KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Marshall Vogel (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) stepped into an unexpected role for the Kutztown University football team Saturday afternoon.  The senior quarterback led KU in the final minutes with a game-winning touchdown drive to lift Kutztown to a 21-14 victory over No. 24 Slippery Rock and winning its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship in its 96-year history of the program.

Kutztown (10-1 overall) put together a drive late in the fourth quarter that Vogel and fans in attendance will remember for a lifetime.  Starting at their own 33-yard line,Vogel and the Golden Bears put together a six-play, 67-yard drive capped off with what will surely be one of the most talked about plays in recent memory.  With just under three minutes remaining, Vogel tossed a fade to the back corner of the end zone for senior wide receiver Erik Frazier (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown) who pulled down a diving catch in double coverage to give KU the late seven-point advantage.

Vogel was called into action by head football coach Raymond Monica early in the second quarter after Harlon Hill candidate Kevin Morton (Abington, PA/Abington) went down with a knee injury. The senior had not seen the field that often entering Saturday, but could not have come up in a bigger way in the biggest stage on them all.  He finished with a career-high 300 passing yards on 25-for-39 passing with two scores.

"Marshall is a fifth year senior who prepares each and every week that if something happens, he can go in," Monica said.  "I always knew that if something were to happen, we could believe in Marshall.  The quarterback in our offense has to make the plays throwing the football and managing the game, and I thought he did a great job of that today."

Along with the duo of Vogel and Frazier, KU's final drive featured many key performers that helped set up the eventual game-winning toss.  Colby Tuell (Columbia, PA/Columbia) opened the drive with a 46-yard catch down the sideline to put KU inside The Rock's 25-yard line.  The junior finished with 93 yards on five catches.

One of the biggest calls of the game for KU was a crucial fourth down decision.  On fourth and less than a yard, Monica chose to give the ball to his senior workhorse in Robbie Frey (Lehighton, PA/Lehighton) to keep the KU drive alive in hopes of finding the end zone.  Frey barreled through the top-ranked defense in the conference, and with a push from his offensive line, stretched the rush into a three-yard, chain-moving gain.  Frey finished with 54 yards on 13 carries.

The KU offensive line did an outstanding job of protecting their quarterbacks all game.  The core group of Aaron McGlynn (Harleysville/Souderton), Rob Kee (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South), Chris Oliver (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown), Nick Maloney (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) and Chase Fraley (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) didn't allow a sack on Saturday.  It was the fifth time this season they protected their quarterback by not allowing a sack.

As great as the final drive was for KU, the following defensive stand to hold The Rock scoreless kept fans cheering and on their feet.  SRU responded with some life of their own until it ran into a brick wall at the KU 32-yard line.  Defensive lineman Colin Henny (Lititz, PA/Manheim Twp.) and Karolis Bimba (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) made some of the biggest plays of their careers to keep SRU out of the end zone. Henny batted down two of three pass attempts to set up a conference championship deciding fourth-down.  Bimba came off the edge, hitting SRU quarterback Cody Endres as he was throwing to ultimately seal the victory.

Jason Ulmer (Feasterville, PA/Neshaminy) and Alex DiNolfi (Norristown, PA/Norristown) each had interceptions in the victory.  Ulmer's 16-yard return late in the third quarter would put KU in the red zone, down seven points.  On yet another crucial fourth-down, Monica chose to keep his offense on the field.  With the pocket collapsing and Vogel rolling to his right, the senior was able to throw across his body and connect with junior running back Josh Mastromatto (Fort Washington, PA/Upper Dublin) for a 16-yard touchdown.

"It was one of those plays when, obviously when you're scrambling, everything is off the board," Vogel said.  "Guys were moving around and right when defenders were moving around, I saw Josh put on the brakes and his defender went right by.  That close on fourth down, I knew I had to take a shot and Josh did a great job of getting open."

DiNolfi made a diving interception early in the second quarter to give him nine on the season.  The junior leads Division II in interceptions and is one away from tying a 35-year old single-season record of ten (Kevin Keeler, 1976).

With the pair of interceptions, Kutztown set a single-season record for interceptions in a season with 23.  It has forced at least one turnover in 21 of its last 23 games.

Saturday marked senior day for 18 Golden Bears who were all honored at midfield by their coaches and parents.

Senior wide receiver Josh Smith (West Lawn, PA/Wilson) was awarded pregame with a new conference recognition, the PSAC Champion Scholar Award. This award is modeled after the NCAA Elite 88 Award, and is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average at the finals site of each of the PSAC's 23 championships.  Smith, a Secondary Education major and CoSIDA Academic All-District first team selection, currently holds a 3.76 GPA.

Frazier did a fantastic job of keeping plays alive and giving both Vogel and Morton a solid option down the field.  He hauled in a game-high 97 yards and two scores, one from each KU quarterback.  The senior has played a substantial role in KU's success over the last two seasons, and is using KU's postseason run last year to continue to build KU into one of the best teams in the country.

 "We are building what we did last year, and we've been able to succeed taking the season one game at a time," Frazier said.  In my two years here, it feels good that we have been able to win ten games in back to back seasons.  We put so much hard work in at preseason camp and in practice and it's great to see it pay off."

The KU defense met the bill on Saturday and turned in yet another outstanding performance.  Linebackers Andrew Hodges (Ridley, PA/Ridley) and John Kreuer (York, PA/York Suburban) each tallied a game-high nine tackles in the victory.  Hodges had five solo tackles, and Kreuer forcing a fumble.  Senior defensive end Brett Moss (Bensalem, PA/Bensalem) finished with eight tackles, followed by DiNolfi and Jason Henshaw (West Chester, PA/Henderson) with seven apiece.  Kutztown has not allowed more than 14 points in four of its last five games.

"The defensive line has been doing a great job on the rush all season," Ulmer said.  "We started off a bit sluggish today but we continued to get better and had guys fill roles for us throughout the game.  It means a lot to win Kutztown's first PSAC championship in school history."

The win was the first against Slippery Rock in nine contests, and tied the school-record for wins in a season set last year.  Kutztown racked up 19 first-downs while piling up 413 yards of total offense.  The top offense in the PSAC has now had 400 yards of total offense in nine of its 11 games this season.  It was 8-of-17 on third-down conversions and was a perfect 2-for-2 on fourth-down.

Despite playing just a quarter, Morton fired his 85th career touchdown pass to Frazier late in the first quarter. He needs one more TD strike to tie Andy Breault's school-record for TD passes.  The duo has connected on 13 TDs throughout their careers and the bond they have built is something Monica has seen grow for years.

"It goes back to when Kevin was a freshman and had to sit out his first season," Monica said.  "It was remarkable just to watch those two throw and catch.  You'd be scouting them on defense, know the plays they were going to run and you still couldn't stop them.  What happens on this field in practice happens on the field on Saturday, and I'd say we are playing at a pretty high level right now with a lot of confidence."

Slippery Rock (8-3) got on the board on the first drive of the game off an Akeem Satterfield eight-yard run.  The opening score marked the first time since its setback to Shippensburg that KU found itself trailing.  Satterfield ran for a game-high 103 yards on 25 carries.  Endres finished with 233 yards through the air on 19-of-39 passing and a score.  Devin Goda was The Rock's top receiver with four catches for 67 yards and a score.

Kutztown now waits the revealing of the regional bracket that is announced on Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.  KU entered the conference championship ranked fifth in Super Region I.  With the top six schools moving onto the postseason, Golden Bear fans can only hope the monumental win will ensure their team a spot in postseason competition.