Box Score The Misericordia University football team dropped its season opener, 40-6, Saturday afternoon at Mangelsdorf Field.

The Cougars found themselves in a 23-0 hole after the first quarter and never fully recovered.

MU got on the board midway through the fourth quarter when Brandon Leap connected with Ryan Kurtz who dove inside the pylon for a nine-yard touchdown.

Leap was 21-33 for 139 yards and a score while Sam Gillison and Kurtz both had five catches.

Tyler Collins, Noah Bard and Anthony Rand-Willever led the defense with eight tackles each while Jordan Aquino added seven stops.

Rand-Willever had two tackles for loss, including a sack.

Utica took an early 2-0 lead when the Pioneers stopped Leap in his own end zone on the first play from scrimmage.

The Pioneers went 68 yards in 13 plays on the ensuing possession to take a 9-0 lead with 8:42 left in the first quarter.

After forcing an MU three-and-out, Utica's Jerred Beniquez took a reverse toss 60 yards for a score and 16-0 with 6:16 remaining in first quarter.

The teams exchanged punts and the Cougars took over on their own five yard line only to have the Pioneers recover a fumble in the end zone for a 23-0 lead.

MU held Utica scoreless in the second quarter until the Pioneers converted a 33-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Utica opened the second half with a 75-yard scoring drive to take a 33-0 lead and added a quick four-play scoring drive to make it 40-0 late in the third period.

Leap connected with Josh Dieter for a 22-yard catch-and-run to open the fourth period and he found Sam Gillison for 10 yards and first down at the Utica 30.

A five-yard reception by Kurtz gave MU a first down at the 18 and Mark McMaster had a nine-yard grab to get inside the 10.

Leap hit Kurtz on fourth-and-one for the score with 5:49 to play.

Misericordia will open MAC play when they travel to Delaware Valley next week.