THE GAME FACTS
Score: Gannon 49, Mercyhurst 14
Records: Gannon (6-2, 4-1 PSAC West), Mercyhurst (2-6, 0-5 PSAC West)
Date: Saturday, October 22, 2022
Location: Erie, Pa. – McConnell Family Stadium
 
ERIE, Pa. – The Niagara Cup is back at Gannon! Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and the Gannon defense made sure of that. With Blanks rushing for 173 yards and 3 TDs and the Gannon defense forcing three turnovers and limiting crosstown-rival Mercyhurst to 224 total yards the Golden Knights cruised to a 49-14 victory on a sun-splashed day at McConnell Family Stadium. The final five minutes of the first half put Gannon in the driver's seat. Holding a 14-7 lead, Gannon drove 79 yards to take a 21-7 lead with 4:30 remaining. Less than two minutes later the defense left its imprint thanks to a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Three players later Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) intercepted a pass and returned it to the Mercyhurst 6. Two plays later and with just 45 seconds left in the half Gannon scored again and the lead was suddenly sitting at 35-7 at intermission. Gannon is now 6-2 ensuring a winning season for the first time since 2015. The win sets up an unlikely showdown for first place in the PSAC West with 13th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) visiting McConnell Family Stadium next Saturday.   
 
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Box Score:  Click Here
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Gannon served notice on the very first series as Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) returned the opening kickoff 53 yards to the Mercyhurst 38. Head coach Erik Raeburn followed with a steady dose of Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills). The senior running back carried on six straight plays, including a 32-yard burst to MU 1. Blanks scored the first of his three touchdowns on a one-yard run off right tackle and Gannon led 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
 
Mercyhurst responded with its own impressive drive but the Lakers came up empty thanks to a defensive stop. Facing a 4th-and-1 at the GU 5 Malachi Woody (Lynchburg, Va./Liberty Christian Academy) and Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) threw David Alize for a three-yard loss. The Lakers would reach paydirt on their next series as Joe Carter found Joe Kerbacher open behind the Gannon secondary for a 40-yard scoring pass. With 6:37 left in the first quarter the score was tied at 7-7.
 
The Golden Knights came right back and regained the lead for good with an impressive nine-play, 62-yard drive that featured a pair of Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast)-to-Donell "Tank" Mason completions for a total of 37 yards. An 18-yard run by Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. gave Gannon a first down at the one. A procedure penalty pushed the ball back five yards, but Blanks eventually scored his second touchdown on another one-yard run off right tackle with 2:02 left in the first quarter.
 
The score remained that way until Gannon blitzed the Lakers for three touchdowns in the final five minutes of the half, with Gannon forcing three turnovers during that period. The first score came on a six-play, 79-yard march that featured Blanks' second long run of the game. He went 57 yards on a 3rd-and-1 play down to the MU 13. Three plays later Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) threw the first of his two touchdown passes, with Jonathan Bowden (Palm Bay, Fla./Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy) making a fantastic diving catch for a six-yard TD pass. The redshirt freshman tight end made a stretching catch at the right front pylon and got both feet in.
 
Gannon's lead grew to 28-7 on Mercyhurst's next possession as Nick White (Randallstown, Md./Milford Mill Academy) made his presence felt. The redshirt junior defensive end sacked Joe Carter and forced a fumble. Cornerback Reginald Hamlette Jr. (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) scooped it up and sprinted 29 yards for Gannon's second fumble return of the season for a touchdown.
 
The defense came up with another turnover three plays later. Another sack by White forced Mercyhurst into a 3rd-and-12 situation. Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) stepped in front a Carter pass at the Mercyhurst 39 for his third interception of the season and weaved his way 33 yards to the MU 6. Two plays later the Golden Knights took advantage of another diving catch, this time by Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) in the back of the end zone for a five-yard score from Curtis. Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) extra point, one of seven on the day, gave Gannon a 35-7 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the half.
 
The two teams would battle for almost an entire quarter before changing the scoreboard. With 46 seconds left in the third period Blanks scored on his third one-yard touchdown run of the day. He set up the score on the first play of the six-play, 80-yard march with a 49-yard run.
 
Gannon's next drive resulted in the final score of the day. The Golden Knights ate up 6 minutes and 7 seconds while driving 52 yards on 10 plays. This time the drive featured the other half of Gannon's one-two punch at running back, with Wright carrying five times. The last was good for his third touchdown of the season on a five-yard run with 7:07 left in the game.
 
Mercyhurst punched in a touchdown with 28 seconds remaining as Kerbacher caught his second TD pass to bring the final to 49-14.


 
BY THE NUMBERS
 
With a 6-2 record Gannon has ensured itself a winning season for the first time since 2015 when the Golden Knights finished at 6-5. The school record for wins is nine, with the 2003 edition going 9-1 and the 2014 team finishing at 9-2. Gannon has never won four of its first five games in PSAC West action since joining the conference in 2008.
 
Mercyhurst now leads the all-time series with Gannon 17-8-1, but the 35-point margin of victory is the largest ever for Gannon in the series. The 49 points scored is also the highest output ever for Gannon in the series.
 
Gannon ended the afternoon with 432 total yards and no turnovers compared to 224 yards for Mercyhurst. The Golden Knights ran for a season-high 277 yards, which was in stark contrast to a week ago when they finished with minus nine yards at Slippery Rock. The offensive line answered the challenge as Gannon ran the ball 47 of its 63 plays, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. In addition, they kept Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) clean in the pocket all day, not allowing a sack. Gannon has now run for 200-or-more yards in five of eight games.
 
The defense was equally dominant. Mercyhurst was held to 47 yards on the ground, the five time this year Gannon has held an opponent under 100 yards. The Golden Knights intercepted a pair of passes and came up with a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. In addition, the D had a pair of sacks and limited the Lakers to 4-of-14 3rd down conversions.
 
After a pair of off weeks while battling an injury Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) got back on track in his pursuit of a second 1,000-yard rushing season. The senior tailback ran for a season-high 173 yards on 22 carries while matching his career-high with 3 TDs. It was his fourth 100-yard effort of the season and the tenth of his career. He now has 2,767 yards, just moving past Brock Jones into sixth place in career rushing. He has 732 yards and 10 TDs rushing in 2022.
 
Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. turned in a big game off the bench with 84 yards on 15 carries, including a touchdown. Wright now has 602 yards on the season with 4 TDs and has 1,079 career yards.
 
With Gannon relying on the ground game Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) threw just 16 times, completing 12 for 155 yards and 2 TDs. The redshirt junior now has 17 TDs and just 3 INTs on the season. He also rushed for 20 yards on three carries.
 
Donell "Tank" Mason led Gannon in receiving for the second straight week after not catching a pass the first six weeks. The freshman wide receiver hauled in six passes for 82 yards after catching five balls for 85 yards last week at Slippery Rock. For the second straight week leading receiver Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) was held to three receptions, but caught a touchdown. He had three catches for 51 yards.
 
Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) once again led Gannon in tackles, tying with Matt Wiitanen (Renton, Wash. /Pioneer) with seven tackles. The redshirt sophomore added his team-leading third interception of the season. He leads Gannon with 69 tackles. Fellow defensive back Reginald Hamlette Jr. (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) had the game-changing play as the redshirt sophomore scooped up a fumble and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter. He then ended the half with an interception. Hamlette broke up another pass and had three tackles.
 
Nick White (Randallstown, Md./Milford Mill Academy) took part in four tackles, all solo, and three of those were behind the line of scrimmage. He had a pair of sacks for 21 yards, forcing the fumble that Hamlette returned for a touchdown.
 
Joe Carter accounted for most of Mercyhurst's offense, completing 15-of-27 passes for 151 yards with a TD and 2 INTs. Trevon Tate led all receivers with seven receptions for 63 yards.     
 
THE RECORD BOOK
Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) moved into sixth place in career rushing on Saturday, nudging past Brock Jones (2,765 yards) with 2,767 yards. Next in line is Jon Richardson with 2,790 yards and Jansen Jones with 2,823 yards. With three one-yard TD runs, Blanks now has 23 career rushing touchdowns, good for eighth all-time at Gannon.
 
Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) became the fourth Gannon passer to throw for 4,000 career yards on Saturday. He now has 4,140 career yards in 19 career games as a Golden Knight. Chris Delmonaco is third in career passing yards with 4,371 yards. In addition, Curtis has thrown for 37 career touchdowns which ranks third all-time behind Liam Nadler (82) and Darmel Whitfield (53).
 
UP NEXT
Gannon plays the second of back-to-back home games and faces a nationally-ranked team for the second time in three weeks. The Golden Knights host No. 13 Indiana (Pa.) in a showdown for first place in the PSAC West on Saturday, October 29 at 12 noon at McConnell Family Stadium. The Crimson Hawks are 7-0 and sit atop the PSAC West at 5-0 after a 44-7 win over Seton Hill on Saturday.