Gannon's Antonio Wright vs. Charleston
Bryce Dolak
35
Winner Gannon GAN 5-1 , 3-0
17
Edinboro EDI 3-3 , 1-2
Winner
Gannon GAN
5-1 , 3-0
35
Final
17
Edinboro EDI
3-3 , 1-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
GAN Gannon 0 21 14 0 35
EDI Edinboro 0 3 7 7 17

Game Recap: Football | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Wright, Defense Lead Gannon to 35-17 Win at Edinboro

THE GAME FACTS
Score: Gannon 35, Gannon 17
Records: Gannon (5-1, 3-0 PSAC West), Edinboro (3-3, 1-2 PSAC West)
Date: Saturday, October 8, 2022
Location: Edinboro, Pa. – Sox Harrison Stadium
 
EDINBORO, Pa. -- Gannon rode a dominating performance on both offense and defense to a convincing 35-17 win at local rival Edinboro, spoiling the Fighting Scots' Homecoming. Despite leading rusher Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) sitting out the second half, the Golden Knights ran for a season-high 259 yards and finished with 418 total yards. The defense limited Edinboro to just 82 yards on the ground and 202 total yards, the second straight week their opponent just squeezed over 200 yards. Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. stepped in for Blanks and posted career highs with 21 carries for 213 yards and 3 TDs, covering eight, 27 and 47 yards. Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) accounted for the other two Gannon scores with touchdown passes of 16 and 56 yards. The defense intercepted four passes, two by Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey). Gannon remained atop the PSAC West with a 3-0 record, tied with Indiana (Pa.), and is now 5-1 for the first time since the 2003 squad lost its first game then ran off nine straight wins.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER

Box Score:  Click Here
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

Gannon scored a pair of touchdowns in just over two minutes to jump out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Golden Knights scored on their second possession of the game on an 11-play, 63-yard drive. Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) completed four passes for 28 yards, but the drive appeared dead when he was sacked, forcing a 3rd-and-goal from the Edinboro 16. His throw into a strong wind found Damerisse Freeman Jr. (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) made the first of five extra points for a 7-0 lead with 14:55 left in the half.

Two plays later the Golden Knights had the ball back after Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) recorded the first of his two interceptions. The redshirt sophomore returned the pickoff to the EU 40. Three Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. runs and Gannon led 14-0. The first covered 34 yards as the redshirt sophomore was just knocked out at the six. After a loss of two yards, Wright burst untouched off right tackle to make it 14-0 at 12:36 of the second quarter.

Edinboro would put together its second drive into Gannon territory, aided by a fake punt that went for 21 yards and kept the drive alive. A loss of two yards on a run and two incompletions left the Fighting Scots facing a 4th-and-12 at the GU 25. Boro quarterback Isaac Bernard was under heavy pressure and Matt Wiitanen (Renton, Wash. /Pioneer) came down with his second interception in two weeks. A three-and-out left the Golden Knights punting from their end zone, and a short punt gave the ball back to Edinboro at the GU 25. Three plays netted six yards and the Fighting Scots had to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Richie Perkmezian. The three-pointer pulled Edinboro to within 14-3 with 3:35 remaining.

Gannon answered with a seven-play, 87-yard drive as the Golden Knights shocked Edinboro with a 56-yard touchdown pass with just 47 seconds remaining in the half. The Golden Knights faced a 3rd-and-13 at their own 44. The offensive line gave Curtis plenty of time, and the redshirt junior connected with Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) on the 56-yard TD toss. Batiste ran a fly pattern down the right sideline and after catching the ball tip-toed down the sideline for a 21-3 halftime lead and a back-breaking touchdown.

With Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) not available in the second half, Gannon called on Wright. He carried five times for26 yards in the opening drive of the second half, and while Gannon was forced to punt. Gannon's game-plan for the final 30 minutes was apparent – pound the ball behind the offensive line.

Edinboro attempted its second fake punt of the game, only this time a run came up a yard short thanks to Wiitanen. Gannon took over at the EU 27 and on the very next play Wright made it two touchdowns on a 27-yard run, going right up the middle and sprinting into the end zone. Gannon led 28-3 with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

Edinboro closed to 28-10 on the ensuing possession, with Bernard finding Thaddeus Standfield for a 16-yard touchdown. That made it 28-10 with 5:52 left in the quarter.
Gannon made it three straight possessions in the game with a touchdown, foiling any comeback hopes with a five-play, 70-yard drive. All five plays were on the ground, with Wright carrying three times and third-stringer Jhavoun Blake twice. Wright had 60 yards, the final 47 on his third touchdown run of the afternoon. With 3:13 left in the third quarter Gannon's lead had grown to 35-10.

Edinboro would account for the lone score of the fourth quarter following a Gannon fumble, their lone turnover of the day. The recovery came at the GU 13, and Karamago Sylia scored on the next play.         
  
BY THE NUMBERS
 
Gannon's 5-1 start is the best since the 2003 edition opened the season with a loss and then proceeded to run off nine straight wins. The 3-0 start in PSAC West action is the best since the Golden Knights joined the conference in 2008. The five wins matches last year's win total when the Golden Knights were 5-6.

The Golden Knights ended the day with 418 yard in total offense compared to 202 for Edinboro. Gannon rode a strong showing by the offensive line to a 259-yard output on the ground, the highest this season and the fourth time in six games they've topped the 200-yard mark. Gannon threw for 159 yards. Edinboro was held to 82 yards rushing and 120 yards through the air. The 202 total yards allowed comes a week after the defense held Seton Hill to 201 yards.

Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) came in as the second-leading rusher in the PSAC but was held to 27 yards on nine carries as it was apparent the senior was not at 100 percent. Blanks did not play in the second half. Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. more than made up for it posting career-highs for carries (21), yards rushing (213) and rushing TDs (3). He scored on runs of eight, 27 and 47 yards, his first rushing touchdowns of the season. A year ago Blanks burned Edinboro for 239 yards. Jhavoun Blake saw his first extensive action of the season and ran for 38 yards on 12 carries.

Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) has now thrown 13 touchdowns with just one interception after completing 12-of-17 passes for 159 yards with 2 TDs. The redshirt junior came into the game ranked third in the PSAC and 12th in Division II in passing efficiency. Playing in his 17th game as a Golden Knight, Curtis is now just two yards shy of fifth place in career passing yards with 3,680.

Damerisse Freeman Jr. (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) and Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) each hauled in a touchdown pass from Curtis. Freeman had caught just two passes in the first five games before accounting for the first score of the game on a 16-yard TD pass. Freeman finished with two receptions while filling in for Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney). Batiste, meanwhile, has been on an incredible run. The redshirt junior continued it on Saturday with seven catches for 120 yards, including a 56-yard TD catch. He has now had three 100-yard games in the last four games and has at least six receptions in the last five games. He entered the game ranked third in the PSAC and 13th in Division II and fourth and 21st, respectively, in receiving yards.

After not intercepting a pass the first four weeks Gannon came up with its first interception last week and had four against Edinboro. Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) accounted for two of the pickoffs, along with three passes broken up and six tackles. Matt Wiitanen (Renton, Wash. /Pioneer) and Reginald Hamlette Jr. (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) each had one interception. Edinboro's Isaac Bernard came into the game ranked fourth in the PSAC and 22nd in Division II in passing yards, but the Gannon secondary limited him to just 99 yards on 18-of-36 with a touchdown and the four INTs. Gannon's four interceptions are the most since Clarion threw four on September 28, 2019. 

Linebacker Hayden McDonald (Tigard, Ore. /Tigard) led Gannon with seven tackles and a forced fumble. Jordan Tolliver (Baltimore, Md./Woodlawn) added six stops. Keith Thompson (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) had Gannon's lone sack of the day among his five tackles.

Gannon had the ball for over 19 minutes in the sceond half and ended the game with a time of possession advantage of 33:37 to 26:23.     
 
THE RECORD BOOK
 
Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) is now within two yards of moving into fifth place in career passing yards, all in just 17 games. Curtis now has 3,680 yards with Jimmy Keef sitting in fifth place with 3,682 yards.
 
UP NEXT

Make it three straight Homecoming games for Gannon as Slippery Rock looks to celebrate Homecoming with the Golden Knights the opposition on Saturday, October 15. Kickoff at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m. SRU was 20th in the latest AFCA Division II Top 25 and was hosting Mercyhurst on Saturday evening.
 
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