KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Kutztown University's
Kevin Morton (Abington, PA/Abington) set the school record for career touchdown passes, finishing his day with six to run his career total to 91 as the 12th ranked Golden Bears opened their season with a 58-6 win over visiting Saint Anselm.
KU also eclipsed the school record for total yardage with 723 yards of total offense in the game. That mark eclipsed the 697 yards the Golden Bears had in last year's win over Saint Anselm.
Morton finished 31-of-45 for 406 yards passing and six touchdowns and rushed for 33 yards and another score as he accounted for seven of the team's eight scores.
It took the senior less than 10 minutes to tie and set the new career touchdown mark. After rushing for the Kutztown's first touchdown, he hit
Josh Mastromatto (Fort Washington, PA/Upper Dublin) for a 45-yard scoring strike to make it 14-0 and tied Andy Breault's 20-year old record of 86 career touchdowns.
Then on the first play of the Golden Bears' next possession, he fired for 59 yards to
Anthony Kelly (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) for a 21-0 lead with 4:58 remaining in the first quarter for his 87th career TD pass, the most in Kutztown history.
KU scored on the first play of its next drive, as well, hitting
Colby Tuell (Columbia, PA/Columbia) for 33 yards for a 28-0 lead and the duo connected again on the final play of the period from 20 yards out for a 35-0 through the end of the first quarter.
The Hawks found pay dirt early in the second period when Ray Doucette and Keith Charles connected on a 25-yard scoring pass. The extra point failed, however, and KU led 35-6.
The Golden Bears then put together a 12-play drive before
Jack Ruggieri (West Grove, PA/Avon Grove) nailed a 28-yard field goal with 7:48 to go in the half. KU put together another long drive right before the half with an 11-play march capped by a pass from Morton to Mastromatto that bounced around and off the senior's helmet before making a one-handed grab for a 45-6 lead at the half.
Morton closed his day on the first drive of the second half as Kutztown took the kick off and six plays later
Matt Pirolli (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) hauled in a pass from Morton for a 52-6 advantage less than two minutes into the second half.
The Golden Bears' final score of the night came on the next possession when
Curtis Wortham (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) broke free for an 81-yard touchdown run as he finished with 120 yards on just seven rushes.
Mastromatto had 65 yards rushing and 78 receiving in the game and scored twice. He and Tuell each caught seven passes in the contest and Tuell led the team with 98 yards receiving.
Shahaid Smith (Ridley, PA/Ridley) had five catches for 64 yards in the game as nine different receivers caught passes from Morton.
The defense also had a standout performance, limiting the Hawks to just 136 of offense and 39 yards rushing. It was the fewest yards rushing allowed by the KU defense since holding the Hawks to 33 yards in 2008. The 136 yards of total offense allowed were fewest since the Golden Bears limited East Stroudsburg to 135 in 1999.
No player had more than four tackles for Kutztown as
Ian Smith (Spring Grove, PA/Spring Grove),
Zach Greenwald (Gibbstown, N.J./Paulsboro),
Jason Ulmer (Feasterville, PA/Neshaminy) and
English Peay (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington) had four apiece. Greenwald had two tackles for loss including a sack.
Michael Gallagher (Clarksboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional) also notched a sack in the game and
Cody Kelso (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora (Wagner)) had an interception.
For Saint Anselm, Stephen Cuipa went 6-of-18 for 45 yards, while Doucette was 5-of-8 for 52 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Greg Bell had 40 yards on nine carries.
Alex Bozenhard notched a game-high 16 tackles for the Hawks, while Trevor Jessie added 11 and Chris Bent had 10.
KU will look for another strong performance next weekend when No. 11 California (Pa.) visits University Field for a 6:05 p.m.
