FB10-6-01

ESU-Kutztown Football

KUTZTOWN – Quarterback Jeremy Palm ran for one touchdown and passed for a second, all in the last five minutes of the second quarter, to lead East Stroudsburg University to a 19-10 football victory over Kutztown Saturday on University Field.

The win keeps the Warriors unbeaten in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division with a 3-0 record. They are 4-1 overall. Kutztown, which had beaten ESU the last three years, dropped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Behind, 7-0, Palm put the Warriors’ on the board with 4:26 left in the half on a third-and-goal quarterback draw from the two-yard line. It followed a six-play drive which was set up by halfback Michael Glover’s 19-yard interception return to the Kutztown 21-yard line. The extra point was blocked, however, leaving the Golden Bears ahead, 7-6.

Later in the quarter, Glover returned a punt 14 yards to the Bears’ 48-yard line. Palm completed four straight passes capped by a 21-yard scoring play with wide receiver Larry Harrison with 34 seconds left in the half. Harrison caught the ball on the 15-yard and used his sprinter speed to outrun the Kutztown defenders. A conversion pass failed, but the Warriors left the field at halftime with a 12-7 lead.

Kutztown took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down to the ESU 3-yard line. A holding penalty moved the Bears back to the 13 and they had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Marcel Kottke.

ESU quickly countered, taking the ensuing kickoff and driving 74 yards in 12 plays for what proved to be the clinching touchdown. Palm converted a key third down play on a 16-yard pass to Craig Mahon and then ran 11 yards on a fourth-and-five play to the Bears’11-yard line.

Tailback Andre Castiglioni carried five yards and then backup tailback, Greg Vaughn took it across the goal-line from the six.

Castiglioni finished with 118 yards on 24 carries, his fourth 100-yard performance in five games. He only played the first quarter of last week’s contest at Millersville. Palm was 10 for 22 passing for 131 yards and also ran for 22 yards. Justin Kondikoff was the top receiver with 45 yards on three catches.

Kutztown was held to only one touchdown in the game, a 25-yard pass from quarterback Josh Warren to wide receiver Rob Flowers on the second play of the second quarter. It followed a 96-yard drive in 11 plays.

That was the Bears’ only sustained offense of the game as they were held to 178 yards, 96 rushing and 82 passing. The ESU defense sacked the two Kutztown quarterbacks seven times with outside linebacker Brian Holkovic making four sacks and end Shaun Bowman and linebacker Phil DeCecco and Matt Connell getting one apiece.

Holkovic finished with a career-high 13 tackles, seven solo and six assists. Linebacker Alex Daecher led the Kutztown defense with 11 tackles.

The win set up a showdown for the PSAC Eastern Division lead next Saturday when Coach Denny Douds’ team plays host to Bloomsburg, the NCAA Division II runner-up last year. The Huskies are 2-0 in the conference.

East Stroudsburg 0-12-7-0 19

Kutztown 0- 7-3-0 10

Kutz – Rob Flowers 25 pass from Josh Warren (Marcel Kottke kick), 13:28 left, 2nd

ESU – Jeremy Palm 2 run (kick blocked), 4:26 left, 2nd

ESU – Larry Harrison 21 pass from Palm (pass failed), 0:34 left, 2nd

Kutz - Kottke 30 field goal, 10:13 left, 3rd

ESU – Greg Vaughn 6 run (Mike Berry kick), 5:58 left, 3rd

Team Statistics:

First Downs: ESU 18, Kutz 10

Rushing: ESU 49 for 170 yards; Kutz 34 for 96 yards

Passing: ESU 10 for 22, 121 yards, 1 interc.; Kutztown 9 for 22, 82 yards, 1 interc.

Fumbles/Lost: ESU 0-0; Kutz 0-0

Penalties: ESU 1 for 5 yards; Kutz 4 for 32 yards

Punting: ESU 5 for 43.6-yard avg.; Kutz 8 for 37.1-yard avg.

Individual Statistics:

Rushing: ESU – Castiglioni 24 for 118 yards, A.J. Oliveri 9 for 24, Vaughn 8 for 23, Palm 7 for 22, Team 1 for minus-17; Kutz – Yorel Prosser 15 for 81, Josh Warren 11 for 14, Atiba Kenyatta 5 for 9, Rob Flowers 3 for minus-8

Passing: ESU – Palm 10 for 22, 1 interc., 121 yards; Kutz – Warren 6 for 12, 1 interc., 57 yards, Flowers 3 for 10, 25 yards

Receiving: ESU – Justin Kondikoff 3 for 45 yards, Craig Mahon 2 for 23, Castiglioni 2 for 11, Harrison 1 for 21, Oliveri 1 for 11, John Jeffries 1 for 10; Kutz – Flowers 3 for 33 yards, Mike Conner 2 for 15, David Borden 2 for 24, Pat Rogers 1 for 11, Phil Washington 1 for 9.

Punting: ESU – Adam Hostetter 5 for 43.6-yard avg.; Kutz – Jon Corson 8 for 37.1.

Missing Field Goals: ESU – Berry 31 yards

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