Donny Marcus

Football Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Game Preview: Gannon Looks to Stay in PSAC West Hunt with Game at Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday

GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (4-4, 4-1 PSAC West) at INDIANA (PA) CRIMSON HAWKS (4-4, 2-3 PSAC West)
DATE: Saturday, October 28, 2023
KICKOFF: 2:00 p.m.
STADIUM: George P. Miller Stadium l Indiana, 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 Dan Teliski providing the play-by-play.
     
 
ERIE, Pa. – Gannon looks to remain in the hunt for the PSAC West title with two games remaining in divisional play. The Golden Knights play at Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday, October 28 with the kickoff at 2:00 p.m. at George P. Miller Stadium.

The Golden Knights improved to 4-4 overall and 4-1 in the PSAC West last Saturday with a 31-28 win at Mercyhurst. In the process they retained the Niagara Cup while finding a way to post a victory in the final minutes. Gannon opened the season with three losses in games decided late in the fourth quarter before running off three straight wins.

This time around freshman quarterback Jayden Whitaker (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) guided the Golden Knights to the Mercyhurst 14 and Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) came in and kicked a game-winning 32-yard field goal with six seconds remaining.

IUP, meanwhile, suffered its third loss in the last four games with a 35-28 setback at Seton Hill. The Griffins defeated the Crimson Hawks for the first time in ten meetings.  That leaves IUP with a 4-4 overall record and 2-3 in the conference.

Gannon snapped a six-game losing streak to IUP last season while posting a win over a nationally-ranked team for the first time since 2011. The Crimson Hawks came in to McConnell Family Stadium ranked 11th but Gannon handed them a 43-36 loss behind six touchdowns from Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast).

It's a banged-up Gannon squad that continues to find ways to win games. Last Saturday at Mercyhurst it was a freshman quarterback making his first career appearance, a reserve wide receiver with a Gannon tradition on his side, and a redshirt senior kicker who provided the winning points.

Whitaker came into the game early in the second quarter and threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third. The freshman from Indiana guided the Golden Knights twice on impressive two-minute drills, the second to the game-winning field goal. He made full use of reserve wideout Braeden Soboleski (Erie, Pa./McDowell), a redshirt sophomore who caught his first three career passes. That included a 17-yard TD grab.

Finally Scarpino kept his magical season going, stepping in to kick a game-winning 32-yard field goal with six seconds remaining. The redshirt senior has yet to miss a kick this season, and the successful three in the final seconds was the first by a Gannon kicker under those circumstances since Jeremy Ditzler hit a 31-yard field goal in overtime for a 10-7 win at Bloomsburg in 2009.
 
SERIES RECORD
Indiana (Pa.) leads 10-4
Last Meeting:  Oct. 29, 2022 – at Gannon 43, No. 11 IUP 36 I RECAP
In what goes down as one of Gannon's all-time wins, Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more as Gannon posted its first win over a nationally-ranked team since 2011 with a 43-36 win over 11th-ranked Indiana (Pa.). The see-saw affair saw eight lead changes before Curtis gave the Golden Knights the lead for good on a one-yard plunge with just over five minutes remaining. The Gannon defense then snuffed out any IUP comeback hopes, forcing the only two turnovers of the game. Curtis completed 23-of-28 passes for 342 yards. Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) (140 yards) and Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) (109) both had 100-yard receiving games with a touchdown. The Gannon defense held IUP to 58 yards on the ground.

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 an 18-16 ledger in charge of the Golden Knights and is 161-78 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.

GANNON RETAINS NIAGARA CUP, RULERS OF THE 814
Gannon retained the Niagara Cup thanks to the 31-28 win at Mercyhurst. The Niagara Cup debuted in 2004 and is awarded to the winner of the rivalry game between the two schools for the following year. This is the first time Gannon won the Niagara Cup in back-to-back years since 2010-11. The Golden Knights also rule the 814 for the second year in a row. Last year the Golden Knights swept Edinboro and Mercyhurst for the first time since 2015. They recorded a 23-12 win over Edinboro recently and now sweep the 814 again with the win over Mercyhurst.

SCARPINO NAMED PSAC SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK FOR SECOND TIME
Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) was named the PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week for his play in Saturday's 31-28 win at Mercyhurst. It's the second time this season the redshirt senior placekicker has earned the award. On Saturday the left-footed kicker provided the winning points in the victory that kept the Niagara Cup at Gannon. He calmly drilled a 32-yard field goal with six seconds remaining as Gannon defeated its crosstown rival for the first time in back-to-back years since 2010-11. He also converted all four of his extra point attempts while battling strong winds. The game-winning kick was the first in the final seconds or overtime since Jeremy Ditzler made a 31-yard field goal for the winning points in a 10-7 overtime victory at Bloomsburg at November 7, 2009. Karch Holland kicked a 30-yard field with 1:10 remaining for a 16-13 win at Mercyhurst on October 10, 2015. The former standpoint at nearby Fort LeBoeuf High School has yet to miss a kick in 2023. He is 11-for-11 on field goals and 22-for-22 on PATs. He now has 28 career field goals to move into third all-time. He also ranks second in career extra points with 114. He has scored 198 career points to rank sixth all-time, along with second among kickers. The 11 field goals made this season are tied for second.

MARCUS CONTINUES TO CARRY THE LOAD
Gannon entered the season with a trio of running backs set to split time in the backfield. For three weeks that plan worked fine, but Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) Jr. then went down with an injury after three games and Braxton Todd (Martinsburg, W. Va./Martinsburg) has not played since the Seton Hill contest. That left Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) as the remaining back. The transfer from Ball State has had to become the workhorse and he continues to excel in that role. The 6'0", 180 lb. redshirt sophomore has put together four straight weeks that would rival any former Gannon back not named Marcus Jones. He finished with 176 yards on a career-high 30 carries in Saturday's win at Mercyhurst, bettering his total of 27 carries three weeks ago vs. Edinboro. It was his third 100-yard game this season, including a high of 186 yards at Seton Hill. Over the last four games he has carried 97 times for 555 yards. On the season Marcus has 658 yards on 126 carries to move up to fourth in the PSAC in rushing yards per game (82.3 ypg.).

NO. 19 NOT JUST A COINCIDENCE
Up until last Saturday Braeden Soboleski's (Erie, Pa./McDowell) largest role had been stellar special teams play. But the wide receiver corps has continued to lose players due to injuries, and it left an opening for Soboleski to get on the field. The redshirt sophomore from Erie and nearby McDowell High School caught the first passes of his career, three for 41 yards including a 17-yard TD reception. As always he played a major role on special teams with three tackles. Soboleski follows in the footsteps of his father, Mark, who played for the Golden Knights in the early 1990's. He wore number 19, as does Braeden now. Father Mark is the head coach at Fairview High School and led his team to a big win earlier in the day before hustling over to Mercyhurst to see Braeden wrap up his day. Braeden's mother Missy played volleyball at Gannon and is the volleyball coach at Edinboro, and he has a pair of sisters who are standout collegiate volleyball players.

WHITAKER STEPS IN AT QB
Freshman quarterback Jayden Whitaker (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) made his first career appearance in a game early in the second quarter at Mercyhurst and proceeded to account for three touchdowns, including two impressive two-minute drills. He scored on a five-yard run on his first series, then threw his first career touchdown pass to Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) with 12 seconds remaining in the first half. After later throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Braeden Soboleski (Erie, Pa./McDowell), he directed the game-winning drive in the final two minutes that resulted in the game-winning field goal. He completed 8-of-20 passes for 131 yards with 2 TDs and an INT, adding 59 yards rushing and a third touchdown on 10 carries.

SCOUTING INDIANA (PA)
Indiana (Pa.) will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday as the final two games are on the road. The Crimson Hawks began the year as the preseason favorite in the PSAC West but have now lost three of their last four games following last Saturday's 35-28 loss at Seton Hill. That left IUP at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the PSAC West … head coach Paul Tortorella is wrapping up his sixth season at the helm of the Crimson Hawks and has put together the best start by any head coach in program history. The 2022 PSAC West Coach of the Year, Tortorella led the Crimson Hawks to a 10-2 record that included a PSAC Championship. He owns a 52-15 overall record with three NCAA playoff berths; two PSAC and two division titles; and a 11-6 record against ranked opponents. He's earned Division II, Super Region One, and two PSAC West Coach of the Year honors … the IUP defense allowed no more than 17 points in any of the first four games. But over the last four outings the unit has allowed just over 29 points per game. IUP rallied from a 28-17 deficit at Seton Hill with a Dayjure Stewart 1 yd. run and a two-point conversion with 6:05 remaining, followed by a Nick Andrasi 34 yd field goal at 5:10 following a Seton Hill fumble on the kickoff. But Seton Hill put together a six-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 remaining … IUP brought in transfer Karst Hunter from Colorado Mesa to run the offense. The 6'4", 217 lb. redshirt junior earned All-RMAC honorable mention honors a year ago and set single-season records for passing yards with 2,481 last year. He was off to a fast start but went down in week number six vs. California (Pa.) and has missed the last two games. Hunter has completed 73-0f-125 passes for 1,090 yards with 11 TDs and 7 INTs, adding 220 yards and 5 TDs rushing…. redshirt freshman Nico Marchitelli has taken over at quarterback. He has completed 31-of-66 passes for 466 yards with 5 TDs and 3 INTs after throwing for 271 yards vs. Seton Hill … Quinn Zinobile and Hilton Ridley account for almost 60 percent of IUP's receptions. Zinobile, who previously played at Clarion and Albany, leads the Crimson Hawks in receptions (31), yards receiving (473) and TDs (5). Ridley adds 29 receptions for 408 yards and 4 TDs. The ground game features Stewart, a first team All-PSAC West selection in 2022, who has 513 yards on 98 carries with 3 TDs.

UP NEXT
It's Senior Day for the Golden Knights on Saturday, November 4 as California (Pa.) visits McConnell Family Stadium. Kickoff is at 12 noon with the 2023 senior class recognized prior to kickoff.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

QB
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

WR
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
Eric Scarpino

#94 Eric Scarpino

PK
5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Mechanical Engineering
Braeden Soboleski

#19 Braeden Soboleski

WR
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Political Science
Bransen Stanley

#4 Bransen Stanley

WR
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Antonio Wright

#7 Antonio Wright

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Criminal Justice
Donny Marcus

#20 Donny Marcus

RB
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Jayden Whitaker

#9 Jayden Whitaker

QB
6' 1"
Freshman
Braxton Todd

#28 Braxton Todd

RB
6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
Business

Players Mentioned

Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
QB
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
WR
Eric Scarpino

#94 Eric Scarpino

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Mechanical Engineering
PK
Braeden Soboleski

#19 Braeden Soboleski

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Political Science
WR
Bransen Stanley

#4 Bransen Stanley

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
WR
Antonio Wright

#7 Antonio Wright

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Criminal Justice
RB
Donny Marcus

#20 Donny Marcus

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
RB
Jayden Whitaker

#9 Jayden Whitaker

6' 1"
Freshman
QB
Braxton Todd

#28 Braxton Todd

6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
Business
RB