-quarter points. In the process, Mercyhurst held off a late Gannon rally to post a 35-32 victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 3,500 at Gannon University Field.

Gannon led 10-7 at halftime on Jeremy Ditzler's (Erie, Pa./Iroquois) 22-yard field with 8:46 to play in the first half. It was Ditzler's 10th field goal of the season, tying the school single-season record set by Brendan McNicholas in 2004.

Mercyhurst came out of the halftime locker room on fire as Richard Stokes found the endzone three times. His third with 10:22 remaining in the contest gave the Lakers a 28-10 lead.

Gannon fought back, scoring two consecutive touchdowns to cut the deficit to 28-25. Bob Bartley (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) netted the first one with a three-yard run. The sophomore then hit Brig Van Etten (Novelty, Ohio/West Geauga) from 10 yards out with 1:46 to play.

Following a failed onside kick, Stokes needed just one play to record his fifth touchdown. This one came on a 43-yard jaunt. However, Gannon did not quit and put one more score on the board as Bartley hit Levar Goff (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) on an eight-yard scoring play as time expired.

Gannon led in almost every statistical category except the scoreboard. The Golden Knights held advantages in first downs (24-16), total yards (468-348), passing yards (301-169), and time of possession (32:56-27:04).

Jon Richardson (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) led the Gannon ground attack with 85 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries. Bartley excelled through the air, going 22-of-37 for 266 yards and two scores. Goff was the main target, hauling in six passes for 121 yards and one touchdown. Van Etten also had six catches for 61 yards.

Defensively, Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Harvest Preparatory) led the way with nine tackles. Matthew Neal-Mink (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) added eight stops.

Gannon dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division with Saturday's loss. Mercyhurst improved to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play with its third consecutive victory against the Golden Knights. Gannon returns to action Saturday, October 18 against nationally-ranked California (Pa.) at Gannon University Field. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For a complete box score from Saturday's Gannon-Mercyhurst football game, please click here.