Box Score

ERIE - East Stroudsburg University rallied from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game at 45-45 with 3:07 left, but Mercyhurst produced a final scoring drive to escape with a 52-45 win in the season finale for both schools on Saturday at Tullio Field.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Soltes was 24-for-42 for 394 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 69 yards for ESU (5-5), which finishes at .500 or better for the 10th time in 13 seasons with an 85-man roster that included 67 freshmen or sophomores.

Soltes finishes the season with 2,662 passing yards and 536 rushing yards for 3,158 yards of total offense in 10 games, including the first seven starts of his career.

He is the fourth player (and third Warrior) in PSAC history to throw for 2,500+ yards and rush for 500+ yards in a season, joining Jimmy Terwilliger in 2006 (3,470 total - 2,966 pass, 504 rush), James Franklin in 1994 (3,129 - 2,586, 543) and Erik Anderwkavich of LIU Post in 2010 (3,305 - 2,625, 680). The first three were all seniors. (UPDATED SCHOOL RECORD BOOK pdf)

Mercyhurst (9-2), which shared the PSAC West title with IUP after a 40-7 win over California last week, got 379 yards passing and three TD from quarterback Anthony Vendemia and used two long scoring plays in the third quarter to open a 45-24 lead before the Warriors came back.

Paris Bruner had a 97-yard kick return touchdown and had five catches for 144 yards, and Devyn Woods had nine catches for 215 yards and three TD, scoring from 44, 13 and 40 yards. A 46-yard run by Allen Jones II after a fourth-down stop gave the Lakers their 21-point lead, part of a 21-3 third-quarter run after leading 24-21 at halftime.

The Warriors' defense had three key fourth-quarter stops and Soltes and the offense took advantage. ESU took over on its 40-yard line with 9:48 left and was in the end zone three plays later, starting with a 30-yard pass from Soltes to R-Jr. WR Robert Bleiler. Two personal fouls for roughing the passer gave ESU the ball at the eight-yard line, and Soltes hit Sr. TB Eric Deery for the TD to cut the deficit to 45-31 with 8:24 remaining.

ESU got the ball back on a sack and forced fumble by Sr. DE Waverly Harris which was recovered by R-So. DL Bryan Thomson at the 39-yard line. Soltes ran for six and 14 yards, and flipped a 19-yard TD pass to R-Sr. WR Jordan Hallman to make it 45-38 with 5:51 left.

With Mercyhurst reeling, the Warriors got a three-and-out to force a punt and regained possession on their 47 with 4:13 left. Soltes hit Hallman to convert a third-and-five, and ESU dialed up a screen pass on the next play, with Sr. TB Kendrick Williams covering the final 41 yards for the game-tying points with 3:07 showing.

A sack and short run gave Mercyhurst third-and-18 at its own 17, but Vendemia hit Woods for 20 yards, then found Bruner for 42 yards down to the 21-yard line. After the Warriors used their second timeout, freshman tailback Brandon Brown-Dukes broke free for the go-ahead score with 1:17 remaining.

R-Fr. WR Brandon Mercer returned the ensuing kickoff to the 37-yard line, but Soltes scrambled and was sacked on first down, and the Mercyhurst defense came up with its third interception of the game, all on deflected passes, when Nick Jackson picked off Soltes' 42nd pass attempt near midfield to end the day.

The 21-point comeback would have been the largest in school history. The Warriors overcame a 17-point margin, the second-largest ever, in a 27-26 win over Edinboro in last year's season finale at Eiler-Martin Staidum.

ESU, ranked fifth in Division II in total offense (489.1 yards per game), threw for 417 yards and ran for 160 for 577 yards. Mercyhurst came into the day ranked fourth in pass defense with 151.3 yards per game but gave up 153 yards in the first quarter. The Lakers' defense was also second in the PSAC in scoring (21.1 ppg) and total defense (325.6 ypg).

Defensively, ESU held Brown-Dukes (122.1 yards per game) to 74 yards on 17 carries and limited the Lakers, the PSAC's third-ranked rushing offense with 214.6 yards per game, to 99 yards on 38 carries.

The Warriors sacked Vendemia eight times, but he averaged 15.8 yards per attempt when he was able to throw. Mercyhurst gained 478 yards, including 379 passing.

Eight players caught passes from Soltes, led by Bleiler (6 catches, 137 yards, TD) and Hallman (7 catches, 97 yards), who went over the 100-catch mark for his career. Williams had four catches for 58 yards and a TD and Jr. WR Dusty Reed had three catches for 50 yards. Deery and R-So. TE Steven Jones (16 yards) also caught TD passes.

Bleiler scored on the first play from scrimmage, taking a short pass 75 yards for a touchdown, to set the tone for a game that had 1,055 yards of total offense.

Mercyhurst took its first lead at 10-7, getting a 16-yard TD run from Vendemia and 27-yard field goal from Steven Wakefield after the Warriors' defense held following a turnover.

ESU responded with an 86-yard, 11-play drive capped by a one-yard plunge by R-Jr. FB Thomas Tippett to go ahead 14-10 early in the second quarter. Woods had TD catches of 44 and 13 yards around Soltes' toss to Jones as Mercyhurst led 24-21 at halftime.

The Lakers pushed their lead to 30-21 on their second possession of the second half when Woods took a short pass for a 40-yard TD after an ESU punt. Thomson blocked the extra point, tying school records with his sixth block of the season and eighth of his career. Jr. OLB Darius Jackson returned the block for an apparent defensive two-point conversion, but the play was called back due to a block in the back.

ESU cut into the deficit with a 33-yard field goal by Jr. K Taylor Groff, his 15th of the season, to make it 30-24 midway through the third quarter. So. P Jordan Bair aided the drive with a 23-yard pass to R-So. FS Anthony Singlar on fourth-and-six from the 29.

But Bruner returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a TD, and Jones' 46-yard TD run after a fourth-down stop seemed to put the game out of reach at 45-24. ESU punted on its next two possessions, but the defense allowed the Warriors to get back in it before Mercyhurst pulled it out in the final two minutes.


GAME NOTES
* Saturday's game was the first-ever meeting between ESU and Mercyhurst, which entered the PSAC in 2008. The Warriors hosted Gannon, Mercyhurst's neighbor in Erie, in Gannon's first-ever PSAC game but was not scheduled to face the Lakers until this season.
* ESU head coach Denny Douds (237-167-3 in 39 seasons) faced his 100th different opposing coach in Mercyhurst's Marty Schaetzle. Douds is 66-34 in his first meeting with a head coach.
* Douds became the first Division II head coach with 400 career games on Sept. 22, a 59-27 win over Cheyney. He finishes the season with 407 career games, 14th in college football history and third among active coaches. He holds the PSAC record and is fourth in Division II history with 237 career wins.

UPDATED SCHOOL RECORD BOOK (PDF)

* Soltes became the sixth ESU quarterback with 2,500 passing yards and 3,000 yards of total offense in a season. He ranks 9th at ESU in passing yards in a season (2,622), 8th in total offense (3,158), 2nd in rushing yards by a QB (536), 5th in pass efficiency (157.5) and 6th in completion percentage (60.9).
* Soltes' 536 rushing yards are 2nd-most by an ESU QB behind current Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin, who had 543 in 1994.
* His 3,158 yards of total offense rank 23rd in PSAC history.

* Soltes made his 7th start of the season. In those 7 starts, he averaged 333.9 yards passing and 402.7 yards of total offense per game.
* Soltes threw for 350+ yards in 4 games and gained 350+ yards of total offense in 5 games. Soltes' total offense figures in the last 7 games were - 318 at Clarion, 373 vs. West Chester, 221 at Bloomsburg, 396 vs. Kutztown, 666 at LIU Post, 382 at Millersville and 463 at Mercyhurst.
* Soltes' 666 yards at LIU Post (535 passing, 131 rushing) were a PSAC record and the most by a freshman in NCAA history.

* Among freshmen in PSAC history, Soltes ranks 2nd in total offense with 3,158 (trailing only ESU's Jimmy Terwilliger - 3,342 in 2003) and 3rd in passing yards with 2,622 (trailing Terwilliger - 2,987 in 2003, and Gannon's Liam Nadler - 2,852 this season).
* Soltes entered the week leading DII freshmen in pass efficiency (156.9), ranked 2nd in total offense (299.4) and 5th in passing (247.6).

* ESU averaged 497.9 yards per game, 327.6 passing yards per game and 38.5 points per game this season, all the 4th-most in school history.
* The Warriors ran for 170.3 yards per game, their most since 2001.

* Hallman became the 21st player in school history with 100 career catches, finishing with 105 catches for 1,986 yards and 19 TD.
* Reed finishes his junior year ranked 7th in catches (143) and 9th in receiving yards (2,093), He is also 8th in all-purpose yards (2,996).

* ESU had three players with 600+ receiving yards this season - Reed (50 catches, 787 yards, 5 TD), Hallman (31 catches, 608 yards, 7 TD) and Bleiler (37 catches, 608 yards, 4 TD).

* The Warriors had three players with 500+ rushing yards for the 2nd time in school history. Deery led ESU with 551 yards on 85 carries (6.5 ypc) and 4 TD; Soltes had 536 yards on 96 carries (5.6 ypc) and 2 TD; and Williams had 532 yards on 113 carries (4.7 ypc) and 7 TD.
* Tippett added 51 yards on 19 carries (5 TD) and had 19 catches for 288 yards and 1 TD.
* In 1994, Orlando Williams (115-628, 5 TD), Jason Killian (78-559, 5 TD) and James Franklin (182-543, 7 TD) all ran for more than 500 yards.

* Williams finishes his career ranked 2nd in rushing attempts (475), 3rd in rushing TD (23), 5th in rushing yards (2,177), 5th in all-purpose yards (3,580), 6th in yards from scrimmage (2,735) and 7th in total TD (27).
* Deery ran for 1,421 yards and 9 TD in his career. He had his 10th career TD with his 8-yard TD reception in the 4th quarter. He gained 1,646 all-purpose yards in his four-year career.

* R-Sr. RT Wrenton Wright II made his 43rd career start and R-Sr. RG Seve Rivers made his 41st start, and 32nd straight. They are the 6th and 7th Warriors, and 4th and 5th offensive linemen, with 40 career starts since 2003.
* Fr. LT Cody Laubach started all 10 games, the first 7 at right tackle and last 3 at left tackle. Laubach is the first ESU true freshman to start every game of the season since OL Jeff Koscis in 2004.

* R-Fr. WR Brandon Mercer finished the season 2nd in school history in kick return average (31.9), with 14 returns for 446 yards. He finishes behind Dennis Mailhot, who averaged 32.6 yards per return in 1989.
* Mercer had a 94-yard kick return for a TD against Cheyney, ESU's first kick return TD since Michael Glover in 2002 (93 yards vs. Millersville).
* Mercer had 3 returns for 77 yards (25.7 avg.) with a long of 28 on Saturday.

* Groff was 15-for-23 on field goals this season after going 1-for-2 on Saturday. He scored 93 points, including going 48-for-48 on extra points to extend his streak to 58.
* Groff's 93 points are 2nd-most in a season in school history. He had 87 points as a freshman in 2010, and had 50 points in 8 games last season.
* Groff led all Division II kickers with 9.3 points per game entering the weekend. He also led all active DII kickers with 1.5 field goals made and 2.0 attempted per game in his career.
* Groff  is 42-for-58 on field goals in his career (school-record 72.4 percent). He is 8 field goals away from the school record of 50 held by Ed Detwiler (1989-92) with one season remaining.
* He holds the school record with 16 field goals of 40+ yards, surpassing Detwiler (12).
* He currently ranks 3rd in points by a kicker (230), trailing Mark Brubaker (287 - 2002-05) and Detwiler (262). He ranks 6th in career points overall.

* The Warriors had 24 sacks over the last 4 games after recording 6 in the first 6 games. They had 4 sacks vs. Kutztown and 6 each at LIU Post and Millersville before getting to Vendemia 8 times on Saturday.
* Fr. OLB Greg Jones led the ESU defense with 10 tackles and a sack - which came one play before an interception by R-So. CB Andrew Coyle after Mercyhurst drove to the 1-yard line.

* R-So. DL Bryan Thomson tied ESU's single-season record with his 6th blocked kick (Joe Menton, 1995) and the career record with his 8th blocked kick (Matt Delancey, 1993-96).
* Jackson had a defensive 2-point return vs. Cheyney and almost had his 2nd of the year, but it was called back on a block in the back during the return.

* The Warriors will return 8 of 11 starters on defense with the departure of DE Waverly Harris (26 tackles, 9.0 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF in 8 starts), DT Sam Hull (28 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 1 FF in 10 starts) and OLB Darius Jackson (46 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 2 Int., 1 FF in 10 starts), who has junior eligibility but is a senior academically.

* The rest of the regular starters were: R-So. DE Brandon Gattelli (35 tackles, 9.0 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 2 FF, 3 FR in 10 starts), Thomson (50 tackles, 9.0 TFL, 5.0 sacks, 2 FR, 6 blocked kicks in 10 starts), Fr. OLB Greg Jones (72 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 1 FR in 8 starts), So. ILB Cody Simcox (71 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR in 8 starts), So. ILB Don Kinney, Jr. (51 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 1.0 sack in 8 starts), R-So. CB Andrew Coyle (45 tackles, 2 Int., 4 pass breakups in 9 starts), Fr. CB Teron Dobbs (32 tackles, 3 Int., 4 pass breakups in 8 starts) and R-So. FS Anthony Singlar (86 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1 Int., 5 pass breakups, 1 FF, 1 FR in 10 starts).