Football at Charleston
Mike Gallagher

Football Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Game Preview: Gannon Heads to Mercyhurst with Niagara Cup, 814 Title on the Line

GOLDEN KNIGHTS (3-4, 3-1 PSAC West) at MERCYHURST LAKERS (2-5, 1-3 PSAC West)
DATE: Saturday, October 21, 2023
KICKOFF: 3:00 p.m.
STADIUM: Saxon Stadium l Erie, Pa.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Live Video l Live Stats l Live Audio
 
GAME NOTES: Click Here
 
RADIO: 90.5 WERG FM – Listen to all the exciting action of Gannon football with Sean Amicucci providing the play-by-play.
 
ERIE, Pa. – It's Gannon vs. Mercyhurst Week as the men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball and football teams all meet in an eight-day period. The football version takes place on Saturday, October 21 at Saxon Stadium on the Mercyhurst campus. Kickoff between the two crosstown rivals is at 3:00 p.m.

As the saying goes you can throw the records out the window when these two teams meet. For the record, Gannon comes in with a deceiving 3-4 record and is 3-1 in the PSAC West while Mercyhurst is 2-5 and 1-3, respectively. This marks the 27th meeting between the two schools. Gannon has not won back-to-back meetings against the Lakers since the 2010-11 seasons.

The Golden Knights saw a three-game winning streak snapped last week in a 49-24 loss to No. 10 Slippery Rock. Don't be fooled by the score. Gannon went toe-to-toe with The Rock for over three quarters before SRU took advantage of some rare occurrences to score three touchdowns in the final seven minutes.

Of course that is how Gannon's season has gone this year. Head coach Erik Raeburn's team opened the season with three straight losses, all decided in the final minutes. A three-game winning streak followed, coinciding with the start of Western Division action. That left the Golden Knights in a three-way tie for first place in the division prior to last week's SRU game. After finishing in a three-way tie for the PSAC West title a year ago they are now one game back of California (Pa.) and Slippery Rock in the standings.

Mercyhurst snapped a four-game losing streak last Saturday with a last-second 36-35 win at Clarion. The Lakers trailed 28-14 at one point but pulled with a point with a touchdown with five seconds remaining. The two-point conversion pass gave Mercyhurst the come-from-behind victory.

BATTLE FOR THE NIAGARA CUP
At stake this weekend? The Niagara Cup. Over the years the two teams have battled for the Cup, which stays at the winning school for the next year. Gannon regained the Niagara Cup last season with a 49-14 win over the Lakers at McConnell Family Stadium. The Golden Knights have won two of the last three Niagara Cups but have not won back-to-back Niagara Cups since the 2010-11 campaign.

SERIES RECORD
Mercyhurst leads 17-8-1
Gannon snapped a four-game losing streak to the Lakers in the spring of 2021 with a 28-21 win in overtime at Erie Veterans Stadium. The game was actually part of an abbreviated 2020 schedule that was played in the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19. Mercyhurst won the last meeting at Saxon Stadium in the fall of 2021 before Gannon regained the Niagara Cup with a 49-14 win at McConnell Family Stadium. Gannon has not won at Mercyhurst since 2015, losing the last three meetings hosted by the Lakers. The 49 points scored by the Golden Knights are most points ever by a Gannon team vs. Mercyhurst and the 35-point margin of victory was the largest in the 26 meetings. Gannon is looking for back-to-back wins in the first series since 2010-11.
 
Last Meeting:  Oct. 22, 2022 – at Gannon 49, Mercyhurst 14 I RECAP
Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) scored three times on one-yard runs as Gannon posted the largest winning margin in the 26-game rivalry. The Golden Knights jumped out to a 35-7 lead at the half and scored 42 consecutive points after Mercyhurst tied the game at 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Gannon finished with 432 total yards while limiting the Lakers to 224. The Golden Knights rode a strong ground game, finishing with 277 yards as Blanks and 173 yards on 22 carries and Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. added 84 yards on 15 rushes. Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) added a pair of touchdown passes. The Gannon defense limited the Lakers to 47 yards rushing while coming up with three turnovers. Gannon did not commit a turnover.  

HEAD COACH
Gannon head coach Erik Raeburn is concluding his 23rd season as a head coach and picked up his 150th career win with last year's triumph over Charleston. Now in his fourth year at Gannon, he owns a 17-16 ledger in charge of the Golden Knights and is 160-78 overall. He has had head coaching stops at Coe, Wabash, Savannah State, and Gannon. A year ago he led Gannon to an 8-3 record, the 11th time he has guided a team to eight-or-more wins.

RULERS OF THE 814
Gannon looks to rule the 814 for the second year in a row. The Golden Knights swept Edinboro and Mercyhurst for the first time since 2015 a year ago. They recorded a 23-12 win over Edinboro two weeks ago and now seek the 814 sweep once again on Saturday. Edinboro defeated Mercyhurst three weeks ago.

GANNON, MERCYHURST SHOWCASE TWO UP-AND-COMING BACKS
Gannon and Mercyhurst feature two of the top running backs in the PSAC. When the season began Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) was expected to be part of a trio of running backs to split time in the Gannon backfield. The transfer from Ball State has had to become the workhorse due to injuries. Over the last three games the redshirt sophomore has carried the ball 67 times for 379 yards with two 100-yard efforts. That includes a 20-carry, 186-yard effort at Seton Hill. Marcus ranks ninth in the PSAC in rushing yards per game (68.9 ypg.) and has carried 96 times for 482 yards with one touchdown. He adds 14 receptions for 117 yards. Mercyhurst's Jaylen Butera has also emerged as the top ballcarrier after injuries downed David Alize and Dustin Shoaf. The sophomore is sixth in the PSAC in rushing at 71.9 ypg., with season totals of 503 yards and 6 TDs on 94 carries. He has caught 17 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown while returning 10 kickoffs for an average of 21.8 yards. He has had back-to-back 100-yard efforts with 204 yards vs. Slippery Rock and 182 against Clarion last week. He carried 27 times in both games.

CLOSER THAN YOU THINK
Last Saturday's loss to No. 10 Slippery Rock was much closer than the final score might indicate. The Golden Knights actually went toe-to-toe with The Rock for most of the game. The scoreboard read 49-24 at the end of the game, but Gannon held the lead in the third quarter and trailed 28-24 with less than seven minutes remaining. Slippery Rock would score three touchdowns in the final 6 minutes, 22 seconds. The Golden Knights jumped on The Rock right out of the gate, scoring on two of their first three possessions on long runs for a 14-0 lead. It was the first time Slippery Rock trailed by two touchdowns all year. The score was tied at 21-21 at the half and was 28-24 SRU after three periods.   
 
FARNSWORTH CONTINUES TO CLIMB IN CAREER TACKLES, INTs
Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) continues to move up in the defensive records after another strong effort against Slippery Rock. The senior defensive back recorded his third interception of the season while leading the team with nine tackles. He now has 10 interceptions in his career to move into a tie for sixth in career interceptions. In addition, he has 240 career tackles to move up to 11th all-time.

SCOUTING MERCYHURST
Mercyhurst rallied for a 36-35 win at Clarion last Saturday to improve to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC West. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak since a 41-29 win over Lock Haven. At one point Clarion led 28-14 but the Lakers rallied to take the lead with five seconds remaining in the game. Jaylen Butera scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run to cap a 12-play, 82-yard drive to make it 35-34. Braydon Black then caught a two-point conversion pass from Adam Urena for the winning points … Ryan Riemedio is in his second season as Mercyhurst's head coach. He was named the coach in waiting at the beginning of the 2021 campaign. Riemedio is in his 12th season with the program after spending ten seasons with the Lakers as an assistant coach … Butera was named the PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week following a huge effort at Clarion. The sophomore carried 27 times for 182 yards with 2 TDs. It was his second straight big game after rushing for a career-high 204 yards and 3 TDs on 27 carries the week before vs. Slippery Rock. Butera has emerged as Mercyhurst's top ballcarrier after the Lakers' top two returning ballcarriers, David Alize and All-PSAC West honoree Dustin Shoaf, went down with injuries. Butera has 503 yards rushing on 94 carries with 6 TDs, adding 17 receptions for 167 yards and a touchdown. He ranks sixth in the PSAC in rushing. Butera has also returned 10 kickoffs for a 21.8 yards average … a year ago Riemedio used three different players at quarterback. Adam Urena, a transfer from Citrus Community College in California, has taken over this year and ranks fourth in the PSAC in passing yards per game (252.9 ypg.) and is second in TD passes. The 5'9" junior has completed 160-of-262 passes for 1,770 yards with 16 TDs and just 6 INTs. He threw for three touchdowns against Clarion, completing 18-of-25 passes for 199 yards. He threw for a season-high 322 yards vs. Edinboro … Christian Taylor, a senior inside linebacker, is the team's leading tackler with 50 stops, 34 of those solo. Anthony Mackey, a sophomore safety, is next with 45 tackles. Senior defensive end Camden White has a team-high 2.5 sacks while Tyler Buterbaugh, a junior linebacker, adds 2.0 sacks.

UP NEXT
Gannon plays its second straight game on the road playing at Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday, October 28. Kickoff at George P. Miller Stadium is set for 2:00 p.m.
 
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Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

RB
6' 1"
Senior
Business
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

QB
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Antonio Wright

#7 Antonio Wright

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Criminal Justice
Donny Marcus

#20 Donny Marcus

RB
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

6' 1"
Senior
Business
RB
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
QB
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

5' 11"
Senior
DB
Antonio Wright

#7 Antonio Wright

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Criminal Justice
RB
Donny Marcus

#20 Donny Marcus

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
RB