ERIE, Pa. – After an uneven first half of play, third-ranked IUP football scored 29 unanswered second half points to come away with a 36-10 win at Mercyhurst on Saturday afternoon at Tullio Field.
 
The Crimson Hawks improved to 10-0 overall and wrapped up Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division play with a 7-0 league record.
 
It marks the first time that IUP is 10-0 since its national finalist seasons of 1991 and 1993. It also continues the perfect first year of head coach Paul Tortorella, who owns the best record of any first year coach in program history.
 
The Crimson Hawks trailed 10-7 at the break after accumulating just 166 total yards and committing six penalties for 76 yards. Three of those penalties were personal fouls, with the last one leading to a Mercyhurst touchdown that gave the Lakers a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
 
After a scoreless first, Mercyhurst (4-6, 3-4 PSAC) opened the scoring with a 35-yard field goal by Mark Shafer. Two IUP possessions later, the Crimson Hawks took their first lead on an 8-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Justice Evans (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic).
 
The touchdown was set up by an interception by redshirt sophomore cornerback JR Stevens (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), who picked off a Doug Altavilla pass in Mercyhurst territory before stepping out of bounds at the Lakers' 22. It was Stevens' second interception of the game after picking off his first pass on the Lakers' opening possession.
 
The Lakers answered on their next possession, driving 77 yards in nine plays with the help of that IUP personal foul that gave them the fall at the Crimson Hawks' 14.
 
IUP did have a chance to tie things up at the end of the quarter, driving 43 yards in 1:45, but field goal sailed wide left as time expired.
 
The Crimson Hawks took off in the second half, using a bad Mercyhurst kickoff and good field position to drive 54 yards in eight plays, as freshman back Duane Brown (Spring Church, Pa./Apollo-Ridge) scored an 8-yard touchdown to give IUP a 14-10 lead. The scoring drive consisted of just one pass and nine runs, including seven in a row.
 
The next Mercyhurst possession resulted in more IUP points, as a bad snap went into the end zone and Altavilla fell on it for a safety. The Crimson Hawks took that momentum and turned it into another touchdown, driving 60 yards in 15 plays capped off by an 11-yard scoring pass from redshirt junior quarterback Lenny Williams, Jr. (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) to graduate receiver Chris Wuestner (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle). That drive consisted of 12 IUP rushes, including eight straight.
 
The methodical, clock-churning, run-oriented offense continued as IUP scored on a 14-play, 67-yard drive in the fourth quarter that used up 7:20 on the clock. This drive also ended with a pass, as Williams found senior tight end CJ Jackson (Gibsonia, Pa. /Pine-Richland) with a 7-yard score on 4th-and-2.
 
The Crimson Hawks ran 42 plays for 198 yards in the second half, controlling the ball for 21:40, compared to just 8:20 for Mercyhurst.
 
The IUP defense joined in to finish off the scoring, as junior end Deandre Easterling (Washington, D.C./Gonzaga) strip sacked backup quarterback Ram Finnegan, and sophomore Dondrea Tillman (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) returned the fumble eight yards for a score.
 
The defense limited Mercyhurst to just 179 yards of total offense, including 46 rushing yards on 27 attempts. The Crimson Hawks returned to their strong second half defensive effort, limiting Mercyhurst to just 61 total yards on 30 plays in the game's final 30 minutes.
 
Sophomore linebacker Damon Lloyd (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) posted his third straight double-digit tackle game with 11 total stops to lead the Crimson Hawks. Easterling finished with three tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including two sacks. Junior end Diamond Jones (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) also had a sack, and senior safety Takhi Turner (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Twp.) had an interception.
 
Notes
IUP entered the weekend ranked No. 3 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches' Top 25 and No. 1 in the D2Football.com Media Top 25 … The Crimson Hawks learned who they will play in next weekend's PSAC Championship game, as West Chester (8-2, 6-1 PSAC) edged Millersville 28-24 to win the Eastern Division … In addition to his two interceptions, Stevens also broke up two passes, giving up 15 for the year which is second most to Jay Watkins (Chester, Pa. /Hyde School)' IUP record of 16 in 2015 …  IUP finished with 248 yards on the ground from a combined five different players, led by 73 by Brown … Williams finished with two touchdown passes as he increased his season total to 23, the most by an IUP quarterback since Andrew Krewatch threw 29 in 2007.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks will go for the program's fourth PSAC title next Saturday, Nov. 11 in West Chester. Kickoff has been scheduled for 12:10 p.m. More game details will come throughout the week.  
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP football on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPfootball.