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EAST STROUDSBURG - Redshirt senior quarterback Matt Soltes threw for 438 yards and five touchdowns, redshirt senior wide receiver Jon Schnaars had nine catches for 200 yards and two scores, and East Stroudsburg University won 56-12 in the 500th overall game on the sidelines for head coach Denny Douds on Saturday afternoon at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

Soltes had his seventh career 400-yard passing game, tying Damian Poalucci (1995-97) for the most in school history, and redshirt junior tailback Robert Healy added 174 yards from scrimmage (92 rushing, 82 receiving, TD) for the Warriors (1-2).

Douds coached his 500th game for the Warriors, 432nd as head coach following 68 as an assistant from 1966-73. The Warriors are 296-199-5 in 50 years with Douds on the sidelines and 251-178-3 in his 42nd year as head coach. He extended his PSAC record for career wins, which ranks third among active NCAA coaches and third in NCAA Division II history.

ESU scored touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions after losing a fumble on the second play from scrimmage. Edinboro (0-3) fumbled the ball right back to the Warriors, and Soltes marched the offense 82 yards in 15 plays, culminating in a one-yard TD run by redshirt senior tailback Gerald Van De Cruz - the first of his three rushing TD.

The Warriors led 35-0 at halftime, with Healy scoring on a 53-yard TD pass in the first quarter, redshirt senior wide receiver Gerard Wendowski catching a six-yard TD for his first career score on the first play of the second quarter, Van De Cruz plunging in from two yards out and Soltes finding senior wide receiver Joe Welk for a 40-yard TD with 1:47 left in the first half.

Edinboro scored on its first possession of the second half as Jake Sisson hit Alex Caratelli for a 41-yard TD. Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Marc Ranaudo blocked the extra point for the Warriors, making it 35-6.

Soltes hit Schnaars for a 14-yard TD on ESU's next possession, Van De Cruz scored on a one-yard TD run, and Schnaars turned a 10-yard gain into a 56-yard TD with 12:00 left in the fourth quarter.

Edinboro scored with 3:01 left in the third quarter on a six-yard run by backup quarterback Jon Girvin after Sisson left due to injury.

The Warriors outgained Edinboro, 565-283, and the ESU defense forced three turnovers. Redshirt senior outside linebacker Kaje Cowans had an interception in the end zone to stop an Edinboro drive early in the second quarter.

ESU's seven consecutive TD drives covered 82, 69, 59, 80, 67, 74 and 71 yards.

Soltes moved into eighth in PSAC history in career passing yards (9,665), eighth in passing TD (91) and sixth in career yards of total offense (10,961) in his 29th career start. He had his eighth career game with at least five TD passes.

Healy moved into fifth at ESU in career rushing yards (2,211) and has gained 493 all-purpose yards in the first three game (164.3 ypg), 265 rushing and 228 receiving.

Schnaars had his first career 200-yard receiving game, moving into eighth at ESU with 2,285 career receiving yards. He ranks ninth in career receptions (147) and fifth in TD (26). He went over 100 yards receiving for the 10th time and is the 2nd ESU receiver with 100+ yards in the first three games of a season, joining Evan Prall (2005).

Van De Cruz's three rushing TD match a career-high set in 2013 vs. Lock Haven. He has 17 career rushing TD (11 from the one-yard line), tied for eighth in school history.

The Warriors travel to Lock Haven (0-3) next Saturday for their PSAC East opener. LHU fell 38-13 at IUP on Saturday.


GAME NOTES
* ESU improves to 13-6 in the all-time series vs. Edinboro. The two schools have met 13 times since 2000.
* Douds improves to 11-6 vs. Edinboro and 4-2 vs. Scott Browning.
* Two of Douds' 11 wins in the series have come in the State Game - 24-20 in 1975 and 24-22 in 1982.

* ESU improves to 24-18 in Family Weekend games under Douds and has won 3 of the last 4.

* ESU improves to 40-1 under Douds when scoring 50+ points.

* ESU is 467-314-19 in 800 games as a varsity program (since 1926).
* ESU is 296-199-5 in Douds' 500 games at ESU, and 251-178-3 in Douds' 432 games as head coach.

* Soltes' pass efficiency rating (233.2) is the 4th-highest of his career in 29 starts. He was 21-for-31 for 438 yds, 5 TD and 1 Int.
* Soltes threw for 502 yards and 6 TD (532 yards total offense) in a 47-34 win at Edinboro in 2014. His pass efficiency rating in that game was 206.6 (31-for-45, 502 yds, 6 TD, 0 Int).

* Soltes tied Damian Poalucci for the most 400-yard passing games in school history (7).
* In 29 career starts, Soltes has: 20 games with 300+ yards total offense ... 10 with 400+ yards ... 5 with 500+ yards (t-DII record)
* In 29 career starts, Soltes has: 16 games with 300+ yards passing ... 7 with 400+ yards ... 2 with 500+ yards (t-PSAC record)

* Soltes has thrown for more than 1,000 yards through the first 3 games for the 2nd straight year. His 1,021 passing yards through 3 games are the 4th-most in program history.

* Healy had 100+ yards from scrimmage for the 20th time in 25 career games.
* Healy led active PSAC players in career yards from scrimmage per game (126.3 ypg) entering this week.
* Healy ranked 13th in DII in yards from scrimmage (159.5) through 2 weeks.
* Healy's 493 yards from scrimmage through 3 weeks rank t-3rd in program history.

* Healy has 2,211 career rushing yards and 993 receiving yards. ESU has 2 players with 1,000 career rushing and receiving yards (Anthony Carfagno and Jason Killian). ESU does not have a player with 2,000 career rushing and 1,000 receiving yards.
* Healy had his 9th career receiving TD, and 3rd of 50+ yards.

* Schnaars had the 16th game with 200+ receiving yards in program history.
* He is the 9th ESU player with 200+ receiving yards and the first since Robert Bleiler (230) vs. Lock Haven in 2013.
* Schnaars had his 1st career receiving TD of 50+ yards (54).

* Schnaars is the 2nd ESU player with 100+ receiving yards in each of the first 3 games of a season, joining Evan Prall (2005).
* Schnaars has 22 catches for 448 yards and 3 TD.
* His 22 receptions are the most ever by an ESU player through the first 3 games.
* His 448 yards are the 2nd-most through 3 games (498 - Prall, 2005).

* Welk had 4 catches for 94 yards and a 40-yard TD, just missing his 2nd career 100-yard game.
* Wendowski (3 catches, 49 yards) had his 1st career receiving TD.
* Fr. WR Anthony Guarino had a 13-yard catch for his 1st career reception.

* Van De Cruz has 17 career rushing TD in 15 games (11 from the 1-yard line).
* He had his 2nd career 3-TD game (2013 vs. Lock Haven).

* Jr. S Jimmy Verzicco made his 1st career start for the Warriors. He is the 15th Warrior to start on defense this season, and the 10th to make his 1st career start.
* Sr. CB Teron Dobbs made his 1st start of the season and the 31st of his career. He did not start the 1st 2 games due to injury (did not play at Slippery Rock) after making 30 consecutive starts since midway through the 2012 season.