D1 foe: Glenville State travels to Mercyhurst
Trending
GLENVILLE -- Northeast Conference and NCAA Division I FCS member Mercyhurst University, which is in its reclassifying transition period from Division II, will welcome in Glenville State for a 1 p.m. kick today inside Saxon Stadium for the Lakers’ homecoming.
It will be a battle of first-year head coaches with MU’s former offensive coordinator Thomas Sydeski sitting at 0-3 and the Pioneers’ Jake Casteel, whose squad is 1-1 after opening up the new Morris Family Health & Fitness Complex with a 24-21 victory versus Millersville back on Sept. 3.
“Good. Good,” Casteel said of the break on his weekly GoMart coaches show on YouTube. “Cleaning some things up from the first two weeks and then mixing in a little bit of Mercyhurst last week as well, but really the focus was on us. I thought it went pretty well. We’re excited to play them. They played three really good teams.
“Tough, tough schedule for anybody. They’ve been really boxing up a weight class for the most part. You’re still able to see on film they have a talented roster. They’re a tough team. They have some talented players on their roster offensively, a few receivers, running back, quarterbacks. It’s going to be no walk in the park for us.”
Mercyhurst quarterback Alex Gevaudan started the first two games before getting injured. Anthony Wolter and Tyler Tusai have filled in since with the Lakers throwing a combined eight interceptions.
Jameir Gamble (29-112) has led the backfield in the early going, but power back Byron Cardwell Jr., has the lone MU rushing touchdown.
Tight end Camden Lewis (10-83) is joined in the receiving corps by Dylan Evans (10-97), Evan Van Dyke (7-79), Amare Lattimore (7-68) and Speedy Yancey, who had a 75-yard touchdown grab in the loss at New Mexico.
“They’re talented at receiver. They got two players I really like,” Casteel said of Evans and Van Dyke. “I like our matchup. I think we have guys that can cover them.
“We need to play good against the pass just like we did against Millersville and then fix our problem versus the quarterback scramble when we do cover them well.”
The Lakers’ offensive line is also a concern for the GSU head man.
“They are very big up front. They’re physical up front,” Casteel said. “We have some pretty big guys.
“We’re not the biggest in the world. I know our D-line is hungry to go play against them.”
Jacob Clark has led the way for the Pioneers on the D-line with 22 total tackles, 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks. Maddox Gillespie has a pair of TFL and eight tackles, while Wes Brown Jr. has 1.5 TFL and 11 total stops.
Glenville State, which has gotten 19 tackles and its lone interception from Knowel Smith, will get a boost on the D-line this week after former Navy standout Julien Moutome was ruled eligible. The ex-Midshipman is expected to make his debut after starting every game a year ago as a sophomore and finishing second on the team with 7.5 TFL and tied for third with 3.5 sacks.
Zavione Wood (17-64) and Amir Simmons (17-45) have paced the GSU ground game in the early going, but quarterback JD Sherrod has added 63 ground yards while completing 31 of 60 attempts for 362 yards with four touchdowns and one pick.
Simmons does have a receiving score, but Sherrod’s top targets have been Kyree Bunny (6-130-2), Caden Harris (13-87), Kashez Gedeon (4-62) and Joziah Gonzalez (2-54-1).
This will mark the second FCS opponent of the season for the G-men, who lost the opener 42-7 at Elon.
“They scheduled us for homecoming, which our team didn’t love. The coaching staff didn’t love,” Casteel added. “That was some fuel to the fire right there for us, and then another opportunity.
“Glenville State’s never beat a Division I opponent, so the opportunity to put our team, this 2026 team in history at Glenville with beating a Division I opponent. Our guys got plenty of fuel to the fire, not just that. A lot of internal motivation from them as well.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com