Kutztown University Athletics

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Fifth-year senior quarterback Judd Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) threw for three touchdowns and ran for two as No. 3 Kutztown jumped on West Chester early and never looked back in a 41-14 PSAC East victory at Andre Reed Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
Following the successful blueprint that has carried them to 39 consecutive regular season victories, the Golden Bears moved the ball at will, were relentless on defense and put the game out of reach by halftime.
 
Novak, the 2025 PSAC East Athlete of the Year and Harlon Hill Trophy national finalist, found a gap up the middle on Kutztown's (8-0, 4-0 PSAC East) second play from scrimmage and outran the West Chester defense 70 yards to the end zone for an immediate 7-0 lead.
 
KU forced a three-and-out on the Golden Rams' (4-4, 1-3 PSAC East) first offensive possession before going right back on attack. Back-to-back 21-yard runs from Novak and Jaedyn Stewart (Newfield, N.J./Delsea Regional) set up an 8-yard TD pass from Novak to Noah Kracyla (Townsend, Del./Middletown) to make it 14-0.
 
Sensing the urgency of the situation, West Chester attempted to convert on 4th-and-3 after driving to the Golden Bears' 22, but linebacker Ty Kephart (Grantville, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) broke up Colin O'Sullivan's pass for Adrien Mosley to turn the visitors over on downs.
 
Craig Miller (Bear, Del./Caravel Academy) scored on a 2-yard run early in the second as KU's advantage grew to 21-0.
 
The Kutztown defense came up with its first of two takeaways on the first play of West Chester's drive when Lawron Short (West Chester, Pa./Great Valley) forced a Future Robertson fumble and Justin Gonzalez (Union, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) recovered at the Golden Rams' 21.
 
Two plays later, Novak called his own number, evaded a defender inside the 10 and scored his second rushing TD of the day to push the lad to 27-0.
 
O'Sullivan found Mosley for a 23-yard TD pass to put West Chester on the board with 1:55 left in the half, but Noah Micks (Newark, Del./Salesianum) returned the ensuing kick 30 yards and a personal foul against the Golden Rams set KU up in plus territory with plenty of time to respond.
 
Jaimen Bryant (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) caught a 21-yard pass to put the Bears on the doorstep of the red zone and Rich Paczewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) finished off a 5-play, 48-yard drive that lasted all of 74 seconds with a 15-yard TD reception that sent KU to the locker room ahead 34-7.
 
West Chester ate up more than eight minutes of clock on an 18-play, 63-yard scoring drive to open the second half. Short passes from O'Sullivan helped move the Golden Rams down the field and Efrain Quiles scored on a 1-yard run to make it 34-14.
 
Despite possessing the ball for more than 11 minutes and limiting the Golden Bear offense to just seven plays in the third, the Golden Rams were unable to close the gap further. They drove to the KU 33 following the Quiles touchdown but misfired on a fourth-down pass.
 
Ty'renne Hynson (Middletown, Del./Middletown) and Kracyla caught 20-yard passes to end the third and Hynson caught a 6-yard TD pass from Novak five plays into the fourth as Kutztown surpassed the 40-point mark for the fourth game in a row.
 
The Golden Bears dominated the ground game on both sides of the ball, outrushing WCU 281-40.
 
Novak produced a game-high 116 rushing yards on five carries for his third career 100+ yard effort, while Stewart reached the century mark for the sixth time in his career on 13 totes. It's the first time KU has had two 100+ yard rushers in the same game this season and first time since Novak (125) and Stewart (103) accomplished the feat during last year's NCAA second round win over Assumption.
 
Kutztown came into the game atop the PSAC and second in DII allowing just 58.9 rushing yards per game. The Bears have not allowed an opponent to reach 100 rushing yards in a game this season.
 
Novak completed 11-of-16 passes for 158 yards. Bryant (39), Hynson (35), Paczewski (32) and Kracyla (30) all topped 30 yards with multiple catches.
 
L.J. Smith led the defense with eight tackles (five solo), including 1.5 tackles for loss. The sophomore linebacker also broke up two passes. Trey Lear (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) made five solo tackles, recovered a fumble and had a pass breakup. Michael LeMay (Medford, N.J./Lenape) had seven tackles and forced a fumble.
 
The Golden Bears get their biggest test of the regular season thus far when they travel to East Stroudsburg (7-1, 4-0 PSAC East) next Saturday, Oct. 31, for a 1:05 p.m. kickoff. The winner will be in the driver's seat to represent the Eastern Division in the PSAC Championship game.
 

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