Football Falls to Edinboro 49-19
EDINBORO, PA – The Merrimack football team suffered its first loss of the season in a 49-19 defeat to Edinboro University in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors took the early 7-0 lead as James Suozzo (Everett, MA) hit Shane Ferguson (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ) from 20 yards out for the touchdown 5:29 into the game.
But the Scots recovered, and quickly, scoring three times in a 4:06 span, with Cody Harris throwing touchdown passes from 22 and 49 yards.
Quinn McDonough (Medford, MA) netted his second career touchdown in as many games, scoring from 17 yards out to open the second quarter and cutting the deficit to eight at 21-13, but Harris threw two more touchdown passes in the second, a 14 yard pass to David Bostic and a 54 yard pass to Marcus Johnson, giving the hosts the 35-13 lead at halftime.
Omari Mobley (Baltimore, PA) picked up five catches for 90 yards in the first half, tops among six receivers who had first-half catches for the Warriors. But Suozzo and Joe Clancy (Newburyport, MA) combined for three first-half interceptions, which the Scots scored off of two of them.
Edinboro took the second-half kickoff and marched down the field in eight plays, capped off with a 19 yard run from Harris.
Brian Davis put the game away for the Scotts with a seven-yard rush, capping a 12-play, 87-yard fourth-quarter drive, extending the lead to 49-13.
The Warriors added a late touchdown as Jimon Hill (North Chicago, IL) rushed into the end zone from one-yard out after Suozzo hit Isaiah Voegeli (Hyannis, MA) for a 54-yard completion inside the Edinboro five-yard line.
"We just weren't sharp as a team," said head coach John Perry. "Our quarterbacks got hit too often, and we didn't come up with enough stops defensively. We'll need to regroup for our first conference game next weekend at home."
Suozzo passed for 220 yards on 11-of-27 passing, while Clancy finished 9-of-12 for 97 yards. Both quarterbacks threw two picks in the loss. Mobley totaled a game-high eight receptions for 117 yards, while Ethan Weaver (Brooklyn, CT) had four catches for 56 yards. Voegeli and Ferguson had just two receptions each, while Hill rushed for just 12 yards on six carries, with Suozzo finishing as Merrimack's leading rusher with 28 yards.
Harris had 236 passing yards at halftime and finished 21-for-28 for 330 yards and four touchdown passes. Bostic led the Scots with six receptions and 126 yards, while D'Andrea Vaughn (65 yards) and Drew Harrell (55 yards) combined for 120 yards on the ground.
All-American Shawn Loiseau (Shrewsbury, MA) led the way defensively with a game-high 12 tackles to go with 2.5 tackles for a loss and one sack, while Justin Marsan (Methuen, MA), Ryan McCarthy (Newton, MA) and Michael Wiggins (Bolton, IL) each had seven tackles. Jesse Fowler (Lynn, MA) picked up an interception in the third quarter.
Merrimack's quarterbacks were sacked seven times, with Keir Jeter getting three sacks, while the Scots had 13 tackles for a loss.
The teams combined for 881 total yards, 501 by Edinboro, and 647 combined passing yards, 317 from the Warriors.
Merrimack (1-1) opens conference action against Pace University Saturday at 1 p.m. at Warrior Field.
