Box Score                 (Erie, Pa.): Clarion junior quarterback Ben Fiscus (Indiana)rushed and passed for a td, but it wasn't enough as  Mercyhurst held on for a 22-14 win on Saturday afternoon at Tullio Field.
 
                The PSAC-West opener for both teams, Clarion drops to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the West, while Mercyhurst raised its record to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Western Division.
 
                Mercyhurst jumped out to a 6-0 lead to on its first drive in the first quarter going 70-yards and hitting paydirt on a 38-yard pass from Anthony Vendemia to Paris Bruner at 10:28. The PAT missed wide right.

                Clarion took its next possession and drove to the Laker 20, but ended up turning the all over on downs. The drive carried from the Clarion 25 to the Laker 20 – and went 54 yards in 16 plays without scoring.
 
                On Clarion's next possession the eagles drove from its own 30 to the Hurst 23. But a couple of dropped passes ended the drive at the 23 – and another scoring chance.
 
                Mercyhurst seized the opportunity – on first down at the 23 – Brandon Brown-Dukes ran 77-yards to paydirt, to only have part of the run called back to the Clarion 22 after a clipping penalty. Two plays later Vendemia hit Devyn Woods on a 20-yard td pass at 9:25 of the second and the Lakers led 13-0.
 
                Clarion took its first possession in the third quarter and drove 76 yards in 13 plays, and this time scored on a 19-yard td pass from Fiscus to Jon Reid. The Clarion td came on third and three at the Laker 19, when Fiscus scrambled back and forth – stopped and found Reid in the back of the endzone for the score. Nathan Conway's PAT was good and the Eagles trailed 13-7 at 5:27 of the third quarter.
 
                After a Clarion punt was blocked by Vladimir Rock and recovered by Mike Brown at the Clarion 47  - Mercyhurst scored again off the Eagle turnover.  Laker tailback Brown-Dukes ran up the middle, bounced off a Clairon tackler, spun to the outside and went 29-yards down the left sideline for a td. The try for two-points failed, but Mercyhurst led 19-7.
 
                After Laker field goal kicker Steven Wakefield booted a 27-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the game to give the Lakers a 22-7 lead, Clarion put themselves right back in the game.
 
                Starting from their own 22 after the kickoff, Fiscus directed a nice 78-yard drive in 10 plays to pull within 22-14. Fiscus was 4 of 7 passing in the drive for 48 yards. Tailback Bobby Thomas had three rushed for 14 yards to put the ball at the one yard line, then qb Fiscus dove over from there at 3:25 to bring the Eagles to 22-14.
 
                Mercyhurst recovered the onside kick, and rushed for one first down to run out the clock and win the game.
 
                Clarion posted 285 yards of total offense in the game including 123 rushing and 162 passing. Fiscus completed 14 of 31 passes for 162 yards and 1 td, plus ran 13 times for 31 yards and 1 score.
 
                Running back Bobby Thomas had 18 carries for 71 yards, while Aaron Barlow had 4 grabs for 31 yards and Jon Reid 3 catches for 51 yards and 1 score.
 
                Linebacker Brian Palmiere led the defense with 10 hits and 1 tfl, while Andrew Paronish made 8 stops and caused a fumble, with Julian Howsare, Andrew Fragale and Nate Sipes with 6 hits each.
 
                Mercyhurst posted 357 yards of offense including 239 rushing and 118 passing. Vendemia hit 8 of 20 pases for 118 yards and 2 td's, while Brown-Dukes rushed 20 times for `157 yards and 1 td. Devyn Woods caught 3 passes for 43 yards and 1 td.
 
                Clarion travels to Gannon next Saturday for a 6pm game.