The Misericordia University football team used a big second half to pull away from Keystone for a 38-20 win in their home opener, Saturday afternoon at Mangelsdorf Field.

Michael Gawlik had 139 yards and Matt Maransky added 95 yards as the Cougars ran for 318 yards as a team.

Eric Jeffries scored two touchdowns and Gawlik and Maransky added one score each.  Dominic Caruso added 40 yards on seven carries and a TD.

Nick Neidlinger set a school record with a 43-yard field goal.

Alex Hafner led MU with six tackles while Mason Geary and Eric Glass had five stops each.

The Cougars took the opening kick-off and marched 65 yards in 11 plays to take a quick 7-0 lead.

Gawlik broke loose for 30 yards down the right sideline to convert a fourth-and-one and moved the Cougars to the Keystone 26.

The Cougars took advantage of a pass interference penalty in the end zone and Jeffries powered in from two yards for the game's first score with 10:53 left in the opening period.

After a pair of Keystone punts, Gawlik and Maransky combined for 24 yards on five carries before Maransky went off right tackle for 15 yards to the Keystone 30.

The drive stalled at the 26, but Neidlinger nailed a 43-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 12 seconds left in the first quarter.

The teams traded interceptions early in the second quarter and Keystone took advantage of a short field to cut MU's lead to 10-6 with 5:17 to play in the first half.

The Cougars turned the ball over twice more in the second quarter and took a four-point lead into halftime.

MU scored on its first four possessions of the second half to put the game away.

After forcing a Keystone punt on the opening drive, the Cougars went 80 yards in 13 plays.  Maransky showed patience before bouncing outside for 15 yards down the right sideline into Keystone territory.

Tamar Sample connected with Ryan Krisiak and Kyle Webster to move to the Keystone 15 and Maransky eventually went in untouched off left tackle for a 17-6 lead.

The Cougars forced another punt and Sample rolled to his right before flipping a short pass to Krisiak for a 21-yard gain to the Keystone 20.

Gawlik picked up 19 yards on two carries and Jeffries went up the middle for a two-yard TD and a 24-6 lead late in the third quarter.

Sample scampered for 18 yards between two nice runs by Maransky to set up a short TD run by Gawlik to give the Cougars a 31-6 lead less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Caruso carried the load and went in from 14 yards out to close out the scoring to put the game away, 38-6 with 10:52 remaining.

The Cougars will travel to Albright for their MAC opener, Saturday.