Photo Gallery | Audio Replay (KUR)
 
ERIE, Pa. – The Kutztown University football team overcame an early first quarter deficit to lead by one at halftime, but Gannon University controlled the second half in both time and yardage to down the Golden Bears 37-28 on Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover contest at Gannon University Field.
 
The first half played fairly even between Kutztown (1-2, 1-1 PSAC East) and Gannon (3-0, 2-0 PSAC West), which ended with KU leading 21-20. The second half, however, was dominated by the Golden Knights as they were able to hold onto the ball and put together lengthy drives to tire out the Kutztown defense and keep the Golden Bears offense on the sideline.
 
In the second half, Gannon led in total plays (48-21), yardage (261-75) and time of possession (22:43-7:17). Notably, Gannon put together a 16-play touchdown drive that lasted 7:58 in the third quarter, which was longer than Kutztown held the ball in the entire second half and just five plays less than the Golden Bears ran in the entire half.
 
For the game, both teams put up impressive offensive numbers. Kutztown posted 398 total yards, 351 of which came through the air. Quarterback Chad Barton (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) posted 299 of his 351 yards in the first half and connected with six different receivers. He tossed three touchdowns and no interceptions to increase his season ratio to 11/1.
 
Sophomore Kellen Williams (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) was Barton's top target through the air with eight catches for a career-high 138 yards and two touchdowns. He hauled in a 78-yard touchdown in the second quarter that marked Kutztown's longest play from scrimmage since 2009.
 
Anthony Kelly (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area), this week's PSAC East Offensive Athlete of the Week, caught a 52-yard touchdown for his team-leading seventh of the season. He finished with three catches for 91 yards. Freshman Nathan Hollander (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) led the team in receptions for the third straight game with nine catches for 47 yards.
 
Notably, Kutztown remains the only team in the PSAC that has not lost a fumble.
 
Defensively, Drake Brumfield (Marietta, Pa./Donegal) tallied a career-high 15 tackles, 10 of which were solo tackles. English Peay (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington) had 12 while battling through an injury and Jalen Nieves (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) had a career-high 11 tackles to round out Kutztown's three double-digit tacklers.
 
Gannon running back Brock Jones carried the ball 34 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He fought through tackles all day on his way to a 5.2 average with a long of 22 yards.
 
Quarterback Liam Nadler used his 6-7 frame to complete 25-of-38 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns. Both quarterbacks were sacked just one time.
 
Gannon used a 66-yard pass on its second offensive play to build momentum and jump out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Golden Bears overcame the early deficit with 21 points in the second quarter.
 
As the KU passing attack started to build in the second quarter, Barton connected with Kelly down the middle for a 52-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Kutztown's Darryl Mintz (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) forced a fumble on the ensuing drive deep in KU territory as KU's Terry Williams (West Orange, N.J./Cosby (Phoenix College)) recovered the fumble to give KU back to ball.
 
Three plays later, Barton sent a short strike to Kellen Williams (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg), who dodged a couple tackles and raced 78 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14. It was Kutztown's longest play since 2009 (79 yards).
 
Gannon struck for a rushing touchdown with 27 seconds left in the half and appeared to take a 20-14 lead into the locker room following the missed extra point, however, good field position and timely plays made the Golden Bears think otherwise. Darrell Scott (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) rushed for 15 yards, Kelly caught a 33-yard pass down the sidelines, and Kellen Williams (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) capped the three-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown catch in the back corner of the endzone with five seconds left in the half to give Kutztown a 21-20 lead at the break.
 
Mintz hauled in his first career interception on the first drive of the second half, but the Golden Bears were unable to score on a drive that started at Gannon's 20-yardline.
 
Gannon took a 23-21 lead late in the third quarter with a 37-yard field goal to cap a drive that lasted 7:58, the longest drive against the KU defense this season. On its following drive, it posted a 70-yard touchdown catch and run down the sidelines, the longest play of the season against the KU defense, that extended its lead to 30-21 at the start of the fourth quarter.
 
With Gannon driving again in the fourth quarter, the Kutztown defense forced a turnover on a fumble forced by Zachary Delp and recovered by Peay to give the Golden Bears the ball near midfield with 9:39 to play. Kutztown took advantage as Scott ran for a 35-yard untouched touchdown up the middle to bring Gannon's lead to 30-28 with 8:23 to play. Scott finished the day with a team-high nine carries for 64 yards.
 
Kutztown had just one possession in the final 9:39, however, and punted the ball after a three-and-out which put an end to the comeback bid.
 
The Golden Bears will get some much-needed rest on their six-hour drive back to Kutztown and will start preparing tomorrow for next week's opponent, the Cheyney University Wolves. Kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 27 will be under the lights at 6:05 p.m. for Family Day on the KU campus.