2023 FB Seniors
Bryce Dolak
34
Winner California (PA) CAL 7-2 , 6-1
17
Gannon GAN 5-5 , 5-2
Winner
California (PA) CAL
7-2 , 6-1
34
Final
17
Gannon GAN
5-5 , 5-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
CAL California (PA) 7 7 14 6 34
GAN Gannon 0 3 7 7 17

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

Batiste, East Catch Touchdown Passes to Celebrate Senior Day vs. California (Pa.)

THE GAME FACTS
Score:  California (Pa.) 34, Gannon 17
Records: Gannon (5-5, 5-2 PSAC West), California (Pa.) (7-2, 6-1 PSAC West)
Date: Saturday, November 4, 2023
Location: Erie, Pa. – McConnell Family Stadium
 
ERIE, Pa. – Gannon and California (Pa.) met at McConnell Family Stadium with the winner claiming sole possession of second place in the Western Division. For the Golden Knights they also looked to send out 23 seniors with a victory in their final home appearance. The Vulcans had even more to play for, with a potential NCAA Division II Playoff berth at stake. A Gannon team that has battled injuries all year lost several more players on Saturday but stayed with the Vulcans until a run of 17 straight points between the third quarter and early fourth quarter finally wore the Golden Knights down. Seniors accounted for all of Gannon's scoring. The day was another success for redshirt senior placekicker eric Scarpino, who remained perfect on the season while tying the season record for field goals with 15. Jayden Whitaker (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney) to account for one Gannon touchdown and fellow redshirt senior Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) caught a seven-yard scoring pass from Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) for the other.
 
GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
 
Box Score:  Click Here
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal jumped on the scoreboard first, taking advantage of a 2-yard punt return by Eric Willis III to the GU 31. Three plays later the Vulcans were in the end zone thanks to a 29-yard TD run by Isaiah Cameron with 4:23 left in the first quarter.

The two teams exchanged punts on three straight possessions until Gannon took advantage of a Cal miscue on what would have been the fourth straight punt. The Cal punter bobbled the snap and attempted to run the first down. He was brought down short of the line to gain by Jamir Francis (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside), with Gannon taking over at the Cal 39.

The Golden Knights would reach the Cal 9, with freshman quarterback Jayden Whitaker (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) completing a six-yard pass to Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) on a 3rd-and-3 play, and one play later Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) running for 13 yards. When the drive stalled Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) came in and booted a 27-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 3;49 left in the first half.

Cal would answer with an 11-play, 73-yard march that resulted in a touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half. Willis made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone and was able to get one foot down to give Cal a 14-3 lead at the half.

The first half of the third quarter saw several swings. Cal opened the half with a 49-yard pass from Davis Black to D'Avay Johnson, with Johnson pulling down the 50-50 ball for a great catch. Facing a 3rd-and-7 at the GU 23, the defense baited Black into a deep throw which Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) and Zaire Allen (Johnson City, Tenn./Archbishop Spalding (Md.)) had defended in the end zone. Farnsworth took the ball away from Allen for his fourth interception of the season.

Whitaker followed with an impressive five-play, 80-yard drive that featured all passes. He hooked up with Batiste for 23 yards to the Cal 42 on a 3rd-and-10. That was followed by a six-yard completion to Donell "Tank" Mason to the 36. Whitaker then dropped back and found senior Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney) for a 36-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. Staring at a 2-13 deficit two minutes earlier, the Golden Knights were now within 14-10 with 12:13 left in the third quarter.

Cal responded with the next 17 points, however. The Vulcans immediately followed the Gannon touchdown with six points on an eight-play, 69-yard drive. Bobby Boyd, Jr. capped the drive with a 20-yard scoring run.

Two plays later Gannon's fortunes turned following a missed handoff, The Vulcans recovered at the GU 36 and needed five plays to make it 28-10 with 4:17 left in the third quarter. Black did the honors scoring on a two-yard run.

Cal's lead grew to 31-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter with Anthony Beitko kicking a 35-yard field goal.

Gannon didn't give up, however. With backup quarterback Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) in following an injury to Whitaker, Gannon put together another long drive against a staunch Vulcan defense, going 75 yards in 12 plays. Gannon converted twice on third down and once on fourth down in the drive. Tight end Jonathan Bowden (Palm Bay, Fla./Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy) went for two yards when he took the snap to convert a 4th-and-1 play and several plays later Mikell scrambled 36 yards to the Cal 12 to convert a 3rd-and-7 play. Three plays later the redshirt sophomore drilled a pass to Batiste in the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown strike. Scarpino's extra point pulled Gannon to within 31-17 with 10:31v still left to play.

Cal took the ensuing kickoff and ran on seven of eight plays behind an impressive offensive line. Joseph "Joe" Loiseau and Obi Ezeigbo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) would stop Black for no gain on third down, but Beitko stepped in and kicked his second field goal of the day from 27 yards out with 5:11 remaining to end the scoring.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
It was Senior Day as Gannon recognized 23 seniors prior to the game. They included: LB Trey Baker (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont); WR Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington); QB Nick Demchuck; OL Mike Dempsey (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford); WR Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney); TE Zach Evans (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain); DB Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey); WR Damerisse Freeman Jr. (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward); TE Johnny Freeman (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep); DB Reginald Hamlette Jr. (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill); WR Michael Howard (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls); RB Jaylen Johnson (Largo, Md./National Christian Academy); DL Jeremy Mensah (Laurel, Md./Riverdale Baptist); OL Nate Miller (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange); LB Cooper Mullins (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade Julienne); OL Riley Noble (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan); DL Lucus Nowoczynski (Erie, Pa./McDowell); OL Jacob Petit (Uniontown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban); Jonathan Quinque (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan); PK Eric Scarpino (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf); WR Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston); LB Zharell Walker (Severn, Md./Meade); and DB Johnathan Williams.

Cal ended the day with 450 yards, the most allowed by Gannon this year, while the Golden Knights finished with 268 yards. The Golden Knights had enjoyed great success on the ground in recent weeks, with three straight games of over 200 yards. The Vulcans limited Gannon to 63 yards on 29 attempts, while finishing with 25 yards rushing, also the most allowed by Gannon this year. The Golden Knights did most of their damage through the air as Jayden Whitaker (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) and Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) combined for 205 yards.

Donny Marcus (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) came into the game as the fourth-leading rusher in the PSAC with 829 yards and had totaled 726 yards over the last five games. It was obvious from the start that Cal was not going to allow Marcus to beat them. The redshirt sophomore picked up 38 hard-earned yards on 11 carries to boost his season total to 867 yards.

Freshman Jayden Whitaker (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) started his second game at quarterback. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 159 yards with one touchdown. When Whitaker went down in the third quarter, Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) stepped in and completed 5-of-14 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, adding 30 yards rushing on five carries.
Donell "Tank" Mason and Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) led Gannon with six receptions apiece. Mason's went for 76 yards while Batiste had 58 yards receiving and one touchdown. Braeden Soboleski (Erie, Pa./McDowell) caught three passes for 31 yards. Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney) caught just one pass, but that went for a 36-yard touchdown.

Bobby Boyd, Jr. led the Cal ground game with 100 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Eric McKan III added 86 yards on 11 rushes and Isaiah Cameron had 46 yards on five carries. David Black completed 12-of-22 passes for 200 yards with a touchdown and an interception. D'Avay Johnson caught four passes for 114 yards and Eric Willis had four grabs for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Diego Bremer (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) paced the Golden Knights with a career-high 15 tackles, while Hayden McDonald (Tigard, Ore./Tigard) matched his career-high with 11 stops. Joseph "Joe" Loiseau finished with five tackles, with two for losses and Gannon's lone sack of the day. Cal would sack Gannon quarterbacks five times.

THE RECORD BOOK
While he wasn't able to kick the game-winning field goal for the third straight week, Eric Scarpino's (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) magical season continued. The redshirt senior has yet to miss a kick in 2023. He made good on his lone field goal attempt against Cal from 27 yards out and is now 15-for-15 on field goals along with 25-for-25 on PATs. He tied Jeremy Ditzler's season record of 15 field goals made in a season and moved into second place in career field goals made with 32, one behind Ditzler's record of 33. He is tied for fifth in career field goals attempted with 38. In addition, he moved into fourth place in career points with 213.

Ke'John Batiste (Covington, La./Covington) caught six passes for 58 yards, including a seven-yard TD pass that was the 14th touchdown reception of his career. The redshirt senior ranks fifth in career TD receptions, along with moving into sixth place in career receptions with 113 and is seventh in career receiving yards with 1,585. Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney) caught one pass for a 36-yard touchdown to move into a tie for 12th place in receptions with 86. His 13 career TD receptions are sixth all-time.

Chris Farnsworth (Bristol, Pa./Milton Hershey) intercepted the 11th pass of his career on Saturday and had four tackles to boost his career total to 260. He now ranks sixth in career interceptions and is tenth in career tackles.

Nate Mikell (Summerfield, Fla./Wildwood) has thrown for 1,547 yards this season. That is good for a tie for 13th place in the season records.

UP NEXT
Gannon concludes the 2023 campaign with a PSAC crossover game at Shippensburg on Saturday, November 11. Kickoff at Seth Grove Stadium is 1:00 p.m. A year ago the Raiders upset Gannon in overtime 35-28, denying the Golden Knights an opportunity at a first-ever NCAA Playoff berth.  
 
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