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Mercyhurst Lakers Defeat the Pioneers Football

Matt Saur

The C.W. Post football team had been blown out in the first two games of the season and wanted to avoid a third, but the 25th-ranked Mercyhurst Lakers proved to be too much for the squad, beating the Pioneers 34-7.

Once again, the Pioneers struggled on offense. Steven Laurino returned after missing a game with a wrist injury but was just 11-27 for 92 yards. Laurino struggled throwing the ball, and the Pioneers’ running game was held to just 31 yards over the entire game.

The Lakers opened up the scoring with a one yard run by Ricky Matthews. Matthews also rushed for another touchdown later in the game and totaled 54 yards.

Matthews had a good day rushing, but Saturday was all about Laker quarterback Travis Rearick, who torched the Pioneers defense for 372 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His favorite target of the day was Trevor Kennedy, who caught 11 passes for 206 yards, including two touchdown passes.

The final score and stats reflected that the Pioneer defense played poorly, but they were victims of big plays and were forced to spend over 43 minutes on the field due to the lack of offense. C.W. Post’s D.J. Young had an interception and broke up 3 passes, while Billy O’Connor and Andrew Jackson racked up 10 and 9 tackles, respectively.

The Pioneers kept the game close for most of the first half, despite the nearly nonexistent offense. A big play in the game that proved to be the turning point came with three minutes remaining in the first half and the Lakers up just 7-0. Post running back Thomas Beverly fumbled the ball, allowing the Lakers to get good field position. In those three minutes after the fumble, the Lakers took advantage, scoring twice to make it a 17-0 game, a deficit that the Pioneers were never able to make up.

The Pioneers got on the board in the third, when second-year running back Anthony Brunetti rushed into the end zone for a five yard score. But, that proved to be the only time that the Pioneers would reach the end zone.

Despite being winless on the season, the Pioneers will get the chance to play at home for the next two weeks to, possibly, find a way to change the number on the side of the left column. That will start next Saturday, September 24th, when the Shippensburg Red Raiders head to Hickox Field. Coverage on 88.1FM and WCWP.org will begin at 12:30 with the game following at 1 p.m.

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