Box Score
CHEYNEY - Junior tailback Joe Partridge ran for 284 yards to set a school record and scored four touchdowns to tie another, and East Stroudsburg University set the Division II record for consecutive wins over one opponent with a 42-6 victory at Cheyney on Saturday.
Partridge carried 34 times for 284 yards to break the single-game rushing record of 267 yards, which was set by Andre Myers against Mansfield in 1998. He ran for four touchdowns, all in the first half, to tie the record shared by three other players.
ESU won its 28th straight game against Cheyney, setting the Division II record that was shared with Minn.-Duluth, who won 27 consecutive games over Wisc.-Superior from 1962-89. The Warriors have scored at least 35 points in each of the last 12 games and own the all-time series 51-1.
Partridge ran for 103 yards on 12 carries in the first quarter, and 109 yards on 12 carries in the second quarter. He started his day with runs of 17 and 23 yards on the Warriors' first two snaps, and scored from three yards out to give ESU a 7-0 lead with 12:23 left in the opening period.
He carried on all six plays of a 40-yard drive that set up a 37-yard field goal attempt by Greg Knauss on the next series, but Knauss missed the kick wide left.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tom O'Brien, making his second career start, completed passes to Doug Ogden for 15 yards and Sam Shuman for 13 yards in the following possession, which Partridge capped with a two-yard run with 1:58 remaining in the quarter.
Partridge opened the next series with runs of seven and nine yards, and scored on a 34-yard run two minutes in the second quarter.
Cheyney scored its only touchdown on a one-yard run by quarterback Derrick Murry to complete an 11-play, 46-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.
Partridge carried the ball on the first eight plays of ESU's ensuing possession, gaining 57 yards, before O'Brien threw an incomplete pass on third-and-goal from the two. Partridge scored his fourth touchdown of the game on the next play to put the Warriors ahead 28-6, and freshman David Castillo had his first career interception on a throw into the end zone on the final play of the half to preserve the 22-point halftime lead.
O'Brien hooked up with freshman wide receiver Jon Clouse for the only scoring of the second half, finding Clouse for a 15-yard touchdown in the third quarter and a 29-yard score early in the fourth.
Partridge set the record with a 12-yard run midway through the third quarter and carried one more time, for five yards, before being leaving the game for redshirt freshman Brant Quick. Quick ran seven times for 62 yards in the contest, and ESU accumulated 337 yards rushing on 45 carries in the game.
The Warriors held Cheyney to 219 yards of total offense and just 114 yards through the air as Murry entered the game averaging 254.0 passing yards per game but was just 6-of-18 for 65 yards before he left the game in the fourth quarter. Billy Mitchell ran for 102 yards on 21 carries for the Wolves.
Clouse had the first four catches of his career for 76 yards, and O'Brien was 8-of-15 for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Matt Marshall was 1-for-3 for 15 yards in the first action of his career.
ESU will travel to West Chester next weekend for a 6 p.m. start against the Golden Rams.
