ERIE— For the second consecutive week, Slippery Rock University's football team was outgained by more than 200 yards.

This time it showed up on the scoreboard.

Mercyhurst racked up 24 first downs, seemingly ran the ball at will and dismantled The Rock, 34-10, Saturday at Tullio Field.

"We were dominated in every way possible," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "Their offensive line and defensive line simply controlled the line of scrimmage.

"I don't think we were ready to play today. Even if we were ready, I'm not sure it would have made a difference."

Mercyhurst (3-2, 2-0) played without team rushing leader Ben Jennings, who missed the game with a sprained knee. Richard Stokes, who had been splitting time with Jennings, carried 30 times for 140 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Lakers.

"Richard was a first team all-conference player last year who was coming off an injury himself,"Mercyhurst coach Marty Schaetzle said. "That's not a bad guy to go to."

The Lakers, newcomers to the PSACthis season, are tied for first place in the PSACWest with California, a 21-19 winner over Indiana Saturday.

SRU (3-2, 1-1) travels to IUP for the latter's homecoming game at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday.

"We have a challenge as coaches to get our guys ready for that after going through this,"Mihalik said.

The Rock failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since a 20-3 loss at Edinboro in 2003. SRU's lone touchdown Saturday occurred when Jermale Cromerdie recovered a blocked punt in the end zone with 1:05 left in the game.

The late score prevented The Rock from suffering its worst loss to a Division IIopponent in terms of score differential since a 41-7 defeat to IUPin 1995.

"We caught them at the right time,"Schaetzle said. "Slippery Rock lost a lot of seniors ... I'm glad we played them in Week 5 rather than Week 10, because they're going to be a different football team then."

Mercyhurst and SRUare different football teams now. The Lakers are at Division II's maximum scholarship limit of 36. SRU's football program offers the equivalent of 13 full scholarships.

"You can't ignore that fact,"Mihalik admitted. "When one team has nearly three times the scholarships of another, games like this can occur."

Mercyhurst put together 13-play scoring drives on both of its first two possessions Saturday in grabbing a 10-0 lead. A 21-yard C.J. Bahr field with 3:07 left in the first half.

The Rock forced a punt and regained possession at its own 31-yard line with 1:24 on the clock. But after going three-and-out and hitting only a 28-yard punt, SRUgave the Lakers the ball at their own 41 with 41 seconds to go.

Two paass completions and a personal foul penalty enabled Chris Ryan to boot a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

Mercyhurst took the second-half kickoff and drove 63 yards in 10 plays. Stokes scored on a 2-yard run to give the hosts a 20-3 lead with 9:06 left in the third quarter.

"Not letting them score, then us scoring at the end of the half and at the start of the second half ... That determined this ballgame,"Schaetzle said.

Rock quarterback Brandon Frohnapple threw two third-quarter interceptions and was replaced by Brad Galvan early in the fourth period.

"I was just looking for a spark, that's all,"Mihalik said. "We had to try something."

SRUentered the game with a plus-five in turnover/takeaway margin while Mercyhurst was at minus 5. The Rock had three turnovers Saturday to the Lakers' zero.

Notes:Seneca Valley graduate Stewart Myers started ast defensive end for Mercyhurst, but did not record a tackle. ... Frohnapple was sacked three times. ... SRUwas outgained 366-154 in total yardage. Gannon outgained The Rock 463-240 the previous week.

<B>Slippery Rock 0 3 0 7—10Mercyhurst 7 6 7 14—34SRU M</B>10 First Downs 2429-60 Rushes-Yards 54-24294 Passing Yards 1248-20-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 11-20-0154 Total Yards 3662-1 Fumbles/Lost 0-05-50 Penalties-Yards 8-65<B>First Quarter</B>M — Richard Stokes 4 run (Chris Ryan kick), 5:34<B>Second Quarter</B>M — Ryan 30 field goal, 13:26SRU— C.J. Bahr 21 field goal, 3:07M — Ryan 39 field goal, :00<B>Third Quarter</B>M — Stokes 2 run (Ryan kick), 9:06<B>Fourth Quarter</B>M — Stokes 7 run (Ryan kick), 12:12M — Carnell Evans 23 run (Ryan kick), 5:57SRU— Jermale Cromerdie recovered blocked punt in end zone (Bahr kick), 1:05<B>Individual Statistics</B><B>Passing:</B> SRU, Brandon Frohnapple 6-15-50-2, Brad Galvan 2-5-44-0. Mercyhurst, Garrett Kensy 11-20-124-0.<B>Rushing:</B> SRU, Ryan Lehmeier 16-54, Brad Galvan 2-7, Damarcus Cleckley 5-7, Brandon Frohnapple 6-(-8). Mercyhurst, Richard Stokes 30-140, Garrett Kensy 5-39, Carnell Evans 10-39, Dave Stallard 3-36, Gerald Anderson 4-(-1), Aaron Haynes 1-(-9), TEAM1-(-2).<B>Receiving:</B> SRU, Terry Grossetti 4-30, Devin Goda 1-37, Ryan Lehmeier 1-13, Ross Hornish 1-7, Josh Prigorac 1-7. Mercyhurst, Dave Stallard 5-62, Josh Szeluga 2-31, Aaron Haynes 2-28, Richard Stokes 2-3.