KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- The fourth-ranked Kutztown University football team had another monster game on both sides of the ball, racking up 530 yards of offense while limiting Shippensburg to just 94 yards in its second shutout of the season, 49-0, in PSAC East play Saturday afternoon at Andre Reed Stadium.
Judd Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central), last week's PSAC East Offensive Athlete of the Week, completed 18-of-25 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Steven Burkhart led the ground game with 146 yards and two scores, including a career-long 91-yard TD run in the third quarter, as the Golden Bears (5-0, 2-0 PSAC East) extended their streak of 200+ rushing games to six with 243 against the Raiders (1-4, 1-1 PSAC East).
Kutztown raced out to a 21-0 halftime lead on a pair of
Trevor Amorim (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) TD catches from Novak and a Burkhart 1-yard run. Amorim hauled in a 42-yard TD pass with 10:22 remaining in the first to open the scoring. He'd later add a 32-yard TD reception in the final minute of the second quarter.
The Golden Bears'
Zach Perta (Swoyersville, Pa./Holy Redeemer) returned the second half kick 99 yards for a score but it was called back for a holding penalty. On the first play of the drive, Burkhardt broke through the middle and outraced the Shippensburg defense to the end zone for KU's longest TD run since Terry Williams' school record 98-yard TD run against East Stroudsburg on Oct. 24, 2015.
Noah Kracyla (Townsend, Del./Middletown) caught his first TD pass of the season --and second of his career-- on a 50-yard bomb from Novak to make it 35-0 with two minutes remaining in the third. Kracyla led the Bears with 89 yards receiving on five catches and now has 11 receptions for 182 yards over the last two games.
KU went over the 40-point mark for the fourth time in five games when
Michael LeMay (Medford, N.J./Lenape) intercepted Riley Gunnels after his receiver couldn't come down with a catch and took it back 49 yards to the house for a 42-0 lead. It was the first interception and touchdown of LeMay's career.
Quarterback
Antonino Russo (Bath, Pa./Northampton Area) capped the scoring with his first career touchdown on a 5-yard run with 1:15 to play.
Burkhardt carried 12 times for a career-high 146 yards and two TDs.
Ben Martin III (Middletown, Del./Middletown) added 39 yards and
Craig Miller (Bear, Del./Caravel Academy) 35 as Kutztown ran for 243 overall. Amorim joined Kracyla in topping 80 yards receiving, ending the day with three catches for 85 yards. Shippensburg transfer
Jaimen Bryant (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) caught four passes for a season-high 62 yards.
Kutztown eclipsed 500 yards of total offense in a game for the first time since 2023. The Golden Bears came into Saturday's matchup with NCAA Division II's second-highest average margin of victory at 37.3 points per game, a number that jumped to 39.6 after their second straight 49-point performance. They've outscored opponents 229-31 through the season's first five games.
The defense got contributions from numerous student-athletes in pitching their second shutout of the season. Kutztown held an opponent to under 100 yards of total offense for the first time since a 65-0 win over Cheyney (73 yards) on Nov. 4, 2017. The Maroon and Gold are allowing just 6.2 points per game and are the only team in DII to rank in the top five in both scoring offense and defense.
Eden Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Governor Mifflin), former Raider
Ty Kephart (Grantville, Pa./Bishop McDevitt),
Nick Layton (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) and
Lawron Short (West Chester, Pa./Great Valley) shared the team lead with four tackles apiece. Short and
Kyree Butler (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) had sacks and 12 Golden Bears finished with multiple tackles. KU totaled nine tackles for loss.
Saturday's win was also the 95th for
Jim Clements at KU. Clements, now in his 11th season with the Bears, is already the winningest coach in program history and has a .766 winning percentage (95-29). In 19 seasons overall, he's 161-53 (.752).
The Golden Bears will look to keep control of the PSAC East when they head to Lock Haven for their second evening game of the year next Saturday, Oct. 11. Kickoff from Hubert Jack Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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