Ke'John Batiste vs. Edinboro
Bryce Dolak

Football Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Game Preview: Golden Knights Host California (Pa.) on Senior Day

CALIFORNIA (PA) VULCANS (6-2, 5-1 PSAC West) at GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (5-4, 5-1 PSAC West)
SENIOR DAY
DATE: Saturday, November 4, 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. – Gannon will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, November 4 prior to the contest with California (Pa.) at McConnell Family Stadium, then look to play the role of spoiler against the Vulcans. In addition, Gannon will look to beat the Vulcans for the first time in back-to-back seasons.

Gannon and California (Pa.) both come in with 5-1 records in the PSAC West and the winner could finish in a tie for first place in the Western Division should Slippery Rock suffer a letdown and lose at Edinboro. A year ago Gannon tied Slippery Rock and Indiana (Pa.) for first place in the division. At the very least the winner will take home second place in the division.

The Golden Knights have won back-to-back games the last two weeks, both courtesy of the left foot of Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf). The redshirt senior kicked a game-winning 32-yard field goal with six seconds remaining for a 31-28 win at Mercyhurst two weeks ago, then last week hit a record-tying 51-yard field goal as time expired for a 16-15 win at IUP.

Those games have been a microcosm of what has been a season filled with late-game decisions. The Golden Knights opened the season with three straight losses, all games which were decided in the final five minutes, before running off wins in five of the last six games for a 5-4 record.

California (Pa.) has a great deal to play for these last two weeks. The Super Region One rankings were released earlier in the week with the Vulcans sitting in sixth place with a 6-2 record. Wins in their last two games would likely secure an NCAA Playoff berth for the first time since 2017.

Gannon will look to send out a group of 22 seniors who have revitalized the football program in recent years in their final games at McConnell Family Stadium. They will then take the field one last time on Saturday, November 11 at Shippensburg to conclude the 2023 campaign.

SERIES RECORD
California (Pa.) leads 11-3
Last Meeting:  Nov. 5, 2022 – Gannon 25, at California (Pa.) 13 I RECAP
Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla./Island Coast) threw two touchdown passes, Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) broke loose for a clinching 35-yard touchdown run, and Gannon's defense and special teams turned in outstanding efforts. Curtis ended up throwing for 265 yards and Blanks, after being bottled up all day long, scored the clinching touchdown on a 35-yard run with 2:10 remaining. But it was the defense and special teams that really paved the way for the victory. Blanks' TD run was set up by Chris Farnsworth's (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) 41-yard return after intercepting a pass deep in Gannon territory.  Gannon sacked Cal standout quarterback Noah Mitchell six times and held the Vulcans to 275 total yards. Special teams blocked a punt that resulted in a safety and had several long returns, and Curtis enjoyed a strong day punting. Gannon had beaten Cal just twice in 13 previous meetings, and only once on the field.

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 19-16 ledger in charge of the Golden Knights and is 162-78 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.

SCARPINO NAMED D2FOOTBALL.COM, PSAC WEST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) was named the D2Football.com Special Teams Player of the Week and PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week after nailing the game-winning field goal for the second straight week. It's the third time he has been honored by the PSAC. The redshirt senior kicked a game-winning 51-yard field goal as time expired at Indiana (Pa.) as the Golden Knights won 16-15, just their second win ever at IUP.  He tied the school record for longest field goal at Gannon as he kicked the game-winning field for the second straight week. The winning kick bounced off the right post and tumbled over the crossbar. Karch Holland originally kicked a 51-yard field goal in 2016 – against Indiana (Pa.). A week earlier the left-footed kicker drilled a 32-yard field goal with six seconds remaining for the winning points in a 31-28 win at Mercyhurst. Scarpino finished with three field goals at IUP (31, 40 and 51 yards) along with an extra point. He has yet to miss a kick in 2023. He is 14-for-14 on field goals and 23-for-23 on PATs.  Scarpino tied Holland for second place in career field goals with 31 and is sixth in career field goals attempted with 37. In addition, he is sixth in career points with 208. The three field goals on Saturday give Scarpino 14 on the season, one shy of Jeremy Ditzler's season record of 15.

GOODBYE SENIORS
A year ago Gannon had a limited number of seniors to recognize on Senior Day. This year the situation is quite different, with 22 Golden Knights set to be honored in pre-game festivities. Here is a list, in alphabetical order, of those 22 seniors. Trey Baker (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont), Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington), Nick Demchuck, Mike Dempsey (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford), Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney), Zach Evans (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain), Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing), Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey), Damarisse Freeman Jr., Johnny Freeman (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep), Reginald Hamlette Jr. (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill), Michael Howard (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls), Jaylen Johnson (Largo, Md./National Christian Academy), Jeremy Mensah (Laurel, Md./Riverdale Baptist), Nate Miller (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange), Riley Noble (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), Lucus Nowoczynski (Erie, Pa./McDowell), Jacob Petit (Uniontown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban), Jonathan Quinque (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf), Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), Zharell Walker (Severn, Md./Meade), and Jonathan Williams (Bamberg, S.C./Bamberg-Ehrhardt).

MARCUS EXCELS IN WORKHORSE ROLE
Donny Marcus' (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) run of outstanding games continued with the redshirt sophomore posting his third straight 100-yard game and fourth in the last five contests. The transfer from Ball State ended the day with 171 yards on 28 carries. Over the last five games he has carried the ball 125 times for 726 yards. It's his third game in that stretch with 170-or-more yards. Marcus added three receptions for 27 yards. He entered the game ranked fourth in the PSAC in rushing and now has 829 yards on 154 carries, adding 19 receptions for 156 yards. The 829 yards is good for 16th in rushing yards in a season.

LET'S NOT FORGET THE O-LINE
Somewhat lost in the outstanding efforts of Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) is the play of the offensive line during that stretch. Like the backfield, the five-men on the o-line have overcome injuries and have improved as the year has gone on. Jacob Petit (Uniontown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) is one of only two linemen to start all nine games, and he is the only one at the same position -- left guard. Riley Noble (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) has also started all nine games, eight at left tackle. Dylan Wilson (Garrettsville, Ohio/Garfield) joined the lineup at left tackle the second week. Montana Nietert (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) has started seven games at center and Jacob Vasko seven on the right side of the line. Gannon is averaging 165.1 ypg. rushing, good for fourth in the PSAC. The line has paved the way for 200-or-more yards in four of the last five games, including the last three.
 
HAMLETTE PROVIDES BIG PLAYS ON D
The IUP game ended with Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) kicking a game-winning field, but if not for some outstanding plays by Reginald Hamlette Jr. (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) the result might be quite different. The redshirt junior defensive back made six tackles along with breaking up a long pass inside the ten and blocking the extra point after IUP's second touchdown. That proved to be the difference at the end of the day. He also led the charge when the Gannon defense stopped IUP's Dayjure Stewart short on fourth down late in the game, tripping up the IUP running back.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA (PA)
California (Pa.) enters Saturday's game with a 6-2 record and is 5-1 in the PSAC West. The Vulcans ran off four straight wins before dropping a 42-21 decision at Slippery Rock two weeks ago. They came back last week with a 58-19 win over Mercyhurst. After falling behind 13-0 early in the contest the Vulcans scored 34 points in the second quarter to take a 41-13 lead at the half … Cal received some very good news on Monday when the NCAA released its first official set of regional rankings. The Vulcans are sixth in Super Region One. They are in search of their first NCAA Division II playoff berth since 2017. Prior to that Cal had annually made the postseason. Cal likely needs to claim wins over Gannon and potentially East Stroudsburg next Saturday to make the playoffs. That opponent may change if ESU makes the PSAC Championship game … head coach Gary Dunn is finishing up his eighth year at his alma mater with a 55-20 record. He has a winning season in each of his seven campaigns on the field (COVID 19 canceled the 2020 season), leading the Vulcans to the NCAA Division II Playoffs in his first two seasons in 2016 and 2017 … the Vulcans feature one of the top quarterbacks in the PSAC in Davis Black. At 6'5", 230 lbs. the junior is typical of the big, strong dropback passers Cal has had during the years. He has completed 119-of-208 passes for 1,961 yards with 17 TDs and 8 INTs. He ranks third in the PSAC and 17th in Division II in passing yards per game (245.1), and third and 29th, respectively, in passing TDs. Sophomore Eric Willis III has caught 42 passes for 771 yards, an 18.4 yard average, with 7 TDs. Omari Hopkins adds 27 catches for 530 yards, a gaudy 19.6 yards average, with 6 TDs … Cal relies on the backfield tandem of Bobby Boyd, Jr. and Eric McKan III to run the ball. Thanks to a 213-yard effort against Mercyhurst to take a one-yard lead with 482 yards on 76 carries, a 6.3 yard average, with 2 TDs. McKan, a 5'10", 210 lb. junior, adds 481 yards and 8 TDs on 99 carries … senior linebacker Matt Tobey was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week for his performance against Mercyhurst. He finished with a season-high 10 tackles and returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown. A two-time All-PSAC West honoree, Tobey leads Cal with 45 tackles along with a pair of interceptions … Ibrahim Sanogo, a sophomore outside linebacker, leads the PSAC and ranks 17th in Division in sacks (0.88/gm.). He has seven in all, one of 11 Vulcan to take part in a sack this year.

UP NEXT
Gannon concludes the 2023 campaign with a PSAC crossover game at Shippensburg on Saturday, November 11. Kickoff at Seth Grove Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m. A year ago the Raiders denied Gannon a first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs with an overtime win at McConnell Family Stadium.
 
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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
Trey Baker

#50 Trey Baker

LB
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

WR
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
Mike Dempsey

#71 Mike Dempsey

OL
6' 4"
Senior
Sam East

#3 Sam East

WR
5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
Undeclared
Zach Evans

#23 Zach Evans

TE
6' 3"
Senior
Finance
Obi Ezeigbo

#33 Obi Ezeigbo

DL
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Johnny Freeman

#18 Johnny Freeman

TE
6' 1"
Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Melvin Blanks

#2 Melvin Blanks

6' 1"
Senior
Business
RB
Kory Curtis

#7 Kory Curtis

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
QB
Trey Baker

#50 Trey Baker

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
LB
Ke

#1 Ke'John Batiste

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
WR
Mike Dempsey

#71 Mike Dempsey

6' 4"
Senior
OL
Sam East

#3 Sam East

5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
Undeclared
WR
Zach Evans

#23 Zach Evans

6' 3"
Senior
Finance
TE
Obi Ezeigbo

#33 Obi Ezeigbo

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
DL
Chris Farnsworth

#9 Chris Farnsworth

5' 11"
Senior
DB
Johnny Freeman

#18 Johnny Freeman

6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
TE