SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – An injury-riddled Kutztown University team received some much needed reinforcements, most notably Kevin Morton (Abington, PA/Abington), who became just the 19th player in Division II history to top 100 career touchdown passes, as KU came away with a 56-49 win on the road.
 
The Golden Bears came out on fire and led 42-21 at the half behind four first half touchdown passes from Morton, the third of which gave him triple digits in his career.  The Rock, however, came charging back in the second half with 28 unanswered points to take a 49-42 lead early in the fourth quarter.
 
Kutztown tied it up with 6:11 to play when Morton hit another Golden Bear returning to the lineup, Josh Mastromatto (Fort Washington, PA/Upper Dublin), for a 22-yard touchdown. 
 
On Slippery Rock's next possession, Zach Greenwald (Gibbstown, N.J./Paulsboro) forced Akeem Satterfield to fumble and Matt Connors (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity) fell on the ball at The Rock's 21.  Curtis Wortham (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) rumbled into the end zone three plays later for the go ahead score.
 
Slippery Rock moved into KU territory, but on a fourth and seven, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling fumbled after an 11-yard gain and it was Connors again with the recovery to seal the win.
 
Morton, who missed the West Chester contest with an injury, completed 29-of-54 passes for five touchdowns and 301 yards.  Mastromatto, who had missed two straight games, rushed for 36 yards, caught eight passes for 91 yards and scored two touchdowns.  Colby Tuell (Columbia, PA/Columbia) caught 10 passes for 70 yards and two scores. 
 
Slippery Rock quarterback Nigel Barksdale was stellar in the losing effort.  He tallied 430 total yards, passing for 261 yards and three scores, while rushing for two more and 169 additional yards.
 
The game did not start out as the high-scoring affair it turned into. Kutztown scored on its first possession after Greg Carroll (Unionville, PA/Unionville) forced a Barksdale fumble that was recovered by the Golden Bears at the SRU 45.  Morton hit three different receivers on a five-play drive, capped by a 12-yard strike to Tuell for a 7-0 lead.
 
That proved to be the only touchdown of the quarter, but the teams then combined for 56 points in the second quarter.
 
Barksdale ran for 34 yards on the final play of the first quarter and then opened the second period with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Stephens-Howling. 
 
Kutztown struck back quickly, however.  Morton took the Golden Bears 70 yards on six plays, completing five passes to four different receivers as Tuell notched his second touchdown, hauling in a 15-yard pass for a 14-6 KU advantage with 12:51 to go in the half.
 
After The Rock went three and out, Morton again moved Kutztown through the air, connecting with four different receivers again, culminating with a 17-yard strike to Kodi Reed (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) for the senior's 100th career touchdown pass and a 21-6 lead with 9:12 remaining in the second.
 
A 33-yard kick return by Jaimire Dutrieuille set up Slippery Rock with good field position and a 23-yard run by Barksdale moved the team into KU territory.  Three plays later, Satterfield rushed into the end zone from eight yards out and the two-point conversion made it 21-14 after a drive that lasted just over a minute.
 
Kutztown was forced to punt on its next possession, but Kyle Ueberroth (Cocalico, PA/Cocalico) recovered a fumble by Admire Carter and Kutztown had the ball at the Slippery Rock 17.  KU was faced with a fourth and one at the eight and Morton rushed for three yards to move the chains, setting up a five-yard touchdown run by Mastromatto for a 28-14 lead with 4:21 to go in the half. 
 
The Golden Bears took advantage of yet another SRU fumble as Mike Garneau (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) fell on a bad punt snap in the end zone to give KU a 35-14 lead less than a minute and a half later.
 
Barksdale brought The Rock within two scores, rushing for 37 yards on the next drive, including an 11-yard touchdown with 59 seconds left in the half.
 
Mastromatto, however, returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards as Kutztown started at the Slippery Rock 35.  Morton hit Shahaid Smith (Ridley, PA/Ridley) for 26 yards and, after a pass interference call, found Brett Fox (Laureldale, Pa./Muhlenburg) in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown and a 42-21 lead at the half.
 
The Rock regrouped at halftime and took control of the momentum in the third quarter.  Barksdale hit Andrew Bridgeforth for 33 yards, then rushed for the final 15 yards to make it 42-28 less than three minutes into the second half.
 
After the two teams traded several punts, a 63-yard pass from Barksdale to Ken Amos moved Slippery Rock to the Kutztown 15.  Two plays later, Barksdale hit Jimmy Zubik for a six-yard score and Kutztown's lead was down to a touchdown at 42-35 with 30 seconds to go in the quarter.
 
On the third play of the fourth quarter, Dajour Morris intercepted Morton and returned the ball to the KU 11.  Offensive lineman Chris Oliver (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown) forced Morris to fumble, but Slippery Rock's Marquis Knight recovered at the nine. Barksdale inched SRU closer with a five-yard run, followed by a four-yard score by Satterfield to tie the contest at 42-42 with 13:34 remaining.
 
Kutztown went three and out and Slippery Rock took over at its own 40.  The go ahead drive took just four plays and a minute and 23 seconds, however, as Barksdale hit Stephens-Howling for a 19-yard touchdown with 10:35 left on the game clock.
 
The Golden Bears fought back on the next drive, churning 68 yards over 13 plays to tie the game.  KU was faced with fourth and three twice on the series, and converted both attempts.  At midfield, Morton gave the ball to Mastromatto, who rushed four yards into SRU territory.  Later in the drive, the quarterback kept the ball and rumbled five yards to The Rock 34 yard line.  After another first down, Mastromatto reeled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Morton, tying the game at 49-49 to set up the dramatic finish.
 
Zach Greenwald (Gibbstown, N.J./Paulsboro) led three members of the KU defense in double figures with 13 tackles.  He also had two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, while breaking up a pass and forcing a fumble. Sam Dixon-Dougan registered a dozen stops and a sack.  Kali Smith (Darby, PA/Penn Wood) had 10 tackles.
 
Jordan Rinehart (York, Pa./West York) had two tackles for loss, while Connors recovered two fumbles. 
 
For SRU, Satterfield had 99 yards rushing and scored twice.  Stephens-Howling also had two touchdowns and led the team with six catches for 122 yards.
 
Knight and Anthony Saunders had eight tackles apiece for The Rock.
 
While Slippery Rock managed to generate over 500 yards of offense in the game, an opportunistic Kutztown defense generated five turnovers.
 
KU stays on the road to play Cheyney on October 6 at 1 p.m.
 
Notes: Kutztown Head Coach Raymond Monica became the third coach in school history to reach 40 career wins...The Golden Bears passed for over 300 yards as KU has reached the mark in every game this season…Morton became the fifth player in PSAC history with over 10,000 yards of total offense in the game and now has 10,167…He also passed Bob Findora for fifth in conference history in passing yards with 9,485…Morton also passed Trevor Harris for second in the PSAC record book with 102 passing touchdowns…His final pass completion of the game tied Andy Breault's school record of 733.