WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Kutztown scored 14 unanswered points in the final 8:14 to defeat West Chester, 27-17, Saturday at John A. Farrell Stadium. In the process, the Golden Bears finished a perfect 7-0 in PSAC East play while capturing the division's outright title for the third time in the last four seasons.
 
Trailing 17-13 with 9:49 to play following a 7-yard Rahiem Bowens touchdown catch, Kutztown responded quickly with a 69-yard strike from quarterback Judd Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) to wide receiver Mekhi Gibson (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) that put the Golden Bears back in front just over a minute later.
 
Kutztown's (8-2, 7-0 PSAC East) vaunted defense stepped up to force a punt on West Chester's next possession and the Golden Bear offense put the game away with an 8-play, 55-yard drive that ended in a Darryl Davis-McNeil (Roslyn, Pa./Abington) 14-yard TD run with less than two minutes to go.
 
The Bears got on the board first and spent most of the afternoon in front. Bowens' score marked the only time the Golden Rams (5-5, 3-4 PSAC East) held a lead.
 
Dawson Evitts (Auburn, Pa./Schuylkill Haven) hit a 38-yard field goal to make it 3-0 in favor of the visitors with 5:33 to go in the first quarter. His kicking counterpart, Sean Henry, answered with a 26-yard field goal to tie the game midway through the second, but the deadlock wouldn't last long.
 
On the first play of Kutztown's next drive, Novak located Kurtis Ravenel Jr. (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) in single-man coverage and trusted his veteran wideout. Ravenel Jr. made the catch at the West Chester 42, broke away from a defender and took it to the house for a 10-3 Golden Bear lead.
 
Kutztown added another Evitts field goal, this one from 37 yards out, on the final play of the first half to take a 13-3 lead to the locker room.
 
West Chester's longest play from scrimmage came on its opening drive of the second half and put the hosts right back in the game. Quarterback Cooper Jordan found a hole in the KU defense on a designed run and broke through for a 53-yard touchdown to bring the Golden Rams within 13-10.
 
The Maroon and Gold were unable to add to their lead with a punt and a missed 27-yard field goal on their next two possessions. West Chester took advantage with a 10-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in Bowens' TD catch that put the Golden Rams in front for the first time, 17-13.
 
It took just three plays for KU to answer, however. Novak waited out WCU safety Shane Mosley and delivered a dart to Gibson down the seam for a 69-yard score to flip the lead in the Golden Bears' favor once again.
 
From there, Kutztown's defense clamped down, allowing just 35 yards the rest of the way.
 
Novak was 11-for-21 passing for 218 yards and two scores. He also rushed nine times for 41 yards.
 
Ravenel Jr. registered his biggest day since a 7-catch, 217-yard performance in the season opener at Assumption, finishing with six receptions for 116 yards and a score.
 
Davis-McNeil led the Bears in rushing with 13 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. Kutztown's seventh all-time leading rusher (2,354 yards) moved into sixth among the program's career TD run leaders with his 26th.
 
Kam Wolfe (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) posted a team-high eight tackles, while Brandon Hile (Winfield, Pa./Selinsgrove) and reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week Tyler Whary (Hereford, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) each had six. Hile contributed one of KU's four sacks and two of its eight tackles for loss. Antaun Lloyd (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) and Brayden Pohlman (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Mainland Regional) also recorded sacks.
 
The Golden Bears ran for 151 yards and edged the Golden Rams in total offense, 369-328.
 
Prior to 2016, Kutztown had never completed an unbeaten run through the PSAC East gauntlet, but they've now done it four times since then, including three of the last four seasons (2019, 2021, 2023).
 
The Golden Bears will now prepare to host fifth-ranked Slippery Rock in the PSAC championship game at Andre Reed Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 11, at noon.
 
The game marks a rematch of the 2019 and 2021 PSAC title games. Slippery Rock won the 2019 edition, 37-35, but Kutztown emerged with a 38-32 win in 2021. Slippery Rock won the PSAC Western Division with a perfect 7-0 record in league play and sports a 10-0 record on the season. Kutztown will be making its fifth appearance in the league championship game since its rebirth in 2008.
  Read Full Article