Too Little Too Late

Men’s Football

By: Matthew Saur
Staff Writer

The weather was perfect for football at Hickox field this past Saturday. With a cloudless blue sky overhead, the Pioneers were set take on the Mercyhurst Lakers, however the outcome wasn’t as pretty.

The Pioneers again scored first when quarterback Erik Anderwkavich tossed up a 23-yard pass that was caught by wide out Sean Persh in the end zone to give Post a 7-0 lead. While the Pioneers held the lead, they looked sharp on defense, sacking Mercyhurst quarterback Garret Kensey and forcing a fumble that was recovered by defensive lineman Andrew Jackson.

Post controlled the clock for all but three seconds in the first quarter, yet in those three seconds the Lakers managed to tie the game. Lakers quarterback Garret Kensey took it himself for a nine yard dash past Post defenders before the quarter ended.

The Lakers capitalized in the second and third quarters where the Pioneer offense struggled mightily. With the Pioneers were held scoreless, the Lakers scored twice to up the score to 21-7. The Mercyhurst defense was relentless forcing Anderwkavich to throw three interceptions, forcing a fumble that they then recovered and blocked a field goal attempt by Post kicker Paul Stoltz.

The Pioneers offense showed some resilience attempting to come back twice in the fourth quarter. The first was a four play 59-yard drive down the field that ended with Anderwkavich, running into the end zone for a touchdown to cut the lead to seven. However, the Pioneers defense couldn’t hold the Lakers down on the next possession as they took a 28-14 lead after a score. Yet Post came right back with another touchdown to make it 28-20 after Anderwkavich made a nice pass to Kyle Hardy, to score a 12-yard touchdown, but the point after was blocked. But time ran out and Post dropped their second in a row at home.

The bright side for the Pioneers came in their persistence and drive. The offense totaled 458 yards; Anderwkavich 17 of 29 passing for 233 yards while gaining 173 yards on the ground. Thomas Beverly had another fine game rushing for 87 yards along with wide reciever Darnell Williams, who led the Pioneers with nine receptions tallying a 133 yards, while Kyle Hardy and Sean Persch each reeled in a touchdown pass. On defense Ronnie Modik and Billy O’Connor combined for a total of 27 tackles, including O’Connor’s career high 16.

The Pioneers look to recover from this two game slide next Saturday when they head to Shippensburg, PA to face the Raiders (1-2). Coverage starts on 88.1 FM and wcwpsports.com at 12:30pm, with kick off slated at 1pm.