BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Eric Nickel (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) threw for 327 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns, Mason McElroy (Reading, Pa./Wilson) totaled a career-high 128 receiving yards and Kutztown produced another fine defensive performance in a 34-7 victory at Bloomsburg Saturday afternoon.

The win, coupled with West Chester's 34-18 loss at Shippensburg, puts the Golden Bears in sole possession of first place in the PSAC East at 3-0 (5-1 overall).

Bloomsburg did its best to play spoiler early, intercepting a Nickel pass on KU's first possession and returning it to the Golden Bear 25. A holding penalty and Ryan Meyers (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) sack on 3rd-and-21 drove the Huskies (1-5, 0-3) well out of of field goal range.

Midway through the first, however, the Huskies would cash in. Kaleb Monaco rushed for 17 yards and caught a pass for 12 to push the hosts into KU's red zone. On 3rd-and-10, quarterback David LePoidevin hit Malik Langley for a 13-yard touchdown pass to cap a 9-play, 55-yard drive.

Kutztown, which didn't gain positive yardage on either of its first two drives, answered Bloomsburg's score with one of their own. Nickel used his arm to gain chunks of yards during a 5-play, 73-yard trip down the field. He found Kaden Hastie (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) for 27 yards, before locating McElroy for 41 down the sideline to the Bloomsburg 4. On the very next play, Nickel threw to a wide open Jerome Kapp (Barto, Pa./Boyertown) in the back of the end zone for the redshirt junior receiver's team-leading fifth TD catch of the season.

The Golden Bear defense followed up the tying score with a huge takeaway, when Elijah Yakpasuo Jr. (Morton, Pa./Ridley) deflected LePoidevin's pass and it was intercepted by Antaun Lloyd (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) at the Bloomsburg 35. Two plays later, Nickel led Hastie down the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown. Nick Coppolino's (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) extra point made it 14-7 KU with six seconds left in the opening quarter.

Kutztown's defense imposed its will throughout the remainder of the afternoon. The Golden Bears came into Saturday's game ranked 15th in the country in scoring defense, 18th in rushing defense and 27th in total defense. Mike Saint Germain's unit forced the Huskies into 11 consecutive empty possessions, with two turnovers and five punts after its opening score.

The stellar effort by the defense allowed KU's offense to methodically put points on the board and pull away.

McElroy was front and center during an 11-play, 81-yard drive late in the second quarter making catches of 15 and 42 yards to set up a 1-yard Nickel run for a 21-7 halftime lead.

Kutztown went back to the air to start the second and the chunk plays continued to pile up. Nickel connected with Kapp for 34 yards to the Bloomsburg 48 and McElroy for 27 down to the 2, allowing Jordan Davis (Franklin, N.J./Saint Joseph Metuchen) to push through for a 27-7 advantage that might as well have been double that for a sputtering BU offense.

The Maroon and Gold started the fourth quarter in Bloomsburg territory and made it count, increasing their lead to 34-7 on a 2-yard Darryl Davis-McNeil (Roslyn, Pa./Abington) TD run. Jake Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) caught two passes for 37 yards on the drive and Davis-McNeil did most of the ground work with 14 yards on four carries.

Nickel surpassed 300 yards passing for the second time in his career by completing 18-of-30 attempts. McElroy enjoyed his second career 100-yard receiving game, besting his former career-high of 104 yards by pulling in five catches for 128 yards.

On the opposite side of the ball, Amani Justice (Salem, N.J./Salem) compiled a team-high nine tackles (0.5 TFL). Chris Thomas (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) added eight, while Justin Harris (Deptford, N.J./Salem), Nick Palmer (Montville, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Tyler Whary (Hereford, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) had seven apiece. Whary registered 4.0 tackles for loss, forced a fumble that was recovered by Tyler Boger (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) and was credited with a quarterback hurry. Harris, Nigel Wilson (Bound Brook, N.J./Bound Brook) and Yakpasuo Jr. each broke up a LePoidevin pass.

Special teams was also a strength for the Bears, where former all-conference punter Dean Krcic (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) averaged 44.0 yards per boot on six attempts. He had a long of 57 and put two inside the Bloomsburg 20-yard line.

Bloomsburg's running game met the same fate as five of KU's six opponents this season in not reaching the century mark in the yardage department. Kutztown held the Huskies to 91 yards rushing, 153 passing and 244 overall.

The Huskies didn't have any standout performances offensively, but defensive lineman AJ Simon was disruptive in the backfield with 4.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.

Kutztown will play at home under the lights for the first time since 2018 next Saturday when Shippensburg visits Andre Reed Stadium for a 5:05 p.m. kickoff. The Raiders (5-1, 2-1) are one of four teams chasing the Golden Bears for the PSAC East crown. Fans attending the Oct. 16 game will be treated to a postgame fireworks display.