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BROOKVILLE, N.Y. - Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Soltes led a record-breaking offensive attack for East Stroudsburg University, as Soltes set the PSAC record for total offense (666 yards) and ESU set the PSAC team record (828) in a 45-37 win at LIU Post on Saturday at Hickox Field.

Soltes was 26-for-42 for 535 yards and five touchdowns passing, and ran for 131 yards on 12 carries to break the PSAC record of 651 yards held by Erik Anderwkavich of LIU Post (2010 vs. Kutztown) and the ESU record of 597 yards held by Damian Poalucci (1996 vs. Mansfield). His 535 passing yards are third-most in school history.

Soltes' total offense figure is 2nd-most in Division II history and 10th in college football history. It is the highest total by a freshman in college football history.

The Warriors gained 828 yards on 79 offensive plays, throwing for 552 yards and rushing for 276 yards on 36 carries. The previous PSAC record of 757 yards was set by California vs. Mansfield in 2005, and the previous ESU record of 736 yards was set at New Haven in 1996.

Soltes hit nine different receivers, led by R-Fr. WR Jon Schnaars (5 catches, 124 yards), R-Sr. WR Jordan Hallman (4-103, TD), Jr. WR Dusty Reed (3-90), R-Jr. FB Thomas Tippett (3-62), R-Jr. Robert Bleiler (3-62) and R-So. TE Steven Jones (5-58, 2 TD). ESU had six 50-yard receivers for the first time in school history.

Soltes, Sr. TB Eric Deery (7 carries, 77 yards, TD) and Sr. TB Kendrick Williams (12-65) helped the Warriors to 276 yards on the ground. It marks the first time the Warriors have had three players with at least 50 yards rushing since 2001 vs. Cheyney.

Defensively, the Warriors racked up six sacks of LIU Post quarterback Steven Laurino, forced and recovered a fumble in the third quarter and held the Pioneers to seven first-half points.

ESU (4-4, 3-3 PSAC East) held a 35-7 lead at halftime with Soltes throwing four touchdown passes and accounting for 421 yards of total offense - 302 passing and 119 rushing. He threw a first-quarter TD pass to Jones (16 yards) and second-quarter TD's to Fr. WR Tim Wilson (12 yards), Jones (2 yards) and Hallman (29 yards), and almost finished the first half with a fifth, as Schnaars pulled down a 48-yard jump ball at the one-yard line as time expired.

LIU Post (3-5, 2-4) scored on its first drive of the second half, but ESU responded with a 24-yard field goal by junior kicker Taylor Groff - the 39th of his career, tied for second-most in school history - and took a 45-13 lead on a 15-yard pass from Soltes to Williams with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

The lead remained 24 points until Laurino hit his brother, wide receiver Grayson Laurino, for a seven-yard TD, with the ensuing two-point conversion making it 45-21 with 9:13 left.

The Warriors put together a drive that used almost 4:30 off the clock before turning it over on downs at the eight-yard line. LIU Post turned to Grayson Laurino at quarterback, and he drove the Pioneers 92 yards in six plays to make it 45-29.

Post then recovered the onside kick and Laurino again drove for a TD, contributing a 30-yard run before capping it with a 10-yard pass to Chris McGrane with 1:32 left. The two-point conversion brought LIU Post within one possession (45-37).

Bleiler recovered the next onside kick attempt, a squib kick that he fell on at the 25-yard line. Williams ripped off a 14-yard run for a key first down, then picked up a third-and-two with a three-yard run to put the Warriors in the victory formation with 1:10 remaining.

LIU Post gained 498 yards on 87 plays after gaining just 135 yards in the first half. Steven Laurino was 27-for-46 for 284 yards and three touchdowns and Grayson Laurino was 2-for-5 for 14 yards and a touchdown, had six catches for 54 yards and a TD and three carries for 54 yards. He also punted eight times for an average of 46.2 yards.

Of ESU's 79 offensive plays (including two kneel downs), 36 gained at least 10 yards - including a remarkable 25 of 27 completions. The Warriors had 10 pass plays of 20+ yards and five of 30+ yards. Their 34 first downs were two shy of the school record and the third-most in school history.

Soltes threw for 535 of ESU's 552 yards, with R-Jr. QB Nate Daniels hitting Reed for a 17-yard pass when Soltes had to come out for one play after losing his helmet on an eight-yard run.

GAME NOTES
* ESU head coach Denny Douds moved into sole possession of 4th in Division II history with his 236th career win, breaking a tie with John A. Merritt (Jackson State 1952-62, Tennessee State 1963-83). He trails only Ken Sparks of Carson-Newman (305, active), Jim Malosky of Minn.-Duluth (255, 1958-97) and Mel Tjeerdsma of Austin and Northwest Missouri State (242, 1984-2010).
* Douds is in his 39th season as head coach at ESU. He is the only coach in Division II history, and one of 15 in college football history, to coach 400 games. He is one of five coaches with 400+ games to spend his entire career at one institution. Douds has a career record of 236-166-3 in 404 games.

* Soltes and ESU's total offense figures are both the most in Division II this season.  Soltes surpassed 600 yards from Matt Brown (Colorado Mines vs. NM Highlands), and the Warriors surpassed 801 yards from Merrimack vs. St. Anselm last week.
* ESU has the 2nd-highest single-game total offense in all of college football. Soltes' individual figure ranks 4th.

* Soltes entered the week ranked 1st among Division II freshmen in completion percentage (62.0), 2nd in pass efficiency (150.2), 4th in passing yards (205.3 ypg) and 5th in total offense (235.3 ypg).
* Through Saturday's game (8 games, 5 starts), Soltes is 129-for-208 for 1,972 yards, 14 TD and 5 interceptions for a pass efficiency rating of 159.0. He has run for 341 yards on 72 carries.
* Soltes has 2,313 yards of total offense (289.1 yards per game).
* In his 5 starts, Soltes is 114-for-176 for 1,687 yards, 13 TD and 5 Int., an average of 337.4 yards per game. He has run for 287 yards on 64 carries. He has 1,974 yards of total offense in 5 starts, an average of 394.8 yards per game.

* Soltes had the fifth game with 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in ESU history. Jimmy Terwilliger had three (1 each in 2003, 2004 and 2005) and James Franklin had one in 1994.
* Soltes' 131 rushing yards are 3rd-most by an ESU QB since 1968. It marks the 11th 100-yard rushing game by a QB overall since 1968.
* He is the 2nd PSAC QB with 400 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in a game. California Jeff Petrucci had 406 passing yards and 111 rushing yards vs. Edinboro in 1968. He is the 1st PSAC QB with 500 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in a game.

TOTAL OFFENSE, COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY
1. 791 - Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion (New Hampshire), FCS, 2012
2. 732 - David Klingler, Houston (Arizona St.), FBS, 1990
3. 723 - Zamir Amin, Menlo (Cal Lutheran), III, 2000
4. 719 - Sam Durley, Eureka (Knox), III, 2012
5. 696 - Matt Vogler, TCU (Houston), FBS, 1990
6. 687 - Geno Smith, West Virginia (Baylor), FBS, 2012
7. 681 - J.J. Harp, Eastern NM (Southeastern Oklahoma), II, 2009
    681 - B.J. Symons, Texas Tech (Ole Miss), FBS, 2003
9. 668 - Robert Kent, Jackson St. (Alabama St.), FCS, 2001
10. 666 - Matt Soltes, East Stroudsburg (LIU Post), II, 2012


* Defensively, R-So. DT Bryan Thomson had 2.0 of the Warriors' 6 sacks. He also blocked a 22-yard field goal with ESU leading 14-7 late in the first quarter. The block was Thomson's 4th of the year (2 FG, 2 PAT) and 6th of his career. He blocked 2 PAT's as a redshirt freshman last season.
* R-So. DE Brandon Gattelli had 9 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

* Reed moved into 10th at ESU with 1,977 career receiving yards, passing Dennis McWhite (1,964 - 1992-95). He ranks 7th with 137 career receptions.
* Reed, who had 320 all-purpose yards (school-record 247 kick return yards) last week vs. Kutztown, had 132 all-purpose yards to move into 10th with 2,869 in his career.
* Hallman has 1,876 receiving yards, 13th in school history, and 97 receptions. He had his 18th career TD and his 6th career 100-yard game.
* Schnaars had his first career 100-yard receiving game after posting 3 catches for 90 yards last week vs. Kutztown. He is one of 6 active Warriors with a 100-yard game.
* Jones had career highs in catches (5), yards (58) and TD (2) from the tight end position.
* Tippett also had a career high with 62 receiving yards.
* Wilson's TD catch was the 2nd of his career. His first was a 33-yard catch-and-run for the game-winning TD with 5 seconds left in ESU's 35-28 win over West Chester on Oct. 6.

* Williams moved into 5th at ESU in career rushing with 2,096 yards, passing Pete Radocha (2,047 - 1974-76). He scored his 24th career TD and 3rd career receiving TD.
* Deery scored a 47-yard TD on ESU's first rushing play, his 4th of the season and 9th career TD.

* Fr. Cody Laubach made his first career start at left tackle after starting the first 7 games at right tackle.
* R-Sr. RT Wrenton Wright II made his 41st start, and 24th consecutive. He has made 29 starts at right tackle and 12 at left tackle.
* R-Sr. RG Seve Rivers made his 39th start, and 30th consecutive. He can join Wright as the 6th and 7th Warriors to make 40 career starts since 2003. Of those seven, five will be offensive linemen - Mike Habel (46 - 2004-07), Dan Caffrey (45 - 2008-11) and Morgan Thomas (42 - 2006-09).
* R-Jr. C Greg Blue made his 26th start, and 15th consecutive.

* Jr. K Taylor Groff moved into a tie for 2nd at ESU with 39 career field goals. He is tied with Mark Brubaker (2002-05) and trails Ed Detwiler (50, 1989-92).
* Groff moved into 6th at ESU with 207 career points. He is ranked 3rd in points by a kicker.
* He has made 7 straight field goals, improving to 12-for-19. He set the school record with 16 field goals as a freshman.
* Groff is 39-for-54 in his career (72.2 percent, school record). He is 25-for-30 under 40 yards, and 14-for-24 over 40 yards (school record for 40+ yard makes).