By Pete Chiodo
November 7, 2009 — STONEBORO — District 10 asked, “Who wants to go to the playoffs?” And the Mercer football team, like the overly eager kid in the front of the class, shot its hand into the air and went, “Me, me, me, me, me!”
The Mustangs secured what will likely be the fourth and final playoff spot out of Region 1 with a convincing 35-6 victory over the homestanding Lakeview Sailors Friday night.
“We’re in the playoffs,” said Mercer head coach Pat McClearn. “That’s all we were shooting for. We get a chance to play another week.”
The Mustangs are now 7-3 overall and 5-3 in Region 1, putting them in fourth behind first-place Farrell and Sharpsville and Linesville, which are tied for second.
Lakeview, meanwhile, fell to fifth in the region at 6-4 overall and 4-4 in the league.
That means if District 10 awards playoff bids to the top four teams in both Region 1 and Region 2, as it has done the past five seasons, Lakeview is going to be left behind.
“Give all the credit to Mercer,” said Lakeview head coach Dan York. “They’re a heck of a football team.
“But I’m proud of the kids,” he added. “They played hard all year.”
Mercer seized control of last night’s game in the first half, employing a handful of momentum-grabbing plays.
Lakeview took its first possession into Mercer territory before the Mustangs’ defense halted the Sailors on the 32.
Then Mercer countered with a quick scoring drive of 68 yards on just five plays. The last play had quarterback Andrew Erdos faking the hand-off and then taking it off-tackle six yards into the end zone.
The two teams battled back and fourth for the rest of the first quarter. Then early in the second, the Sailors found themselves deep in their own territory.
Quarterback Jeremy Westlake dropped back to pass. Mercer brought the blitz, and Westlake got sandwiched between two streaking pass-rushers. The ball popped out of Westlake’s hands and both teams batted the loose pigskin around. It finally ended up in the end zone where Mercer defensive tackle R.J. Swartz got his mitts on it, putting the Mustangs up two touchdowns.
“That was a huge play,” said McClearn. “Cody Frey with the sack, and R.J. Swartz with the recovery. And I think we had three different guys get their hands on it before that. But that was a big turning point.”
Lakeview responded with what would be it’s best drive of the game — 60 yards on four plays.
Sailors running back Kyle Scott, who led Lakeview with 71 yards on 19 carries, had runs of 12 and 18 yards. Westlake added a 20-yard keeper. And Mercer helped the Sailors out with an offsides penalty.
Westlake made the drive count, sneaking up the middle five yards to cut Mercer’s lead to 14-6.
“We tried to switch up defenses a little bit,” McClearn said about Lakeview’s scoring drive. “And we switched into something that didn’t do the job. But our guys hung in there.”
Mercer’s offense countered with a clock-devouring 12-play, 90-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 12-yard touchdown trot from back Kyle Mariacher.
The half would end with Mercer leading 21-6.
“We had our chances,” said York. “I thought the turning point was the sack for a touchdown. That cost us.”
Mercer added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Mariacher had a one-yard TD run and Rawlins Huntley took one in from four yards out.
However, it was really the Mustangs’ defense that stole the show in the second half, holding Lakeview to just 12 net yards and only one first down over the final two quarters.
“In the second half, we just couldn’t get anything rolling on offense,” said York. “Defensively, they put it together in the second half.”
According to McClearn, “Our defensive coaches did a heck of a job of getting us ready. (Lakeview) is a good football team. They have some explosive kids on that team. But our kids did a very good job. ... J.T. Mannozzi and Herbie Hennegan, our two inside backers, did a great job for us.”
Mariacher led the Mustangs on offense with 88 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Erdos had 79 yards on 15 rushes. Huntley added 50 yards on seven carries.
The Mustangs had 272 yards to Lakeview’s 140.
