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EAST STROUDSBURG – In a record-setting season for redshirt senior quarterback Ray Wagner and head coach Denny Douds, the last two snaps were the most memorable.

Wagner fired a 21-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Dusty Reed as time expired and sophomore Taylor Groff's extra point was true to give East Stroudsburg University a 27-26 win over Edinboro and cap the second-largest comeback in school history in the Warriors' season finale at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

Wagner, who was named a candidate for the Harlon Hill Award for the top player in Division II on Friday, led the Warriors 80 yards in nine plays over the final 1:53 after a standout effort from the defense.

Senior linebacker Mike Bergey hit Edinboro running back Brian Davis at the goal line and forced a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by redshirt senior cornerback Shawnte Carroll as Edinboro (7-4) was looking to seal the win after leading 23-6 with 5:08 left in the third quarter.

Wagner and the offense made the most of the opportunity after giving the ball away following an Edinboro three-and-out on its previous possession.

Facing third-and-six at the 24-yard line, Wagner converted with an 11-yard pass to redshirt sophomore Robert Bleiler, then hit Reed for 12 yards with another 15 yards added on for a late hit to give the Warriors the ball at the Edinboro 39.

A nine-yard pass to Reed brought up second-and-one, but Wagner's next two passes were incomplete to make it fourth down. The Warriors converted with a nine-yard pass to junior tailback Kendrick Williams, and after a timeout with seven seconds left, Wagner found Reed down the seam and across the goal line to tie the game at 26-all with 0:00 showing on the clock.

Groff, who made field goals from 44 and 27 yards in the first half, drilled the extra point after the snap from redshirt senior center Dan Caffrey, who started all 45 games of his career, out of the hold of redshirt sophomore quarterback Nate Daniels to give the Warriors the victory.

Douds coached his 397th career game in 38 seasons at ESU in the Warriors' first home game since he set the Division II record with 394 games coached in a heart-breaking, last-second 31-27 loss to Millersville on Oct. 22.

ESU (3-8) took a lead into the fourth quarter in three losses this season – twice against ranked teams at home – only to come up short at the final gun. The script turned in the season finale as the Warriors' 10 seniors, all starters, finished their careers with a 23-22 record in 45 games, including a trip to the NCAA Playoffs in 2009. The seniors combined for 256 career starts.

The Warriors were down by 17 after Edinboro safety Kenny Pettis returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown. The 17-point comeback, and 13-point comeback from a 26-13 deficit in the fourth quarter, are both the second-largest in school history.

The last time the Warriors scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of a game also came against Edinboro, when Jimmy Terwilliger found Ben Culver for a 17-yard TD on fourth-and-10 with 22 seconds left in a 36-32 win in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Playoffs.

Wagner was 20-for-39 for 215 yards to complete a record-setting senior season, and Reed had seven catches for 98 yards. Wagner was 6-for-8 for 61 yards and had a nine-yard run on the final drive, and hit Reed four times for 41 yards.

Bergey had 19 tackles (13 solo), 2.5 TFL, a sack and two forced fumbles and redshirt senior Taylor Cave had 16 tackles (10 solo) and 0.5 TFL – both career-highs – as part of a defensive effort that limited Edinboro to three offensive points in the second half.

Alex Romanias opened and closed Edinboro's scoring, hitting a 29-yard field goal for the only points of the first quarter and a 38-yard field goal for a 26-13 lead on the third play of the fourth quarter, but missed an extra point after a one-yard touchdown run by Michael Battles with just over four minutes left in the second quarter.

Groff pulled the Warriors within 16-6 at halftime with a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the first half after hitting a 44-yarder early in the second quarter.

Neither offense was effective to start the second half, combining for three punts and the 30-yard interception return by Pettis, before the Warriors turned to the ground game to climb back in it.

Junior tailback Eric Deery had his third career 100-yard game, gaining 106 yards on 11 carries, and ripped off consecutive runs of 35 and 21 yards before scoring from 10 yards out to make it 23-13 after Groff's extra point with 3:28 left.

Edinboro went 48 yards in nine plays on its ensuing possession, ending with Romanias' 38-yard field goal, but lost starting quarterback Cody Harris to injury after a scramble in the middle of the drive.

The Warriors came back with a 13-play, 67-yard drive – the second-most plays in a scoring drive this season – which featured 11 running plays and closed with a one-yard plunge by Williams (14 carries, 53 yards) to get the Warriors within one possession at 26-20 with 9:07 remaining. ESU picked up a third-and-one on a one-yard gain by redshirt sophomore fullback Thomas Tippett and a fourth-and-one on a three-yard gain by Williams, and Reed had a 21-yard carry on the second play to get the drive started.

The Fighting Scots gained just one first down on their final three possessions, including two three-and-outs, as Bergey, Cave and the Warriors defense came up big with their backs against the wall.

The offense had its own three-and-out, punting the ball away with six minutes left, and after another stop, the Warriors botched a handoff on their first play to turn the ball over at the 21-yard line with 4:24 remaining.

Edinboro was in position to put the game away, picking up a third-and-four with a 12-yard run by Davis to set up first-and-goal at the three, but two stops at the goal line followed by the fumble gave the offense the ball and just enough time to go 80 yards to finish the season.

Harris was 21-for-29 for 234 yards for Edinboro and David Bostic caught 11 passes for 91 yards, becoming the school's career leader with 159 career receptions. He broke the record of 149, set by Gary Nolen against ESU in the season finale last year, on Edinboro's first offensive play.

D'Andrea Vaughn led Edinboro on the ground with seven carries for 64 yards and a 44-yard touchdown, Brian Davis had nine carries for 38 yards, Harris had 12 for 25 yards, Bostic two for 23 yards and Michael Battles seven for 16 yards. Ty Stoldt was 1-for-4 passing for nine yards and ran four times for seven yards. All told, Edinboro ran for 173 yards on 41 carries and had 416 yards of total offense.

ESU gained 417 yards, 215 pass and 202 rushing (second-most this season) on 32 carries. Deery had 106 yards on 11 carries, Williams gained 53 yards on 14 carries and Reed had 24 yards on two carries. Wagner hit eight different receivers and Tippett was the Warriors' second-leading receiver with three catches for 34 yards.


GAME NOTES
* Douds improved to 232-162-3 overall and is second among active Division II coaches in career wins. Ken Sparks of Carson-Newman finished the 2011 season with 299 career wins after suffering a 23-20 loss at Mars Hill on Saturday.
* Douds is 3rd among active college football coaches with 397 games coached and set the Division II record on Oct. 22 vs. Millersville. Douds trails only John Gagliardi (St. John's, Minn.) with 628 and Bob Ford (Albany) with 432. Joe Paterno, who was dismissed at Penn State on Wednesday, coached in 548 career games – tied for the major college record.

* The Warriors scored the game-winning TD in the final minute of the game for the 10th time in Douds career – and the 4th time with 0:00 on the clock. In 2002, Tim Strenfel caught a 30-yard pass from Jeremy Palm for a 23-21 win at Shippensburg; in 1990, Ken Kopetchny caught a 3-yard pass from Bret Comp for a 23-21 win at Bloomsburg; and in 1989, Frank Magolon caught a 4-yard pass from Tom Taylor for a 22-19 win at Central Connecticut.

* ESU's largest comeback was from 18 points down (28-10) in a 43-41 win at Southern Connecticut State in 1991. That was also the Warriors' largest fourth-quarter comeback.
* ESU came back from 17 down vs. California in 2006 (trailed 24-7, won 41-34) and vs. Millersville in 1975 (trailed 24-7, won 28-24) – Douds' 17th game on the sidelines.

* ESU came back from a 10-point deficit entering the 4th quarter (23-13) for the first time since winning 21-20 at Kutztown in 1990.
* The Warriors had lost 48 straight games when trailing by 10+ points entering the 4th quarter and are now 4-87 in those situations under Coach Douds.

* Wagner led Division II in passing and all divisions in total offense through 7 weeks in a memorable season – his only season as a starter for the Warriors.
* He finishes ranked 4th in school history with 3,226 passing yards and 5th with 3,377 yards of total offense. He is also 4th with 293.3 passing yards per game and 7th with 307.0 yards of total offense per game, despite playing just six quarters in the last three weeks due to injury.
* He ranks 6th at ESU with 211 completions in a season, 2nd with 396 attempts, and was sacked just four times. He carried 34 times for 151 yards and a TD.
* He became the first QB in PSAC history with consecutive 500-yard passing games on Oct. 8 and Oct. 15, throwing for 522 yards at No. 23 Kutztown and 503 yards vs. C.W. Post. He threw for 397 yards the previous week vs. No. 5 Bloomsburg and his 1,422 passing yards in three straight weeks were also the most in PSAC history.

* Wagner's TD pass to Reed was his only TD of the game and gives him 20 on the season, becoming the sixth ESU QB with 20 TD passes.
* He finishes two yards short of Mike Terwilliger for 10th in career passing yardage. Terwilliger, ESU's offensive coordinator and an assistant coach for the last 34 seasons, threw for 3,799 yards over four seasons (1974-77) and 35 games as a starter. Wagner threw for 3,797 yards – after entering this season with 571 career yards – and made 10 career starts.

* R-Sr. C Dan Caffrey made his 45th straight start and is the fourth Warrior to start every game of his career in the last eight seasons. He was 2nd team All-PSAC East last season and helped the Warriors lead Division II in fewest TFL allowed per game (3.2) entering Saturday (Edinboro had 3.0 TFL for a loss of 4 yards). The Warriors allowed just 10 sacks in 435 passes this season and only four sacks of Wagner.
* R-Sr. LT Zach Sarginger made his 33rd career start (29th straight) and 15th at left tackle in the last 17 games. He started at four different positions on the offensive line – both guard and both tackle spots – and was named to the Academic All-District team in 2009.

* Reed finishes the season as the Warriors' top receiver with 62 catches for 929 yards – both sophomore records – and 7 TDs. He is tied for 6th with Dennis McWhite (1994) with 62 receptions and is just outside the top 10 in single-season receiving yards
* Reed had four 100-yard games and four other games of 86, 94, 96 and 98 yards. He caught at least 7 passes in six of the Warriors' 11 games.

* R-Jr. WR Jordan Hallman, second in Division II with 24.9 yards per catch entering the game, had one catch for eight yards. He averaged 24.0 yards per catch this season, 4th in school history, with 35 catches for 854 yards and 6 TDs.

* Bleiler finished with 33 catches for 659 yards and 4 TDs. This is the 6th time in school history that three receivers had at least 600 receiving yards and 4th time in the last 8 years – 1984, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2011.

* Williams (1,405) and Reed (1,355) are 7th and 9th, respectively, in single-season all-purpose yards. Williams led the Warriors with 541 rushing yards, had 140 yards on 18 receptions and had 724 kick return yards, 2nd-most in school history.
* Reed had 929 receiving yards, 101 rushing yards on 13 carries, and 325 kick return yards.
* Williams moved into ESU's top 10 in career all-purpose yards on the opening kickoff and is 9th with 2,916 all-purpose yards through three seasons. He had his 16th career rushing TD, one away from ESU's top 10.

* Groff was 11-for-14 on field goals and 17-for-19 on extra points for 50 points this season after missing the first three games due to injury.
* He had his first miss from 40+ yards in the second quarter and was 6-for-7 from over 40 yards, tying the school record of 6 set by Joey Pingitore in 1983.
* Groff's 10 career field goals of 40+ yards rank 2nd behind Ed Detwiler, who made 12 from 1989-92.
* Groff is 27-for-35 on field goals in his career at 6-for-6 in the final minute of the first half.

* Fr. P Jordan Bair averaged 43.3 yards on 3 punts, including a career-long 53-yard punt in the 3rd quarter. Bair averaged 37.8 yards on 44 punts this season with 10 inside the 20 and just three touchbacks.

* Bergey had 110 tackles this season, including 65 solo, to join former ESU and Souderton teammate Matt Freed as recent Warriors with 100-tackle seasons. Freed had 126, 132 and 120 tackles from 2008-10 and was a Harlon Hill candidate last year.
* Bergey set his career-high in tackles in each of the last two games, with 15 at Shippensburg last week and 19 on Saturday. He finishes his career with 248 tackles in 45 games and 22 starts.

* Cave also set his career-high with 16 tackles and had 92 tackles this season and 256 in his career. He made his 35th career start, the most among members of the Warriors' defense.
* R-Sr. OLB Bryan Billger had 83 tackles and team-highs of 12.0 TFL and 5.0 sacks in his only season as a starter after playing behind Freed for three seasons.

* R-Sr. DT Rudy Cerami and Cody Berry finished their careers with 32 and 24 career starts, respectively. Cerami had 45 tackles (4.0 TFL) this season and Berry had 54 tackles (9.5 TFL) and 3.0 sacks, giving him 13.5 career sacks.
* R-Sr. DE Jon Weber made the 10th start of his career, all this season, and had had four tackles, giving him 31 on the season.

* R-Sr. CB Shawnte Carroll made his 34th career start and had two tackles, a pass breakup and the fumble recovery in the end zone on the last defensive play. He had six career interceptions and set school records with four interceptions in a game and two returns for TDs in the regular season finale in 2009.