Aug. 31, 2008

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Detroit News story on football win over Mercyhurst.

DETROIT NEWS

Saturday, August 30, 2008
Wayne State outlasts Mercyhurst
Steve Knoche / Special to The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Everything pointed in favor of a Mercyhurst victory Saturday.

The team from Erie, Pa., had possession almost twice as much as Wayne State. It had more than twice as many first downs (20-9) and outrushed (119-94) and outpassed (190-84) the Warriors.

Regardless, Wayne State escaped with a 14-10 victory, matching its home victory total from last season and avenging a triple-overtime, 58-50 loss to the Lakers a year ago.

"Offensively, I don't know if you can play any worse than we did today," Wayne State coach Paul Winters said. "I hope not. But two of the three phases (defense and special teams) were really good."

The WSU offense was nearly nonexistent through most of the first half, getting two first downs and 40 total yards until the team's final possession before the break.

Then, with less than 2 1/2 minutes to go, the Warriors concluded a 76-yard drive with a 35-yard pass to Troy Burrell from Mickey Berce, putting WSU ahead and concluding the scoring.

Mercyhurst opened the game with a six-minute, 49-second drive of 62 yards before settling for a field goal of 33 yards by Chris Ryan.

Dante Dunn answered by going 93 yards downfield on the ensuing kickoff to put the Warriors ahead.

"I've got to give it up to the other 10 guys on the field," Dunn said. "I didn't even get touched. It was clean blocking, and all I had to do was run to the hole and then cut back. I really give them all the credit."

Mercyhurst had opportunities late in the fourth to take the lead. And last season, losing leads in the fourth was a theme for Wayne State. Four of its eight losses came after having a lead in the final quarter.

But the Warriors defense made every effort to reverse that trend. Mercyhurst drove to the 19 with less than three minutes to play. Then, end Andrew Bates stopped a rush attempt for an 8-yard loss, and linebacker Matt Shango sacked Cody Ladutko for a loss of 3.

"The only way you're going to win is if you're strong," Shango said. "And you've got to be clutch, got to come up in the end. You can play good the whole game and let up one touchdown at the end, and you lose. Everybody's playing hard, everybody wants it this year."

Steve Knoche is a freelance writer.