Mercer holds off Cochranton, Lockard wins first game @SteveHoover7 @OCSCOREANDGO42

Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News

PFN Staff | August 26, 2019

Aidan Bright caught a touchdown for Mercer

Shane Lux

Mercer scored three times in less than three minutes early in the second quarter to oust Cochranton, and give first-year head coach Jeff Lockard his first victory.

“It’s all about the kids and has nothing to do with me,” said Mercer head coach Jeff Lockard. “I’ll judge my coaching based on where these kids are five years from now. I know they’ll all be great adults.”

In a defensive battle that saw both offenses combine for just 418 yards of total offense, it was special teams hiccup by the Cardinals that allowed Mercer to draw first blood.

“There were mistakes on both sides, but I thought our guys played really hard,” said Lockard. “It was the first game, and there were jitters, but we got that important first win.”

A bad punt snap sailed over the head of the Cardinals punter for safety.

Following a free-kick, Ethan Wiley connected with Aidan Bright down the seam for a 25-yard touchdown pass.

On the ensuing kickoff, Cochranton fumbled, again giving the Mustangs a short field to operate.

Logan Conner pounded the ball in from a yard pushing Mercer’s lead to 14-0 with 8:34 remaining in half. The scores came 2:22 seconds apart.

“Our young kids stepped up tonight,” said Lockard. “That’s an excellent football team over there, and those guys are going to win some football games. That is going to be Mercer football. We’re going to predicate on playing good defense and grinding it out.”

“In a close game it’s the team that makes the fewest mistakes,” said Cochranton head coach Joel Murray. “We only returned 11 players from last years team. That is no excuse, but when you have four turnovers to none for them, it’s tough to win.”

Mercer lost their star running back Aidan Bright in the third quarter, and his future is uncertain.

“I’m going to let the medical staff handle that,” said Lockard. “I was thrilled with the intensity we played with after that.”

Cochranton would crack the scoreboard for the first time as Wyatt Barzak hit Kendrick Hostetler on a 21-yard touchdown pass pulling the Cardinals to within 14-6 at halftime.

Dustin Miller carries the ball for Cochranton

“It was the first game, and it was a chess match,” said Murray. “You have one film to look at both had to make adjustments. This was a game between to evenly matched teams. I was worried about how our young guys would play, but they played great.

Jon Gallo’s 10-yard touchdown got Cochranton to within two, but the 2-point pass attempt was incomplete late in the third quarter.
Mercer put together a 15-play 55-yard drive only to see it stopped on downs at the Cardinals 7-yard line with 7:13 to play.

Cochranton had one last chance to try and win the game when they took over at their 16-yard line with 2:16 to play.

“That was the key, our defense realized what they had to do,” said Lockard.

The Cardinals, however, couldn’t get anything going and Barzak threw incomplete on 4th-and-22 ending the game.

“Our player’s attitude after the game was great, we’re going to be fine,” said Murray.

Game Highlights:

Stats courtesty of Ryan Briggs: Twitter @professorbriggs

Mercer 14 Cochranton 12

Score by Quarters

Cochranton – 0 6 6 0 – 12

Mercer – 0 14 0 0 – 14

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

M – Team Safety, 10:56

M – Aidan Bright 25 yd pass from Ethan Wiley (rush failed), 9:33

M – Logan Conner 1 yd run (rush failed), 8:34

C – Kendrick Hostetler 21 yd pass from Wyatt Barzak (rush failed), 4:03

Third Quarter

C – Jon Gallo 10 yd run (pass failed), 3:30

Individual Stats

Rushing: Cochranton – Gallo 11-72, Dustin Miller 6-49, Kaden Tatters 3-20, Steve Martinec 1-0, Team 2-(-24), Barzak 8-(-33). Totals: 31-84. Mercer – Logan Turton 13-70, Bright 8-67, P.J Boggs 10-44, Logan Conner 4-16, Team 2-0, Donovan Palmer 2-(-5). Totals: 39-192.

Passing: Cochranton – Barzak 10-for-19, 104 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Mercer – Ethan Wiley 2-for-11, 38 yards, 1 touchdown.

Receiving: Cochranton – Gallo 5-42, Hostetler 2-49, Tatters 2-5, Martinec 1-8. Mercer – Bright 1-25, Boggs 1-13.

Interceptions: Mercer – Donovan Pugh.

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