ERIE, Pa. – An explosive first 16 minutes and success on fourth downs, on both sides of the ball, helped Mercyhurst University extend its winning streak to eight, 35-20 over Bentley University in non-conference football action Saturday afternoon at Tullio Field. It was the season-opener for both teams.

The Lakers scored on their first three possessions with drives of 72, 86 and 89 yards making it a 21-7 advantage 64 seconds into the second quarter. All came via the air with senior Brendan Boylan (Independence, Ohio) connecting with senior tight end John Matarazzo (New Castle, Pa.) on a seven-yarder, senior fullback T.J. Latimer (Warren, Pa.) on a two-yarder and senior wide-out Jaquan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa.) on a seven-yarder.

While each of the scoring passes were short, Boylan completed four passes of 20 yards or more on the three drives, including a 42-yarder to senior FJ Williams (Dillon, S.C.) on the game's first play from scrimmage.

By the time Boylan's third score made it a 21-7 game, the Lakers had already amassed 264 yards of total offense with the quarterback 12 of 13 for 200 yards.

Bentley's first touchdown of 2015 came with three minutes left in the opening stanza, junior tailback Martin Bannerman (Pawtucket, R.I./La Salle Academy) scoring from the five for the first of his two TD runs of the afternoon.

Fourth-down plays certainly didn't work to the Falcons' advantage throughout the contest. Mercyhurst completed all three of their conversion attempts, including a fourth-and-five from the Bentley 25 on the game's opening drive.

Bannerman scored from three yards out just before the first half ended, sending the Falcons into the break down just seven, 21-14. It appeared Bentley was going to tie it on the opening possession of the third but Mercyhurst denied the visitors on a fourth-and-goal play from the one. That came after the Falcons had first-and-goal from the five.

Later in the game, after senior Michael Baron (Medfield, Mass./Roxbury Latin HS) nailed a 29-yard field goal to bring the Falcons within four, Mercyhurst converted twice to keep drives alive. The first came on a nine-yard run by junior Richie Sanders (Painesville, Ohio) on a fake punt from its own 34, and the second, a 24-yard pass by Boylan, occurred on a fourth-and-four from the Bentley 29.

Down 28-20 after Baron's second field goal (18 yards, 6:01 to play), Bentley was faced with a fourth-and-nine from the Mercyhurst 22. The pass attempt was picked off by senior corner Tevin Stewart (Duval, Fla.) and returned 90 yards for a clinching touchdown.

Statistically, Bentley (386 total yards) finished with an advantage in a number of categories, including first downs (22-18), rushing yards (141-128), total plays (77-51), time of possession (32:57-27:03) and third down efficiency (7 of 14 as compared to 2 of 8). However, Mercyhurst had the edge in total offense (although only 167 of its 433 came after the first quarter) and turnovers (three interceptions for MU, one fumble recovery for the Falcons).

Boylan's day saw him complete 20 of 25 for 305 yards and the three scores, resulting in an impressive rating of 222.1. Brown-Dukes powered Mercyhurst on the ground with 87 yards in 11 carries.

Senior Matt Montalto (West Yarmouth, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth Reg. HS) handled the majority of the time at QB for Bentley, completing 18 of 34 for 210 yards and two late interceptions in his first career start. Bannerman totaled 99 all-purpose yards as he carried 15 times for 56 yards and caught four passes for 46.

Freshman Drew Mahoney (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield Academy) had an impressive debut for the Falcons, finishing with 154 all-purpose yards. He caught two passes for 50 and averaged 25.3 on four kickoff returns.

Senior corner Emmitt Smith (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) led the Falcon defense with eight tackles and junior linebacker Bryan Hardy (Barnstable/Barnstable HS) recovered a fumble forced by sophomore linebacker Brandon Brown (Oxon Hill, Md./Suitland HS) in the second quarter.

Bentley will return home to host the University of New Haven next Friday night in the home and Northeast-10 opener.