MANCHESTER, N.H. – Plenty of rain fell throughout the Kutztown University season-opening football game against Saint Anselm College at soggy Grappone Stadium Saturday afternoon. While scheduled storms never materialized, the KU defense provided the thunder and senior running back Dontay Wilson (Stamford, CT/Stamford) supplied the flash of lightning as the Golden Bears rallied for a memorable 17-13 victory in a quagmire.

However, victory wasn't secured until Saint Anselm quarterback Michael Pierce's pass on fourth-and-14 was knocked to the ground by junior linebacker Joel Irwin (Coatesville, PA/Bishop Shanahan) with 44 seconds remaining.

In winning their season-opener for the second straight year, the Golden Bears overcame three turnovers, a fourth-quarter deficit, a muddy field, and the big play tandem of Pierce and Marc Wilson.

"Turnovers hurt us big in the first half," fourth-year head coach Raymond Monica said. "But we were able to hang in there and get out of here with a victory. Our defense made some big plays at the end of the game."

Dontay Wilson (Stamford, CT/Stamford) helped Kutztown finally subdue the feisty Hawks by rushing for a career-high 174 yards on 26 carries. Wilson's 25th carry proved to be the difference. Behind the sterling blocking of sophomore tackle Josh Alger (Sinking Springs, PA/Wilson), sophomore guard Aaron McGlynn (Harleysville/Souderton), senior center Evan Reese (Centre Hall/State College), junior guard Jared Haas (Linglestown, PA/Cental Dauphin) and sophomore tackle Chris Oliver (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown), Wilson broke up the middle of the field, raced to the sidelines and sprinted away from tacklers for a spectacular 77-yard touchdown run with 9 minutes, 29 seconds remaining to give KU the lead for good.

"I just had to be patient," Wilson said. "I visualized something positive was going to happen before I touched the ball. Then when I got the ball, my offensive line did a great job of opening up the hole for me."

With raindrops bouncing off of the silver metal bleachers and soaked spectators holding a kaleidoscope of colorful umbrellas, the Golden Bears turned the ball over on two of their first three possessions in the first quarter before finally finding a groove.

Wilson's burst was just the edge the Golden Bear defense needed to hold off the Hawks and make it a happy trip back to Berks County. It wasn't easy as Pierce had the Kutztown defense under siege for most of the final period after Wilson's scoring burst.

The Hawks drove twice inside the Kutztown 20-yard line in final nine minutes. Each time, the Golden Bear defense came up with a huge play. The Golden Bears forced a fumble at the 2-yard line, which went out of the zone for a KU touchback with 6:42 remaining. Following a quick KU offensive series, Saint Anselm drove to the Golden Bear 20-yard line with less than 90 seconds remaining.

Kutztown junior defensive lineman Greg Rotkowski (Macungie, PA/Emmaus) sacked Pierce on a second-and-two play for a 13-yard loss. The defensive line continued to bring pressure, which helped Pierce's final two pass attempts hit the soggy grass.

The Golden Bears put heavy pressure on Pierce throughout the game. They were credited with three sacks totaling 24 yards. Irwin led the KU defense with nine tackles and junior linebacker Keith Massey (Allentown, PA/William Allen) added eight stops.

"As a defense, we have to credit the offensive line for allowing us to bring that type of pressure because in practice they are so difficult to get past and they helped make us stronger for situations like this," said Kevin Bolinsky (Ashland, PA/North Schuykill), who finished with seven tackles (half of his stops were for losses). "I think overall, the whole line got a good rush throughout the game."

However, Pierce escaped twice to find Marc Wilson for a pair of touchdowns. Marc Wilson caught six passes for 105 yards, including two that went for 12 and 54 yard touchdowns. His second score gave the Hawks a 13-10 lead with nine seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Prior to that pass, the Kutztown defense had bottled up the Saint Anselm offense by forcing six consecutive punts after Marc Wilson's first touchdown catch with 16 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Trailing, 7-3 at halftime, Kutztown scored on its first possession of the second half by driving 63 yards in seven plays. Martin made two highlight-reel plays on the drive that set up Dontay Wilson's (Stamford, CT/Stamford) 1-yard scoring plunge with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter. It was KU's first lead of the game.

Beginning with an incredible escape of a sack on a third-and-12 play at the Golden Bears' 46-yard line, Martin showed poise by shrugging off a tackler, who had Martin wrapped around the waist before firing a pass to Jake Theirjung that covered 14, which earned KU a first down. On the Golden Bears' next play, Martin found freshman Chris McCormick (West Chester/West Chester East) down the right sideline for a 39-yard completion. McCormick finished with a team-high four catches for 59 yards.

"This is a good win for us," Bolinsky said. "All preseason, our coaches had been stressing to us that we need to win on the road. Today we won on the road and overcame a fourth-quarter deficit, which was big for us."

Kutztown returns to action Saturday night when it travels to Clarion University for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff. Saint Anselm stays home to host Plymouth State beginning at 1:00 p.m.

NOTES: KU is 3-1 in openers under head coach Raymond Monica. …This is the first time since 2003 that KU has won consecutive season openers. …This is the first time KU has won a game scoring fewer than 20 points since a 17-0 victory over Millersville in 2003. …Wilson's previous career high was 162 yards against Saint Anselm in last year's season opener.