BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – No. 4 Kutztown withstood a feisty Bloomsburg side to secure its fifth unbeaten run through the PSAC East in the last six seasons and deliver head coach
Jim Clements his 100th victory with the Golden Bears in a 35-27 victory at Redman Stadium, Saturday.
The Huskies brought a deceiving 2-7 overall record into the divisional finale, having suffered five of those defeats by three points or less.
After three scoreless possessions, Kutztown (10-0, 7-0 PSAC East) broke through for the first points of the game on
Jaedyn Stewart's (Newfield, N.J./Delsea Regional) 2-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 1:34 left in the first quarter.
Luke Maxwell (Estell Manor, N.J./Delsea Regional) had a 23-yard catch, while Stewart added a 16-yard run and
Noah Kracyla (Townsend, Del./Middletown) a 16-yard catch to eat up a majority of the 71 yards covered in seven plays.
Bloomsburg (2-8, 1-6 PSAC East) answered with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a 7-yard TD pass from KJ Riley to Alex Achenbach. The extra point attempt was no good as KU remained in front, 7-6.
Four plays of 13 yards or more dotted the Bears' next drive as the visitors quickly found their way back into the end zone with a 13-yard pass from
Judd Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) to
Jaimen Bryant (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) for a 14-6 edge.
The Huskies showed they were ready for a 60-minute affair by moving 75 yards against the PSAC's leading defense in just over three minutes to once again make it a one-point game. This time, Riley found Jack Landis for a 17-yard scoring strike.
Kutztown got a 4-yard TD run from Maxwell in the final minute of the half to enter the locker room with a 21-13 lead, and found a brief bit of breathing room when Stewart finished off the opening possession of the second half with another 4-yard TD run to increase the Bears' advantage to 28-13.
A 15-yard penalty against KU on the ensuing kick return set Bloomsburg up near midfield and the Huskies cashed in with a 47-yard TD pass from Riley to Jerry Griffen-Batchler to draw within 28-20.
With the score, Bloomsburg became the first opponent to reach the 20-point mark against the Maroon and Gold this season. Kutztown entered play Saturday having allowed seven points or fewer six times and no more than 14 points in any game. The Golden Bears were outscoring opponents by nearly 37 points per game (44.0-7.2).
Facing a 4th-and-1 near midfield late in the third quarter, KU weighed its options before ultimately putting the offense back on the field. They turned to Maxwell, a hybrid tight end/fullback, and the redshirt sophomore broke a tackle and raced to the end zone for a career-long 46-yard TD run. Maxwell was a major matchup issue for the Huskies all day, rushing for 50 yards and catching four passes for 58 yards.
The outcome was far from decided, however. Declan Clancy ran for a 10-yard TD to make it a one-score game, 35-27, with 9:13 remaining.
KU was forced to punt on its next possession, putting the ball back in Bloomsburg's hands with just over six minutes to play.
The Huskies made things tense, driving down to the Golden Bears' 5-yard line. A pair of untimely penalties, a 10-yard holding call and a 15-yard personal foul, pushed the hosts back to the 30-yard line before
Noah Kensey (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) sealed the victory with an interception on 3rd-and-goal.
Bloomsburg gave the Bears everything they could handle. The Huskies held a 410-385 edge in total offense and threw for 334 yards, both season-highs against a vaunted KU defense that ranked second in NCAA Division II in scoring defense and third in total defense (230.3 yards per game).
Riley finished 26-of-44 for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Gabe Brower caught 10 passes for 151 yards and Griffen-Batchler seven for 107. Kutztown did limit the Huskies to 76 yards rushing, 12 yards below its 88.3 average for the season.
Kutztown rushed for 170 yards on the afternoon, led by Stewart's 86 yards and two scores. Maxwell had 50 yards and two TDs and Burkhardt 44 yards.
Novak threw for 215 yards and a TD, completing 19-of-27 passes.
Trevor Amorim (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) hauled in six catches for 82 yards and
Lenniek Preston (Wilmington, Del./Conrad) five for 53.
Defensively,
Brandon Hile (Winfield, Pa./Selinsgrove) led the charge with eight tackles (four solo) and a pass breakup.
Eden Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Governor Mifflin) had seven tackles and reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week
Jhaisir Harden (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) had five solo stops, including a tackle for loss.
Zach Perta (Swoyersville, Pa./Holy Redeemer) broke up a pair of passes,
Kyree Butler (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) had a sack, and
Lawron Short (West Chester, Pa./Great Valley) and
Kahlil Williams (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) combined on a sack.
Clements, now in his 11th season, improved to 100-29 (.775) with the Golden Bears and 166-53 (.758) in 19 seasons overall between Delaware Valley and KU. He is the program's all-time winningest coach by 39 victories and owns the highest winning percentage of any coach in team history.
Clements also improved to 67-11 (.859) in PSAC East games as Kutztown wrapped up its third straight outright PSAC East crown. The Golden Bears have won 21 consecutive PSAC East games dating back to 2023 and hold the longest active regular season winning streak in NCAA DII at 30 games. Kutztown improved to 10-0 for the second straight season and third time in program history, while securing its seventh double-digit win season.
The Golden Bears will host IUP in the PSAC Championship Game at Andre Reed Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 15, at noon. It will also be Senior Day and Hall of Fame Day for KU, which will try to become the first PSAC football program to win three consecutive conference championship games since Slippery Rock won the 1972, 1973 and 1974 titles.
The "State Game" was contested from 1960-87, before the league moved to awarding divisional champions. The championship game returned in 2008.
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