Back-and-forth scoring, a QB change and a last-second field goal. This year's Gannon-Mercyhurst football game was a thriller
Moving the Niagara Cup had become a yearly task.
The trophy awarded annually to the winner of the Gannon University/Mercyhurst University football game has made the 3-mile trek between campuses each fall since 2011. That’s the last time either school won consecutive games against their crosstown rival.
Escorting the Niagara Cup down State Street won’t be necessary this year. Thanks to Fort LeBoeuf High School graduate Eric Scarpino’s last-second field goal, it will stay right where it’s at in the halls of Carneval Athletic Pavilion.
Scarpino’s 32-yard conversion with six seconds to play capped a 31-28 Gannon victory at Mercyhurst’s Saxon Stadium. It was far from last year’s 49-14 pasting of the Lakers, but in a rivalry like this?
Head coach Erik Raeburn and the Golden Knights will take it.
Answering the call
Raeburn made a crucial decision in the second quarter when Jayden Whitaker replaced Nate Mikell at quarterback.
Whitaker, a true freshman, capped his first collegiate drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown and followed it with a 10-yard TD pass to Ke’John Batiste. Whitaker stepped up again in the game’s final three minutes, using his legs to help move Gannon into Scarpino’s range.
“(Whitaker) has been doing great in practice,” Raeburn said. “It really wasn’t anything our starting quarterback did, it was more of the things Jayden showed in practice. We almost did it last week to try to get him in there, but we decided this week we were going to. I thought he played really well, particularly in his first college start.”
Trading touchdowns
Each time one offense scored, the other seemed to answer. The same was true with defensive stops.
Gannon led 21-14 at halftime, but two big plays by Mercyhurst — Adam Urena touchdown passes of 57 and 43 yards — kept the Lakers in it down the stretch. Between those two third-quarter scores, McDowell High School graduate Braeden Soboleski caught his first collegiate touchdown on a 17-yard pass from Whitaker.
“I’ve been grinding for three years and waiting for an opportunity,” Soboleski said. “We have a freshman quarterback in here who threw a great ball. He’s been grinding all year, he always produces in practice and I’m really proud that he got to come out here and throw my first touchdown.”
More: Mercyhurst Prep rolls as District 10 football region champions are crowned in Week 9
Closing the deal
The game seemingly reset itself with 2:44 left. Each defense had just forced a stop, leaving Gannon the ball at its own 39. Four rushes by Donny Marcus and three by Whitaker marched the Knights to Mercyhurst’s 14-yard line, leaving the job to Scarpino.
“(Scarpino) has been fantastic for us,” Raeburn said. “Everyone on our team was 100% certain he was going to make it.”
Whitaker finished 8-of-20 passing for 131 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Marcus rushed 30 times for 181 yards, Batiste caught three passes for 68 yards and Soboleski made three receptions for 41 yards.
For Mercyhurst, Urena was 18-for-28 passing for 242 yards, three TDs and an interception. Dustin Shoaf rushed 19 times for 89 yards and a score, adding an impressive 24-yard TD catch-and-run during which he hurdled a defender.
“This is the stuff you daydream about,” said Whitaker, who played last season at Brownsburg High School in Indiana. “I can’t complain, and I’ll take it in the moment — it’s a great feeling.”
Gannon (4-4) has now won four of five Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) games, its only blemish a 49-24 defeat at nationally ranked Slippery Rock. Mercyhurst (2-6), meanwhile, fell to 1-4 in PSAC play.
Gannon also completed a sweep of Erie-area rivals Mercyhurst and Edinboro for the second consecutive year. The Golden Knights travel to Indiana (Pa.) next week and Mercyhurst travels to California (Pa.).
More local football These players keyed the Cathedral Prep football team's blowout win over Erie High
Also see: District 10 football Week 9 game stats: Rushing, passing, receiving, scoring plays, more
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter,@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Gannon football outlasts Mercyhurst 31-28 in Niagara Cup thriller
