Sept. 29, 2007

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst offense lit it up in front of 3,360 Homecoming fans, but the Laker football team lost to Ashland in a shootout 59-43 Saturday. Mercyhurst rolled up 550 yards of total offense, including 455 through the air.

While Mercyhurst had 41 more yards of total offense than Ashland, the Eagles capitalized on a pair of Laker turnovers and ran the ball effectively throughout the contest. Ashland had 55 carries for 305 yards on the ground and stayed balanced with 204 yards passing.

Two weeks ago, Mercyhurst came from 18 points down to beat Wayne State in the Lakers' home opener and the team tried to fight back from a similar deficit against Ashland. The Eagles took a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter and still led 35-14 at the half.

The Lakers took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down the field in four plays, finishing the drive with a 24-yard Aaron Haynes touchdown that made the score 35-21. Mercyhurst forced Ashland into its only punt of the day on the next possession and the Lakers put together an 8-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by a five-yard Richard Stokes touchdown catch that cut the deficit to just one touchdown.

Mercyhurst then surprised Ashland with on on-side kick and recovered the ball at the Eagles' 49-yard line. The Lakers picked up a first down but Phillis' first of two interceptions of the day ended Mercyhurst's chance to tie the game.

Ashland scored the next 17 points to build a 52-28 lead with just over 10 minutes to play and the Lakers never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Mercyhurst had numerous career performances in the contest as Phillis followed up last week's career-high 313 yards with 324 yards passing against Ashland before leaving late in the contest. Joe Laffey came on to go 8-of-11 passing for a career-high 131 yards. Phillis had four touchdown passes for the third consecutive games and Laffey added another late.

On the receiving end, Brandon Hill and Aaron Haynes both became the first players since 2006 to have a 100-yard day. Hill finished with nine catches for 163 yards and Haynes had seven receptions for 126 yards. He also had two touchdowns receiving.

Ashland improves to 3-1 on the year with an identical 3-1 record in the GLIAC. Mercyhurst falls to 4-2 and 3-2 in conference play. The Lakers will host No. 1 Grand Valley State Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Postgame Notes: Despite being held scoreless for the first 21 minutes of the game, Mercyhurst scored at least 40 points for the fourth straight week...Mercyhurst's offense rolled up a season-high 550 yards of total offense...Brandon Hill and Aaron Haynes were the first players since 2006 to have at least 100 yards receiving. Hill's 163 yards were the most for a Laker since Dan Schuler had 168 against Northern Michigan on September 3, 2005...Richard Stokes' streak of three straight games with at least 150 rushing yards was stopped. He finished with just 55 yards on the ground...Tim Herbener had a team-high 13 tackles and Zac Wild, who leads the GLIAC in tackles for loss, added 11 with one more tackle for loss.