KUTZTOWN, Pa. – No. 5 Kutztown scored a pair of special teams touchdowns on a blocked punt and 100-yard kickoff return, while blocking three kicks overall in a 46-7 victory over Gannon Saturday afternoon at Andre Reed Stadium.

The Golden Bears scored in every quarter and have now outscored their opponents 131-21 through three games.

KU quickly snuffed out Gannon's opening drive and took a 7-0 lead before its own offense could even take the field. Rich Paczewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) broke through the line and blocked Bryson Costa's punt, which was recovered by Quintin Pfautz (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) at the 10-yard line and taken into the end zone for the opening score.

Pfautz later blocked a punt of his own on a banner day for the Golden Bears' special teams unit. Kutztown (3-0) has returned punts for touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time in the digital stats era dating back to 1997. Noah Kracyla (Townsend, Del./Middletown) returned a punt 52-yards for a score last week at Edinboro.

When the specialists weren't making noise, the offense and defense continued to operate at their usual high levels. Kutztown was one of only two teams in NCAA Division II, along with Harding, to rank in the top 10 nationally in both scoring offense and defense. They did little to hurt that standing with another strong all-around performance.

Judd Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) hit Trevor Amorim (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) in the back right corner of the end zone to cap a 12-play, 73-yard drive and Ben Martin III (Middletown, Del./Middletown) converted a two-point try for a 15-0 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Gannon (0-4) responded with a 5-yard Tristen Kenan TD run midway through the second to cut the KU advantage to 15-7 but three quick scores from the Maroon and Gold over the next 3:40 of game action put the game out of reach.

Will Smith (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) connected on a 31-yard field goal –Kutztown's first of the year– to make it 18-7 with 3:26 left in the half before the Bears got prime field position back courtesy of their defense.

On 3rd-and-12 from its own 22, Gannon quarterback Ty Hurst was wrapped up by Mike Fayemi (Philadelphia, Pa./South Philadelphia) on a run and Austin Leyman (Elmer, N.J./Woodstown) knocked the ball free, allowing cornerback Lee Coleman (Salem, N.J./Salem) to come up with the fumble recovery at the 27.

Six plays later, Novak rolled to his right and found tight end Gino Campagna (San Diego, Calif./Saint Augustine) with a 3-yard TD pass for a 25-7 lead. It was the first career touchdown for Campagna, a redshirt senior from San Diego that has been valuable to the team in short-yardage blocking situations.

The Golden Bears turned in another big play on special teams to start the second half as Lenniek Preston (Wilmington, Del./Conrad) evaded a few would-be tacklers and turned on the jets for a record-tying 100-yard kick return touchdown that pushed the score to 32-7. It was the first kick return for a TD by the Bears since 2023 and the program's first 100-yard kick return TD since Josh Mastromatto's against East Stroudsburg on Oct. 8, 2011.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, Kutztown's offense played to its strengths by rushing for 223 yards against a Gannon defense allowing north of 240 per game. Steven Burkhardt (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City) did all of his damage in the middle quarters, gaining 55 yards in the second and 65 in the third to finish with 120 yards on 12 carries for his first career 100-yard rushing game. The redshirt junior added an 18-yard TD burst with 4:47 to go in the third that made it 39-7.

Kutztown's playmaking in all three phases continued into the fourth quarter. Defensive back Michael LeMay (Medford, N.J./Lenape) made an outstanding effort to break up a potential TD pass before blocking Justin Novotney's 33-yard field goal attempt two plays later.

On Gannon's next possession, Leyman picked off Anthony Harris and returned the interception into Gannon territory.

Pfautz blocked a Costa punt with under seven minutes remaining, leading to a 2-yard TD run from Martin III –the first of his career.

Jason Fermaintt (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) and Brandon Hile (Winfield, Pa./Selinsgrove) led the defense with six tackles a piece. Fermaintt had 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack, while Hile added 0.5 TFL, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. The Golden Bears came in allowing just 7.0 points per game, sixth best in the country, and stayed right at that number.

Saturday marked the first time Kutztown has blocked multiple kicks in a game since 2016 against Cheyney. The last time the Golden Bears blocked three kicks in a game was Oct. 30, 1999 at Millersville (all punts).

Kutztown, the two-time defending PSAC champion, now turns its attention to PSAC East play. The Golden Bears were picked as this year's preseason favorite and will open league play next Saturday, Sept. 27, at Shepherd. Kick is scheduled for noon.