2002 Warrior Football

Yanocha Jump Starts Warriors to Victory Over Mansfield

September 7, 2002

Mansfield, Pa. - Mike Yanocha returned the opening kickoff 97 yards to start the 2002 season for East Stroudsburg University with a bang as the Warriors rolled in the first half to 31-14 win over Mansfield. After the kickoff, the Warriors ran off a 95-yard scoring drive on their next drive and added another 17 points off four Mountaineers turnovers to take a 31-7 halftime lead and coasted home from there.

In his first collegiate kick return, Yanocha, a sophomore from Pottstown, ran into the ESU (1-0/1-0 PSAC) record books with the second longest kickoff return for a touchdown in school history and first since Matt Kacanda went 98 yards in the 1998 season against Bloomsburg.

The Warrior defense held Mansfield (0-1/0-1 PSAC) in check throughout the opening half. The unit forced a punt on the Mounties' opening possession, which ESU turned into their 95-yard scoring drive capped by a Jeremy Palm to John Jeffries 52-yard pass down the left sideline. The ESU defense then rattled off four turnovers on an interception by Michael Glover, two forced fumbles on consecutive Mansfield possessions by Dustin Barno (Souderton, Pa./Easton) and another pick by Pat Good (Red Lion, Pa.).

ESU capitalized on three of the four Mountie turnovers. Two turnovers were turned into touchdowns on runs by A.J. Oliveri (Pittston, Pa.) from three yards and Greg Vaughn covering 10 yards. Freshman kicker Mark Brubaker (Stroudsburg, Pa./Conrad Weiser) booted a 38-yard field goal after just missing a 47-yard attempt to put the Warriors ahead 31-0 at 7:01 in the second quarter.

Mansfield took advantage of two bad snaps flying over the Warriors quarterback's head for their two touchdowns of the contest. They mounted a scoring drive of 37 yards to end the first half capped by a one-yard plunge from John Loiselle. The Mounties capitalized a second time on the same type of miscue with a 29-yard drive as Travis Motley hit Ryan Geishauser from 16 yards to make it 31-14.

Vaughn ran for 85 yards on 21 carries while John Jeffries pulled in seven passes for 122 yards to pace the Warrior attack. Palm connected on six passes of 13 attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown. Barno led the defense with six tackles, three tackles for loss of eight yards, two sacks and forced two key fumbles. Linebacker Ryan Vermillion (Elverson, Pa.) had five tackles, a tackle for loss of 11 yards, one sack and two fumble recoveries.

East Stroudsburg will hit the road to Glenville State (WV) next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.