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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Trailing at halftime for the first time this season, the Kutztown University football team gave up 460 yards to No. 10 West Chester University, as the Golden Bears fell 29-7 Thursday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division battle from University Field.
 
Following a two-game winning streak where the Maroon and Gold outscored its opponents 121-0 for seven straight quarters, Kutztown (3-3, 3-2 PSAC East) struggled to limit the big plays from West Chester (6-0, 5-0)'s third-ranked passing offense in the PSAC.
 
The West Chester defensive front was able to penetrate for most of the night, leaving KU quarterback Chad Barton (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) uncomfortable in the pocket. Kutztown didn't light up the scoreboard until 7:06 left in the game, when Barton found Brett Fox (Laureldale, Pa./Muhlenburg) for an 18-yard strike off a slant pattern through the middle.
 
The first quarter started off promising with the help of punter Andrew Deutsch (Kutztown, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) and a missed field goal by WCU kicker Rich Bruno. Deutsch was able to pin West Chester within its own 5-yard line on two consecutive punts. The Golden Rams went nowhere on the first one with a three-and-out, but took the second punt from their own 1-yardline and drove down into the KU red zone. Kutztown stalled the drive for a 35-yard field goal that opened up the scoring.
 
Deutsch finished the first half with four of his five punts downed within the 15-yard line and had three fall within the five throughout the game.
 
West Chester tallied two touchdowns before the break. KU overthrew the intended receiver toward the end of the first quarter, leaving West Chester's Al-Hajj Shabazz a clear lane to the end zone following the interception. Nearing the end of the half, WCU quarterback Sean McCartney rolled out left to avoid the pressure of linebacker Sam Dougan (Secane, Pa./Ridley), and tucked the ball into the left corner of the end zone to put WCU up 19-0 with momentum heading into the locker room.
 
Coming into the game with a PSAC-leading 17/1 TD-INT ratio, Barton committed his first multi-turnover game of the season. The junior finished 15-for-31 with one touchdown and two picks, while giving up five sacks.
 
Fox finished with three catches for 40 yards and a score, while Darrell Scott (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) was the leading rusher for KU with 45 yards.
 
Jalen Nieves (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) was the bright spot on the KU defense, tying his career-high with a game-high 11 tackles. The rest of the secondary was forced to be active, as English Peay (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington) racked up 10 tackles (nine solo) and Drake Brumfield (Marietta, Pa./Donegal) recorded nine.
 
Michael Gallagher (Clarksboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional) had two key pass breakups in the first quarter on the front line that halted drives, and forced a fumble in the beginning of the second half that Dougan recovered.
 
Brandon Monk found the edge multiple times throughout the game to lead the Golden Ram ground attack. Monk made defenders miss that resulted in big gains, finishing with 129 yards on 21 carries. McCartney finished with 303 yards and two touchdowns on 26 completions, while Mike Doty caught both of his touchdowns on seven catches and 107 yards.
 
The Maroon and Gold remain at home for homecoming weekend against Bloomsburg University on Oct. 18 at 1:05 p.m., when the university will dedicate its stadium to Golden Bear alumnus Andre Reed during a pre-game ceremony. Bloomsburg is undefeated and ranked 12th in the nation.