Box Score

EDINBORO – Redshirt freshman Cody Harris was 25-for-36 for 257 yards and three touchdowns and Drew Herrell ran for 131 yards to lead Edinboro to a 28-25 win over East Stroudsburg University in the season finale for both programs on Saturday afternoon at Sox Harrison Stadium.

Redshirt junior quarterback Ray Wagner, playing in relief of redshirt senior Matt Marshall, led a fourth-quarter scoring drive that cut the deficit to three points with 5:34 left. The Warriors got the ball back with three minutes to play but turned it over on downs in their own territory, and Edinboro ran out the clock to finish the season with a 7-4 record.

ESU ends the 2010 season at 3-8 and suffered its fifth loss by seven points or less – tying the 1938 team (2-6) with the most losses by a touchdown or less in school history. The Warriors' strength of schedule through the first seven weeks was the 10th-toughest in Division II. They finish the season against Edinboro for the second straight year following last year's 31-16 loss in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Redshirt senior outside linebacker Matt Freed finished his All-America career with 14 tackles and a sack, giving him 399 career tackles as a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter. He had double-figure tackles in 24 of his 34 career starts and had 45 tackles for a loss and 22.5 sacks in his career. Freed had 120 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks as a senior and is the only defensive player on the ballot for the Harlon Hill Award, which was announced Friday.

The Warriors scored touchdowns on their first two possessions to run out to a 14-7 lead less than seven minutes into the game and held a 17-14 halftime advantage. Edinboro took its first lead of the game, 21-17, with a 12 play, 75-yard drive to start the second half and James Jackson's 20-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter made it a two possession game before ESU attempted to come back.

Freshman kicker Taylor Groff set ESU's school record with his 16th field goal of the season, a 36-yarder that gave the Warriors a 17-14 lead at the midpoint of the second quarter. Groff was 16-for-21 on field goals, including a perfect 12-for-12 under 40 yards, and was 39-for-41 on extra points. His 87 points are the second-most by a kicker in school history.

Marshall and Wagner alternated snaps at quarterback through the first half before Marshall left with an injury on ESU's third offensive play of the third quarter and Wagner carried the Warriors the rest of the way.

Marshall was 8-for-13 for 53 yards and two touchdowns, throwing scoring passes to redshirt senior wide receiver Ed Kiser and redshirt senior tight end Matt Brown – the first touchdown catch of Brown's career. He also ran for 30 yards and hit a number of season and career milestones – 2,500 passing yards (2,513) this year; 7,000 yards of total offense (7,057) in his career; and moved into fourth in school history with 6,403 career passing yards.

Kiser had nine catches, the second-most of his career, for 109 yards and had four straight 100-yard receiving games and 523 yards over his final four games at ESU. He finishes his career ranked seventh in ESU history with 2,109 receiving yards.

Wagner was 13-for-22 for 178 yards and a pair of interceptions, including 5-for-7 for 86 yards in the first half. He had a pair of big pass plays on ESU's first drive after the opening kickoff which ended with Marshall's two-yard TD pass to Kiser. The Warriors' second TD drive covered 51 yards – 32 on a run by sophomore tailback Kendrick Williams (10 carries, 44 yards) – and culminated in Marshall's six-yard scoring toss to Brown.

In the fourth quarter, Jackson's interception return for a TD came three plays after a fourth-and-goal stand for the Warriors' defense at the two-yard line. The offense responded with an 11 play, 65-yard drive over 4:30 that included a pair of passes from Wagner to freshman tailback Dusty Reed for first downs and was finished off by a one-yard run by redshirt senior fullback Brent Jones. Wagner was 5-for-7 on the drive and hit sophomore wide receiver Bryan Ogden for the two-point conversion. Wagner also ran twice for 13 yards on the TD march.

Both early touchdown drives were set up by long kick returns by freshman David Ogbonnaya, who had four returns for 105 yards on the afternoon. Senior punter Greg Knauss also had a standout day for ESU's special teams, averaging 45.6 yards on five punts, dropping four inside the 20-yard line, and uncorking a career-long 62-yarder with ESU backed up in its own end in the second quarter.

Harris completed his first 13 passes and was 15-for-16 for 158 yards in the first half for Edinboro, but the Fighting Scots trailed 17-14 at intermission. Herrell did most of his damage on the ground in the second half, with 15 carries for 87 yards. David Bostic caught six passes for 85 yards and the go-ahead 18-yard TD in the third quarter, and Gary Nolen caught five passes for 55 yards and set Edinboro's career receptions record with 149.

Freed led the Warriors' defense as he has all season, spearheading a defensive effort that sacked Edinboro's redshirt freshman quarterback six times. Junior defensive end Brent Moss had nine tackles and three sacks. ESU also forced one turnover, as senior cornerback David Castillo recovered a fumble that set up Groff's go-ahead field goal.

The Warriors' senior class, including Freed, Castillo, Marshall, Kiser and wide receiver Jeff Giglio (117 career catches, 1901 yards, 18 TDs), finished their careers in the red and black. The seniors helped the program to a 20-14 record over the past three seasons, including the program's fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA Playoffs in 2009.