Gannon vs. Millersville
Bryce Dolak

Football Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Game Preview: Gannon Seeks Third Straight Win with Edinboro Visiting McConnell Family Stadium on Saturday

EDINBORO FIGHTING SCOTS (2-3, 1-1 PSAC West) at GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (2-3, 2-0 PSAC West)
DATE: Saturday, October 7, 2023
KICKOFF: 12 noon
STADIUM: McConnell Family 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 rivalry week number one for Gannon as the Golden Knights host their PSAC West foes from southern Erie county, Edinboro. The 2023 season has reached the midway point with both teams coming in with 2-3 records. Gannon is in search of its third straight win over the Fighting Scots.

Picked to finish fourth in the PSAC West preseason poll after finishing as co-champions in the division a year ago, Gannon owns a 2-0 record in PSAC West action with wins over Clarion (27-20) and Seton Hill (23-6). After finishing 6-1 a year ago the Golden Knights have now won eight of their last nine games vs. Western Division foes.

Edinboro evened its PSAC West record at 1-1 with a 40-24 win over Mercyhurst last week. The Fighting Scots opened league play with a 31-10 loss to California (Pa.). Head coach Jake Nulph's team was picked to finish fifth in the Western Division following a 5-6 finish a year ago.

Still battling numerous injuries, Gannon used a dominant defensive effort and strong ground game to spoil Seton Hill's Homecoming. The Golden Knights limited Seton Hill to 167 total yards with four interceptions and three sacks. Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) ran for 186 yards to pace a rushing attack that finished with a season-high 270 yards.

Edinboro also showcased a strong ground game to rally from a halftime deficit against Mercyhurst on their Homecoming. The Lakers led 24-21 at the half but were held scoreless in the second half. Edinboro had a pair of 100-yard rushers as Brian Trobel finished with 140 yards and Matt Carlisle 125. All told the Fighting Scots ran for 266 yards.

If the weather predictions are correct, the ground game may play a key role in Saturday's game with chilly conditions, rain and wind on tap.   

SERIES RECORD
Edinboro leads 10-6
Edinboro dominated the early stages of this local rivalry, winning the first seven meetings. Since that time, Gannon has won six of the next nine meetings, including the last two by scores of 21-18 in 2021 and 35-17 in 2022.

Last Meeting:  Oct. 8, 2022 – Gannon 35, Edinboro 17 l RECAP
With Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) less than 100 percent and Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) knocked out of the game in the second quarter Antonio Wright (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne) came off the bench to run for 213 yards and 3 TDs on 21 carries. Wright scored on runs of 8, 27 and 47 yards. Curtis did throw for a pair of touchdowns and the Gannon defense limited Edinboro to 202 yards with 4 INTs. Following a scoreless first quarter the Golden Knights scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 21-3 lead at the half. Curtis opened the scoring with a 16-yard TD pass to Damerisse Freeman Jr. (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) and Wright followed with an eight-yard scoring run. A Curtis to Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) 56-yard scoring pass with 47 second left capped the second quarter explosion. The lead grew to 28-3 midway through the third quarter on Wright's 27-yard TD run. He made it 35-10 late in the third quarter, sprinting 47-yards for his third touchdown of the afternoon.  

HEAD COACH
Gannon head coach Erik Raeburn is in 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 16-15 ledger in charge of the Golden Knights and is 159-77 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.

SCARPINO NAMED PSAC WEST SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) was selected the PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week after matching his career high with three field goals at Seton Hill. The redshirt senior placekicker converted on kicks of 37, 41, and 30 yards. The 41-yarder is a season long. While matching his career high for field goals made in a game he fell one field shy of the record of four held by Matt Szczupakowski against Slippery Rock in 2012.
 
DEFENSE TURNS IN OUTSTANDING EFFORT ONCE AGAIN
One week after shutting down the Clarion offense, the Gannon defense turned in one of its most dominant defensive efforts in years, limiting Seton Hill to 167 total yards, just 19 rushing, and 11 first downs. The Griffins had 35 yards and one first down in the first half, with most of their offense coming in the final six minutes. Gannon ran 79 plays and finished with a season-high 468 yards while Seton Hill ran off 62 plays. The Golden Knights intercepted four passes – two apiece by Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) and Kam Snell (Owings Mills, Md./Good Counsel) – and had three sacks. Gannon limited Seton Hill to four third-down conversions in 16 attempts and held a large time of possession advantage (34:30 to 25:30). Seton Hill's longest run of the day was seven yards.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS FEATURE GROUND GAME DESPITE INJURIES TO BACKFIELD, OFFENSIVE LINE
Despite missing two starters on the offensive line and being banged up in the backfield, Gannon ran for a season-high 270 yards on 48 rushes. Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg), a transfer from Ball State in his first season at Gannon, finished with a career-high 186 yards rushing on 20 carries, including a 74-yard TD run. He added two receptions for 13 yards. David Morgan Jr. (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) stepped up in the second half to finish with 27 yards on eight carries.

FARNSWORTH, SNELL DOUBLE THEIR PLEASURE
Gannon intercepted four passes last week at Seton Hill, two apiece by Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) and Kam Snell (Owings Mills, Md./Good Counsel). Farnsworth now has nine career interceptions to move into a tie for seventh place in career interceptions. In addition he led Gannon with six tackles and now has 223 in his career, moving up to a tie for 16th in career tackles.  Snell, meanwhile, now has three interceptions over the last two games to give him five for the season. That is good for a tie for fifth on the season charts and tied for second in Division II in interceptions per game.

SCOUTING EDINBORO
An improving Edinboro team was picked to finish fifth in the PSAC West preseason poll after finishing at 5-6 a year ago. Fourth-year head coach Jake Nulph has guided the Fighting Scots to a 2-3 record, 101 in the PSA West, following last Saturday's 40-24 win. They dropped a pair of games to open the season while facing tough competition in Division I Duquesne (49-7) and Shepherd (35-28). They won for the first time with a 23-13 decision at Bloomsburg before opening PSAC West action with a 31-10 loss to California (Pa.) … with all due respect to a number of Fighting Scots, the most dangerous weapon on the team may be punter Reed Martin. The junior earned first team AFCA All-American honors a year ago after averaging 42.7 yards per punt. He has been even better this season, averaging 43.6 yards on 26 punts with 11 inside the 20. He ranks tenth in Division II in punting. Martin also doubles as a starter in the secondary … if last Saturday's win over Mercyhurst is any indication, the Fighting Scots have found themselves a running back and a quarterback. Matt Carlisle opened the season as the starter at quarterback before giving way to last year's starter, Isaac Bernard. Carlisle is a transfer from American River College who started his career at Youngstown State. The 6'5", 225 lb. redshirt sophomore is a dual threat who ran for 125 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries and passed 116 yards and a score against Mercyhurst. He is second on the team in rushing with 220 yards and a 6.1 yard average. Brian Trobel leads the Fighting Scots with 420 yards on 85 carries, a 4.9 yard average, with 6 TDs. A 5'9", 180 lb. sophomore transfer from College of DuPage, he has had a pair of 100-yard efforts this year, including 140 yards and 3 TDs on 25 carries. All told Edinboro ran for 266 yards on 46 carries … Edinboro prides itself on special teams and forcing turnovers. In addition to Martin, a year ago Thaddeus Standfield earned second team All-PSAC West honors as a return specialist. The redshirt junior is averaging 19.1 yards on 15 kickoff returns this year and also has a team-high 23 receptions for 199 yards. A year ago Edinboro was the second-best team in the PSAC at forcing turnovers with 21. The Fighting Scots have forced nine this year, good for fifth in the PSAC.
 
UP NEXT
Gannon is at home for the second straight week on Saturday, October 14 hosting nationally-ranked Slippery Rock. Kickoff is set for 12 noon at McConnell Family Stadium. SRU was undefeated at 5-0 and ranked tenth heading into its game at Mercyhurst.


 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

RB
6' 1"
Senior
Business
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

QB
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

WR
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Damerisse Freeman Jr.

#2 Damerisse Freeman Jr.

WR
6' 3"
Senior
Eric Scarpino

#94 Eric Scarpino

PK
5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Mechanical Engineering
Kam Snell

#1 Kam Snell

DB
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Antonio Wright

#7 Antonio Wright

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Criminal Justice
Donny Marcus

#20 Donny Marcus

RB
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
David Morgan Jr.

#38 David Morgan Jr.

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

6' 1"
Senior
Business
RB
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
QB
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
WR
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

5' 11"
Senior
DB
Damerisse Freeman Jr.

#2 Damerisse Freeman Jr.

6' 3"
Senior
WR
Eric Scarpino

#94 Eric Scarpino

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Mechanical Engineering
PK
Kam Snell

#1 Kam Snell

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
DB
Antonio Wright

#7 Antonio Wright

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Criminal Justice
RB
Donny Marcus

#20 Donny Marcus

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
RB
David Morgan Jr.

#38 David Morgan Jr.

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
RB