FAIRVIEW, Pa. – This one was personal for Mercyhurst Prep.
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Behind a physically imposing offensive line, the Lakers ran for 320 yards – 192 which came from Jeremy Ganska and 105 more from sophomore quarterback Paul Johnson in a 43-14 season-opening win over Fairview.
“Fairview beat us the past three years I’ve been here, so it was a really good win for us to come out on top with a lot of rushing yards,” Ganska said. “For all of our team to get the ball and get in the end zone felt really good.”
See Ganska’s full interview:
Stephen Grayson, who scored on a 20-yard touchdown run in the first half, expressed his excitement in running behind the Lakers’ offensive line.
“Running behind them is lovely,” Grayson said. “They’re big, they like to be physical and they like to create holes.”
See Grayson’s full interview:
The two teams traded blows early, with Johnson, making his first career start at quarterback after an all-region season as a defensive back a year ago, punching in the Lakers’ opening drive from five yards out to make it 7-0.
Fairview answered with a Vinny Campoli 17-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Benford to knot the game at 7-all with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Lakers countered with scores on back-to-back possessions on drives covering 80 and 61 yards. First it was Grayson’s touchdown run, followed by Johnson’s second score of the game, a 9-yard effort that made it 21-7 with 4:09 left in the first half.
“We had a couple of big first downs and some long drives and I think that was the difference in the game,” said Mercyhurst Prep coach Jeff Root. “I thought they (the offensive line) did a good job. That’s sort of our strength and we’re going to go as they go. They did a good job. A couple of silly mistakes with some holdings, but we’ll clean that up and recognize things like that and get better for next week.”
The Lakers came out in the second half and took the wind out of Fairview’s sails, going on an 6-minute, 80-yard drive punctuated by Grayson’s 2-yard shovel pass touchdown to Ja’son Ellman.
Grayson spelled Johnson a couple times at quarterback, with Johnson going 5-of-10 for 89 yards through the air. Ellman had 67 yards receiving.
Mercyhurst Prep recovered a fumble at the Fairview 20 on the Tigers’ first offensive possession of the half and Ellman ultimately scored on a 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal to make it 35-7 late in the third, officially putting the game out of reach.
“Fairview does a good job, they’re a good offensive team with good athletes and I was proud of the way our kids stepped up,” Root said of his team’s defense.
The two teams traded fourth-quarter scores, with Benford scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run for Fairview and Ganska finding the end zone from 19 yards out for the Lakers.
Campoli threw for 49 yards and rushed for 48 to lead Fairview.
Mercyhurst Prep hosts Slippery Rock next Friday, while Fairview is back home against Harbor Creek.
“I just think consistency,” Root said about the biggest key for his team moving forward. “We’re going to be consistent every week. What you see this week is what we’re going to get next week. We’ve got to get better, just clean things up. We’re not going to go away, we’re going to keep playing until the end. We’ve got a lot of athletes and that’s going to be a big thing for us going forward.”
