PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Halloween was a couple of days ago but that did not stop Mercyhurst from giving Duquesne “a scare” this afternoon at Arthur J. Rooney Field. Duquesne was looking for its first chance at revenge against Mercyhurst, after the Lakers defeated the Dukes the last time both teams played in 1993.
The Dukes entered this weekend as one of the only eight teams unbeaten in FCS play and was hosting a Mercyhurst team that had yet to win a game against a Division I school. With the Dukes winning the NEC title last season, the expectations have been high. And with this season being the inaugural year for Mercyhurst playing in the NEC, many people might have expected Duquesne to easily win this game.
However, behind big catches by Joey Isabella and two rushing touchdowns by JaMario Clements, Duquesne (6-2, 4-0 NEC) survived to win its sixth consecutive game and defeat Mercyhurst (2-7, 0-3) 31-24. The win for the Dukes clinched a .500 or better record for the 29th time in 32 seasons.
“It’s consistency in the program to keep that up,” Dukes head coach Jerry Schmitt discussed about all the winning seasons. “It’s a challenge for our guys to continue to keep up the tradition. It’s been here for years, Rooney Field. It started back with Coach McCann, Coach Russell for a couple of years and Coach Gattusso. The team understands the tradition and there is pressure to do it, and our guys accept those challenges.”
Lakers quarterback Adam Urena threw five short passes on its opening drive methodically moving down the field. The success of the short gains resulted in the Lakers concluding its opening drive with Urena throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Rylan Davidson.
Turnovers hurt Duquesne early leading to missed scoring opportunities.
Late in the first quarter, the Dukes looked to score its points of the afternoon. Dukes quarterback Darius Perrantes led the team down the field 68 yards on 12 plays. But on fourth-and-3 from the Lakers 14-yard line, Duquesne had to settle for a field goal. However, kicker Brian Bruzdewicz missed a potential 32-yard field goal.
The struggles for the Dukes carried into the second quarter. Mercyhurst failed to convert on fourth down from its own 29-yard line, giving the Dukes good field position. The Dukes were able to travel all the way down to the 1-yard line. But on second-and-1 Taj Butts rushed up the middle but fumbled on the carry and was recovered by Mercyhurst’s Tyler Buterbaugh.
“Well, I was expecting to come and play as hard as they can because they are new in this league,” Schmitt said when talking about what he was expecting from Mercyhurst. “I expected them to come here and play to win the game which they did. Just because they moved new into the conference or up from Division II does not mean anything. As we talk college football, it does not matter what level your at. It’s tough to win games and they know that.”
After the Dukes forced the Lakers punt, Butts carried on the Duquesne’s next offensive drive. After Butts hauled in a 13-yard reception, he carried the ball four times on the drive for a gain of 30 yards. Butts’ production led to the team’s first points of the game. Perrantes threw a pass to Tedy Afful and making tacklers missed ran into the endzone for a 5-yard score.
With less than a minute in the first half, Nathan Nagucki gave the Lakers the lead back, 10-7, after converting a 21-yard field goal attempt. Right before halftime, Duquesne looked to get more points but were unsuccessful. The Dukes were at its own 43-yard line and Perrantes threw a ball down the field intended for Afful but intercepted by Lakers’ Keon’te Huguely.
Perrantes did not have the interception phase him as the Dukes capitalized quickly to begin the second half. On the first offensive play of the half, Perrantes threw a deep pass to Joey Isabella. The graduate wide receiver side stepped his defender Zack Helsey and ran down the sidelines into the endzone for a 64-yard score to give the Dukes its first lead of the afternoon, 14-10.
Isabella hauled in another big reception in the third quarter. Perrantes connected with Isabella for a 47-yard reception which led to a 31-yard field goal by Bruzdewicz to tie the game at 17.
Right before Bruzdewicz’s field goal, the Lakers took the lead back the drive before. On fourth-and-5 from the Dukes 24-yard line, Urena threw his second touchdown pass of the day to Rylan Davidson, who got a good block from Cameron Barmore on the play. Despite the loss, Davidson had one of its best games of the season hauling in 14 receptions for 152 yards. Barmore finished the afternoon with 86 receiving yards.
“They’re really good players, they run really good routes. They have a little bit of length on us,” Schmitt said when talking about Mercyhurst wide receivers.
To begin the fourth quarter, Duquesne took its second lead of the day, 24-17. After a 42-yard pass from Perrantes to John Erby, that setup Clements rushing to the right side for an 8-yard touchdown.
“The message (at halftime) was really good football teams overcome adversity,” Schmitt said. “I thought we faced that obviously. We had not started the way that we did for most of the year. We had to make some adjustments and come out with a little bit of energy.”
Mercyhurst looked to capitalized after Clements go ahead touchdown. Davidson made an over the shoulder catch to set the Lakers up at midfield. Urena was able to get the Lakers up to the Dukes 18-yard line. But on second-and-7, Urena’s pass was tipped by A.J. Ackerman and picked off by Ty Howard.
Urena completed 38 of 52 passes for 345 yards, which were all season-highs. The interception thrown by Urena turned out to be costly. Duquesne capitalized off the turnover after Clements rushed for an 86-yard touchdown. Clements was effective in the second half rushing for 177 yards, including 123 in the second half.
With 1:30 left in the game, Urena connected with a wide-open Cameron Barmore for a 20-yard touchdown to trim Duquesne’s lead, 31-24. The Lakers attempted the onside kick but was recovered by Daniel Tarabrella. With the Lakers still having three timeouts left, the team had to stop the Dukes from gaining a first down. Taj Butts rushed on the right side for eight yards and up the middle for three yards and a first down to seal the deal for the Dukes.
Next weekend, Duquesne will host Robert Morris while Mercyhurst will host Lincoln University on Senior Day.
