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Mercyhurst Prep Pulls Away From Northwestern 28-7

Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 7, 2024

Albion—Mercyhurst Prep earned its first win of 2024 with a 28-7 victory over Northwestern Saturday afternoon at Louis J. Rogers Field in Albion.

Video highlight reel now added.

With on-and-off downpours of rain, Mercyhurst Prep scored three consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 stalemate and taste victory for the first time this season.

“It feels great. It really does,” said Mercyhurst Prep head coach Jeff Root. “Last year, we played lights out with several seniors. This year, we have a lot of young guys on the field. At one point, we had three defensive linemen who were all freshmen. That bodes well for us in the future; you’ll take it anytime you can win on a Saturday in pouring rain.”

Despite the subpar weather conditions, the Lakers had the perfect “mudder” in tailback Vinnie Feliciano, who rushed for a game-high 121 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns.

“It feels great, Feliciano said. “We still have some things to work on, but our defense played phenomenal. On offense, we still have things to work on. It was harsh weather, but we stayed focused and played our game. We didn’t let that phase us. We came out and played Laker football. I feel like I slipped up several times but bounced back stronger and executed.”

After playing the field position game early in the contest, the Lakers took over at the Northwestern 35-yard line, following a defensive stand deep in their territory.

Three plays later, Vinnie Feliciano bounced outside and opened the scoring with a 22-yard run at the 2:21 mark of the first quarter.

“Vinnie has been the workhorse for us all year,” Root said. “He’s had over 100 yards a game on the season and been consistent. As we go, he’s going to go. He will take it to the house if we can give him any space. We need to keep working with him and working on our passing game. I’m proud of these guys, and there are a lot of sophomores and young guys out there.”

From there, both teams struggled to move the football for the rest of the first half, and the score of 7-0 remained at halftime.

Mercyhurst Prep gained 59 yards of offense in the first half, while Northwestern was limited to negative three. For the game, the Wildcats only gained eight yards on offense.

Regardless of their lack of offensive production, Northwestern tied the game late in the third quarter when Avery Merritt returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown.

The Wildcats had their best offensive drive of the game on the prior drive, driving 30 yards in 12 plays before turning the ball over on downs at the Lakers’ 17-yard line.

David White led the Wildcats with 73 yards on 19 carries; however, sacks and fumbles limited Northwestern to negative 18 yards rushing.

Feliciano returned the ball to the Wildcats 33-yard line on the following kickoff. Succeeding a long and methodical 11-play drive, Feliciano scored on a 4-yard run with 10:48 to play.

On the drive, Feliciano caught a 21-yard pass from Everett Cotterill. It was the only completed pass of the game for the Lakers.

From there, the Lakers’ defense did what they did best all day: a strip-sack and fumble recovery at the 10-yard line that led to Feliciano’s 10-yard run a play later.

“It wasn’t pleasant in the locker room at halftime because we weren’t playing well,” said. Root. “Then they have that punt return, and it’s 7-7-they were opportunistic. We challenged our guys and told them it comes down to you guys. It’s not about an X or an O. We said they needed to impose their will on them. I thought they did an excellent job of getting that first score.”

Mercyhurst Prep put the finishing touches on the contest after forcing a punt as Tyshaun Tate scored on a 7-yard run with 37 seconds to play.

The Lakers will look to keep the momentum going next Friday night when they play host to unbeaten Seneca.

“It’s good for us because it gives us confidence,” Root said. “We knew when we had Sharon and Oil City, being bigger schools, we were not designed to play those guys this year. But now that we’re getting into some like-minded teams, it’s good for us to pull out a nice win. As we move forward in our region, it will bode well for us.”

Northwestern will aim for their first victory when they play host to Eisenhower next Friday night.

Game Highlights:

Mercyhurst Prep 28 Northwestern 7

Score by Quarters

Mercyhurst Prep – 7 0 0 21 – 28

Northwestern – 0 0 7 0 – 7

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

MP – Vinnie Feliciano 22 yd run, (Carson Mertz pat), 2:21 – 3-35

Third Quarter

N – Avery Merritt 43 yd punt return, (Jack Williams pat), 4:17

Fourth Quarter

MP – Feliciano 4 yd run, (Mertz pat), 10:48 – 11-33

MP – Feliciano 10 yd run, (Mertz pat), 4:20 – 1-10

MP – Tyshaun Tate 7 yd run, (Mertz pat), 0:37 – 4-22

Individual Stats

Rushing: MP – Feliciano 26-121, Tate 4-18, Clayton Wojtecki 1-1, Everett Cotterill 2-2, Team 3-(-26). Totals: 36-116. N – David White 19-73, Brody Bickeneuser 3-(-1), Joe Holdsworth 1-(-3), Keegan Miller 3-2 Braden Swift 11-(-70), Team 2-(-19). Totals: 39-(-18).

Receiving: MP – Feliciano 1-21. N – Dalton Hough 1-7, Merritt 2-20, Aiden Erven 1-0, White 1-(-3), Brodie Mikovch 1-2.

Passing: MP – Cotterill 1-for-5, 21 yards, 1 INT. N – Swift 6-for-9, 26 yards.

Interceptions: N – Merritt.

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