KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Judd Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) and Tyler Whary (Hereford, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) both had their hands in last Saturday's victory over East Stroudsburg from an offensive and defensive perspective, respectively. For their play, the duo received a weekly recognition as Novak was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division Offensive Athlete of the Week and Whary earned the PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week award, announced by the league office Monday.
 
The Golden Bears (3-2 overall, 2-0 PSAC East) have now won three games in-a-row.
 
Novak threw for 285 yards and four touchdowns as the Golden Bears staged a fourth quarter rally to beat East Stroudsburg, 34-27, in a critical PSAC East showdown Saturday afternoon at Andre Reed Stadium.
 
Novak completed 18-of-29 passes, including TD tosses to Kurtis Ravenel Jr. (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) (23 yards) and Jordan Davis (Franklin, N.J./Saint Joseph Metuchen) (2 yards) in the final nine minutes.
 
Kutztown built a 20-7 lead by the 12:28 mark of the third quarter. Novak, a redshirt freshman, found Kaden Hastie (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) for a 55-yard score late in the second and hooked up with Mekhi Gibson (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) for a 68-yard TD early in the third. The Bears scored 20 straight points, only to see the Warriors respond with 20 in a row to go back in front on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
 
Since being inserted as the starter back in week two at California (Pa.), Novak is 62-of-103 for 940 yards and nine TDs. He ranks fourth in the PSAC in QB efficiency (157.9), fifth in passing yards per game (235.0), tied for sixth in TD passes and seventh in completion percentage (60.2%).
 
Whary registered a game-high nine tackles, a sack and a quarterback hurry in KU's victory over the weekend.
 
Whary made an impact all afternoon, picking up four solo tackles and assisting on five others.
 
His biggest stop of the afternoon came when it was needed most. On 3rd and 7 from the ESU 28 with the game tied at 27, Whary got into the backfield and sacked Warrior quarterback Sean McTaggart for a 4-yard loss. It was the graduate student's 10th career sack.
 
The Golden Bears snuffed out a fake punt by ESU on fourth down and scored the eventual game-winning touchdown three plays later.