KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Collin DiGalbo (Secane, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) accounted for five touchdowns and went over 7,000 career passing yards, while the Kutztown defense registered six sacks and forced three turnovers as the Golden Bears remained unbeaten with a 35-10 victory over Gannon on Saturday afternoon at Andre Reed Stadium.

After a week away from their home confines, the Bears were ready to pounce.

In the final minute of the first quarter, DiGalbo connected with Mason McElroy (Reading, Pa./Wilson) along the near sideline for a 56-yard touchdown catch. McElroy cut inside at the Gannon 20-yard line to avoid a pair of Gannon defenders and took it the rest of the way for a 7-0 KU lead. The junior wideout is quickly becoming a trusted deep threat for DiGalbo with catches of 50+ yards in each game this season. McElroy caught a 64-yard touchdown in last Saturday's win at Cal U.

Energized by the score, Kutztown's defense went back to work with a pair of sacks on Gannon's next possession. Nick Vasger (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) and Eric Miller (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) dropped Golden Knights' (1-2) quarterback Jimmy Keefe for a five-yard loss on their first play of the drive, before TwyNique Chisholm-Wilkerson (Harrisburg, Pa./Steelton-Highspire) and Amani Justice (Salem, N.J./Salem) got to Keefe on 3rd and 11 to quickly halt any thoughts the visitors had of answering.

DiGalbo completed passes to four different players and finished a 10-play, 71-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run to double Kutztown's (3-0) lead with 8:27 left in the first half.

Keefe drove Gannon into the Golden Bears' red zone with a 43-yard pass to Sam East, but KU's defense stiffened and held the Knights to a 32-yard Eric Scarpino field goal that made it 14-3.

Dorian Jones intercepted DiGalbo on KU's ensuing drive and returned it 24 yards to midfield, but Gannon was unable to make anything of it.

Kutztown's offense quickly got back to work following a 26-yard return of the second half kick by Nyiem Nevarez (Effort, Pa./Pleasant Valley). DiGalbo hit Jake Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) for 39 yards on first down, rushed for another 17 on the next play and finished off a 3-play, 64-yard spurt in just 53 seconds with an 8-yard touchdown toss to Abdul-Hassan Neblett (Newark, N.J./Paramus Catholic).

Less than a minute later, it was 28-3. Togba Porte II (Collingdale, Pa./Academy Park) sacked Keefe and knocked the ball loose with Vasger recovering at the Gannon 10. That set up DiGalbo's plunge into the end zone from four yards out two plays later.

Gannon's Khwan Mickens recovered a fumble and took it back 80 yards to cut the Bears lead to 28-10 early in the fourth, but Kutztown responded with DiGalbo's third touchdown run of the day, this one from 17 yards, to put the game away.

DiGalbo tied his own school single-game record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. The Secane native was 25-of-32 passing for 316 yards and two scores, and rushed for 98 yards on 16 attempts. He moved past Rob Holmes for third on KU's all-time completions list with 561 and became the third passer in team history to surpass 7,000 yards (7,020).

McElroy enjoyed his first career 100-yard receiving game, netting five catches for 104. Novak had 82 yards and Neblett caught seven passes out of the backfield for 41 yards. Jack Pilkerton (La Plata, Md./La Plata) also totaled 41 yards with 20 coming on a spectacular second-quarter grab when he elevated over a Gannon defender and landed just inside the KU sideline.

The Golden Bear defense had a monster day with 15 tackles for loss, six sacks, three forced fumbles (two recoveries) and an interception. They limited Gannon to 258 yards of offense and 56 yards on the ground.

"As a defense, we did pretty good, but there's still a lot to clean up," said cornerback Ahkee Cox-Cowan (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg), who recorded his 40th career pass breakup in the win. "We [the defense] didn't give up a touchdown, but they still got three points on us. If we can limit that to zero, that's the goal every week."

Kutztown's 15 tackles for loss were its most since recording 15 at Millersville on Sept. 24, 2016 --a stretch of 32 games. The six sacks were a high mark dating back to 2018's season-opening win at Assumption.

Vasger had 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Hez Trahan (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), Zion Parris (Philadelphia, Pa./Milton Hershey) and Porte II each had a sack and forced fumble, while Eric Miller (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) (2.5) and Earl Volz (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) (2.0) had multiple tackles for loss. Shawn Turber-Ortiz (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) went over 200 career tackles (202) with a team-leading eight on the afternoon. Nevarez, Justice and Nick Palmer (Montville, N.J./Bergen Catholic) had six tackles apiece. Palmer also made his second career interception.

"Every week our coaches emphasize turnovers, that's the name of the game on defense," added Cox-Cowan. "We were able to do that today, but there's always room for improvement."

Running back Melvin Blanks led the Knights with more than 100 yards of offense. He carried 13 times for 73 yards and also had five receptions for 48 yards. Sam East caught three passes for 57 yards and Keefe threw for 202 yards and a pick.

In its two home games this season, KU has outscored its opponents 89-26. The Golden Bears improved to 26-1 under Jim Clements when scoring 35+ points and are a perfect 16-0 when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.

The Maroon and Gold put their 10-game road winning streak on the line next Saturday at Shepherd. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.