Box Score

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Eric Anderwkavich threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns and had another 59 yards on the ground to lead C.W. Post to a 28-17 win over East Stroudsburg University on Saturday afternoon at Hickox Field.

The Warriors held the third-ranked rushing offense in the PSAC to 135 yards and limited tailback Thomas Beverly to 23 yards on 10 carries, but Anderwkavich had a pair of touchdown passes to Darnel Williams (five catches, 104 yards) and Donovan Edwards wrapped up the win with a 68-yard interception return for a touchdown with just over two minutes left in the game as ESU was driving towards the go-ahead score.

The loss gives ESU (1-6, 0-4 PSAC East) a six-game losing streak for just the fourth time in school history. The first three came in consecutive years in the mid-1980s (1985-87).

The Warriors' strength of schedule entering the game was the 13th-toughest in Division II and now includes the top four teams in the PSAC East standings, including C.W. Post (5-2, 4-0). ESU's PSAC crossover opponents were IUP and three-time NCAA semifinalist California (Pa.).

Redshirt senior quarterback Matt Marshall, the PSAC leader in total offense, was 20-for-35 for 158 yards and a touchdown passing and ran 15 times for a career-high 67 yards. Sophomore tailback Kendrick Williams had 70 yards on 15 carries and his first touchdown of the year as the Warriors ran for a season-high 147 yards.

ESU scored on its first possession as Williams scampered 22 yards around left end on 3rd-and-12 to cap a 12 play, 56-yard drive that included nine plays on the ground.

C.W. Post answered with a score on its first touch as well, converting two third downs to set up Anderwkavich's 19-yard TD pass to Darnel Williams with 6:10 left in the opening quarter. The extra point was blocked, the first of three missed PAT's along with a blocked field goal for the Pioneers' kicking game, to leave the score at 7-6.

Williams hauled in an eight-yard TD pass, preceded by a 48-yard reception, to complete a four play, 59-yard drive that gave C.W. Post a 12-7 lead early in the second quarter.

ESU had good field position on its first three drives in the second quarter, going with the wind on a blustery day on Long Island, but the Pioneers' defense held. The Warriors also produced a stop late in the quarter after C.W. Post drove from its own 32 to the ESU 15-yard line. The Pioneers had 2nd-and-1, but Anthony Brunetti was stopped for no gain on consecutive carries and Anderwkavich's toss to the end zone was just off the fingertips of tight end R.J. Kuhn on fourth down.

The Warriors took their second lead of the game on their first possession of the second half, which was set up by a blocked field goal by junior linebacker Mike Bergey and 18-yard return by senior cornerback David Castillo after C.W. Post drove to the ESU 11-yard line.

Marshall was 4-for-4 for 58 yards and had an eight-yard run on the drive as the Warriors went ahead 14-12. He hit redshirt senior wide receiver Ed Kiser and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Wade Williams for consecutive 15-yard completions, connected with Kiser for seven yards, then threw a perfectly placed 21-yard TD pass to freshman tailback Dusty Reed for the score with 8:48 left in the quarter.

C.W. Post went back in front for good, 15-14, on its ensuing possession, as Anderwkavich engineered a 12 play, 50-yard drive that took 6:01 and culminated in a 39-yard field goal by Keith Hadnagy with 2:28 on the clock in the third quarter.

After ESU turned the ball over on downs, Anderwkavich took advantage of the windy conditions, forcing a pass interference and hitting Grayson Laurino for 21 yards at the end of the third quarter. Anderwkavich finished the drive with his third TD pass of the game, hitting Laurino for a nine-yard score on the third play of the fourth quarter, and Hadnagy's PAT was good to make the score 22-14.

Freshman Taylor Groff made a 37-yard field goal after earlier missing from 58 yards in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 22-17 with 9:44 left in the game.

ESU's 15 play, 47-yard drive included a two-yard run by redshirt senior outside linebacker Matt Freed on a fake punt on fourth-and-two from the Warriors' side of midfield. Marshall picked up third-and-long conversions with passes to Giglio and sophomore wide receiver Bryan Ogden before the drive stalled at the 20 and Groff connected with his 10th field goal of the year.

The Warriors' defense, which had been very good in the fourth quarter the previous three weeks, continued that trend with two three-and-outs and an interception by sophomore cornerback D'Jon Tillman on C.W. Post's next three drives, but the offense was unable to convert.

ESU's three offensive possessions ended with an interception, a punt after a holding penalty on the first play, and Edwards' interception for a TD that pushed C.W. Post's five-point lead to 11.

ESU took over at the Pioneers' 45 with 3:03 left after a punt and Marshall hit Wade Williams for eight yards on the first play, but a holding penalty erased a first down and Edwards took the next pass down the sideline for six points.

The Warriors had one more shot, picking up two first downs on its final drive, before a turnover on downs at midfield with 1:05 remaining.

Freed led the ESU defense with 12 tackles, hitting double figures for the fifth time in the last six games. Senior outside linebacker Mark Kalo and senior defensive end Alex Figueroa both had eight tackles, junior safety Herschel Thornton had seven stops and junior defensive end Brett Moss had six tackles (1.5 TFL).

Ronnie Modik, last week's PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week, had 17 tackles (five solo) and a forced fumble for the Pioneers. Billy O'Connor made 11 tackles and Scala was in on 11 stops.

The Warriors will travel to Millersville next Saturday looking for their first win since the season opener at Pace. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium.


Game Notes
* ESU played the 750th game in program history and the 450th game in the career of head coach Denny Douds (382 games as head coach since 1974, 68 games as assistant coach from 1966-73)
* ESU's last six opponents have a combined record of 32-10 and includes the two remaining unbeaten teams in the PSAC in California and Kutztown, both 7-0
* ESU is now 7-4 in the all-time series vs. C.W. Post
* C.W. Post won last year's game, 42-24, and has now won two straight
* The winner of the last six meetings has scored at least 28 points

* The Warriors' 147 rushing yards were a season-high. They ran for 145 yards vs. IUP (Sept. 11) and 138 yards vs. West Chester (Sept. 25).
* Kendrick Williams (15 carries, 70 yards) ran six times for 39 yards on the opening drive of the game
* He leads ESU with 285 rushing yards and is averaging 4.8 yards per carry; he ran for 436 yards (4.4 avg.) in seven games as a true freshman last season
* Matt Marshall is 2nd in the PSAC in total offense (289.4 ypg) and passing (256.0 ypg) through Saturday's games; his total offense average currently stands 7th in ESU history
* Marshall is on pace for 259 completions and 423 attempts - school records are held by Jimmy Terwilliger (262-for-424 in 2005, 14 games)
* Marshall completed a pass to 8 receivers and has had at least 8 players catch passes in each of the first seven games
* Ed Kiser (6 catches, 49 yards) has 101 career catches, joining teammate Jeff Giglio (113 catches) at the century plateau this season
* Kiser has at least one catch in 30 straight games, the 3rd-longest streak at ESU since 2002 (Doug Ogden 32, Anthony Carfagno 31)
* Dusty Reed had four catches for 42 yards, including his team-high 5th TD of the year

* Matt Freed has reached double figures in tackles in 21 of his 30 career starts
* He has 353 career tackles, five away from tying Dan Murray (1984-87) for 3rd in school history
* Jeff Johnson (520, 1975-78) and Kevin Nagle (477, 1997-00) are the top two tacklers at ESU; both were four-year starters (Freed has started every game since start of 2008 - R-So. year)
* R-Jr. C Dan Caffrey also made his 30th career start for the Warriors and Marshall made his 20th consecutive start at quarterback (21st overall)

* Fr. K Taylor Groff attempted a 58-yard field goal early in the 2nd quarter going with the wind; ESU's school record for a made field goal is 53 yards (Greg Knauss, 2007) and the PSAC record is 55 yards
* Fr. DB David Ogbonnaya had four kick returns for 75 yards, including a 33-yarder to start the game