Erie, Pennsylvania - Gannon scored a touchdown on each of its first three possessions, and that fast start was enough to top Millersville 31-14 in Saturday's season finale.
Gannon scored 21 points in a little more than a quarter of action with quarterback Zach Phillips passing for one and running for one, and Tyler Johnson running in the third. Two of the drives combined for 26 plays and 134 yards. The second of the three scores--a two-yard Phillips run--was set up by a blocked Millersville punt that was recovered at the Millersville 2-yard line.
Gannon out-rushed the Marauders 221-85 and intercepted Marauders' quarterback
J.J. Paige twice. Of Paige's 10 completions, three went to junior
Kevin Wiggins and four went to
Christian Kemp. Wiggins totaled 91 yards and a touchdown. His 39-yard grab came with 13:28 remaining in the first half and cut Gannon's lead to 21-7 at the time.
While the Marauders' defense held Gannon scoreless for the remainder of the first half, Millersville's next three offensive drives ended in an interception and two punts.
Wiggins' day increased his season totals to 45 catches, 757 yards and and six touchdowns. He finished 11th in program history in yards in a season. He now has 136 career catches (sixth all-time), 1,728 yards (ninth) and his 18th career touchdown catch moved him into a tie for fifth all-time with recently-inducted Millersville hall of famer Roby Wyley.
Millersville's second score came in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when
Tyrone Gibson crossed the goal line from five yards for his third score of the season.
The defensive effort was led by junior
Sean Dugan, who totaled a game-high 16 tackles including 11 solo stops and two tackles for loss. Dugan capped his season with 111 tackles--the most by a Marauder since Lee Rizzotto made 122 in 1999. Dugan's 9.0 TFL also led the team.
P.J. Santos ended a second-quarter Gannon drive with his team-leading fifth interception--the most in a season by a Marauder since 2007. The pick was the 12th of Santos' career, moving him into a tie for sixth all-time at Millersville.
Paige concluded his career Saturday with 32 games played, ranking eighth in career yards (3,717), seventh in career touchdown passes (25) and fifth in career completions (337).
Punter
Evan Stahl finished the season as the PSAC leader in average at 41.7 yards per punt. That mark also set the single-season program record, previously set by John Banzhof (40.8) in 2008. Stahl's 38.3 career average finishes just behind Banzhof's record of 39.6.
Millersville closes its season with a 2-9 record.
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