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EAST STROUDSBURG - R-So. QB Matt Soltes broke his own school record for completion percentage, going 29-for-34 (85.3%) for 444 yards and four touchdowns, to lead East Stroudsburg University to a 48-28 win over Clarion in PSAC crossover football on Saturday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
 
Soltes guided an offense that rolled up 692 yards, sixth-most in school history, and tied a school record with 36 first downs.  He also broke a school record with 173 consecutive passes without an interception, breaking the mark of 170 held by Jimmy Terwilliger (2005-06). Soltes has thrown for 15 touchdowns and one interception through five games for ESU (4-1).
 
R-Fr. TB Robert Healy ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. R-Sr. WR Robert Bleiler (8 catches, 130 yards, 2 TD), R-So. WR Jon Schnaars (9 catches, 124 yards), R-Sr. FB Thomas Tippett (5 catches, 78 yards, 1 TD) and R-Jr. TE Steven Jones (4 catches, 77 yards, 1 TD) were Soltes' top targets.
 
The Warriors limited Clarion to 377 yards, with two of the Golden Eagles' four touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter.
 
ESU scored touchdowns on seven of its first eight possessions in opening a 35-7 halftime lead, and 42-14 lead after three quarters. The Warriors tied a school record with 36 first downs, including 26 in the first half.

All seven of the Warriors' TD drives covered at least 64 yards - including four of 80+ yards and three of 90+ yards. Soltes was 23-for-28 for 357 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, the second-most passing yards in a half in school history.

ESU received the opening kickoff and went 71 yards in six plays to set the tone, capped by a 14-yard run by Healy for the first of his two touchdowns.

Clarion's only stop came on the Warriors' second drive, when defensive end Julian Howsare blocked a punt and the Golden Eagles covered the remaining 36 yards in six plays. Quarterback Darelle Carson (10-for-23, 188 yards, 1 Int.; 15 carries, 84 yards) scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns from three yards out.

From there, the Warriors rolled off four TD drives to end the half, while Clarion ran 19 plays for 55 yards, resulting in three punts and a missed field goal.

Soltes threw for all 75 yards on a four play drive that put the Warriors ahead, hitting Schnaars for eight yards, Tippett for 30 and Bleiler for 37 yards and the touchdown for a 14-7 lead with 2:46 left in the first quarter.

ESU then went 97 yards in nine plays, moving off its goal line with passes of 15 yards to Schnaars and 33 yards to Bleiler, before Healy scored on a 12-yard run for a 21-7 lead with 11:13 left in the opening half.

Soltes was 3-for-3 for 63 yards on the next march - hitting Schnaars for 16 yards, Tippett for 13 and Bleiler for 34 - and Jr. TB Gerald Van De Cruz punched it in from the one-yard line as the Warriors led 28-7 with 7:59 remaining in the second quarter.

The dagger was a 15-play, 93-yard drive that erased 3:58 off the clock and finished with a seven-yard TD pass from Soltes to Bleiler, their second of the night. ESU was 4-for-5 on third downs in the first half, including 3-for-3 on the drive which made it 35-7 with 56 seconds left in the half.

In the second half, the Warriors drove 93 yards in 11 plays on their first possession, taking 6:17 off the clock, and Soltes threw a 12-yard TD pass to Jones - giving him 11 TD in his last eight games after catching three TD passes last week in a 40-6 win at Cheyney.

Soltes' final drive was a nine play, 82-yard venture that closed with a three-yard TD pass to Tippett, his 11th career TD and second receiving TD.

The Warriors' defense forced two turnovers, a forced fumble by R-Jr. DL Bryan Thomson (recovered by R-Jr. S Anthony Singlar) and an interception by Fr. FS Dean Vitale, his third of the season.

ESU, tied for second in Division II in turnover margin entering the game at +2.3 (11 takeaways, 2 giveaways) is now +10 in turnovers for the year (13-3) through five games.

The Warriors held the ball for 36:25, above their season average of 34:01 which ranked second in the PSAC and 10th in DII coming into the week.

ESU ran for 229 yards on 43 carries (Healy 14-132, 2 TD; Van De Cruz 15-46; Soltes 10-37; Bleiler 1-17). R-Sr. QB Nate Daniels was 2-for-6 for 19 yards in relief of Soltes.
 
The Warriors head to undefeated West Chester (5-0) next Saturday.


GAME NOTES
* Soltes' completion percentage of 85.3 (29-for-34) tops his previous school record of 81.1 (30-for-37) in a 35-28 over West Chester last year.
* Soltes' 444 yards passing rank 11th in school history and 2nd in his career. He threw for 535 yards, #3 on ESU's list, last year.
* Soltes' 481 yards of total offense rank 12th in school history and 2nd in his career. He had 666 yards at LIU Post, a PSAC record and NCAA all-division freshman record.
* He has an active streak of 173 passes without an interception, breaking Jimmy Terwilliger's school record of 170 spanning the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The PSAC record is believed to be 200, set last year by Shippensburg's Zach Zulli.

* Soltes is averaging 350.0 yards of total offense per game this season. He is 103-for-178 for 1,493 yards (298.6 per game), 15 TD and 1 interception, and has run for 257 yards and 2 TD on 51 carries. Soltes was the top rusher among PSAC QB's entering the week.

* Soltes made his 12th career start. He has had 350+ yards of total offense in 8 games, and 300+ yards in 9 games.
* Soltes had 318 yards (256 passing, 62 rushing) in a 31-27 loss at Clarion last year in his first career start.
* In his 12 starts, Soltes has 4,569 yards of total offense (380.8 per game) - 3,830 passing (319.2) and 739 rushing (61.6).

* Soltes moved into 9th in school history in career passing yards with 4,115.  He passed Tim Roken (3,993 - 2007-08) and Mike Terwilliger (3,799 - 1974-77), ESU's offensive coordinator in his 36th season as an assistant coach. Terwilliger made 35 career starts.
* Soltes is also 9th in total offense with 4,908 career yards. Next up is Andy Baranek, who had 5,228 yards from 1982-84.
* Soltes moved into a tie for 8th in career TD passes with 36, matching the total of James Franklin (1991-94), a two-year starter and currently in his third season as head coach at Vanderbilt.

* Soltes' first half passing yardage (23-for-28, 357 yards, 2 TD) is 2nd-most in a half in school history.  Ray Wagner was 13-for-20 for 375 yards and 6 TD in the first half of the 2011 season opener vs. Pace (his first career start).

* Soltes had 419 yards of total offense last week at Cheyney, and 481 vs. Clarion.  This marks the 6th time an ESU QB has had consecutive 400-yard games: Ray Wagner, 2011 (544 at Kutztown, 497 vs. C.W. Post); Tim Roken, 2008 (435 at Clarion, 424 vs. Shippensburg); Jimmy Terwilliger, 2004 (408 vs. West Chester, 409 vs. Cheyney); Damian Poalucci, 1996 (542 at New Haven, 483 vs. Southern Connecticut - and 545 vs. Cheyney, 597 at Mansfield).

* Healy had his 3rd career 100-yard game in 5 games. He also had 189 yards at Shippensburg, and 111 yards at Seton Hill.
* Healy has run for 559 yards on 83 carries (6.7 avg) and 4 TD. He ranks 4th on ESU's freshman rushing list behind Stewart Ford (1,109 - 1997), Henry Mowery (624 - 1961) and Elroy Denegal (580 - 1987). Soltes ran for 536 yards as a redshirt freshman last year.

* Bleiler had his 3rd straight 100-yard game, with 115 yards (career-high 9 catches) at Shippensburg, 154 yards (7 catches) at Cheyney and 130 yards (8 catches) vs. Clarion. Bleiler has 24 catches for 399 yards and 4 TD in the last 3 games.
* Bleiler was 4th in the PSAC with 96.0 yards per game entering Saturday night. He has 33 catches for 514 yards and 5 TD this year, an average of 102.8 yards per game.
* He moved into 13th at ESU in career receiving yards (1,929) and 17th in receptions (115).

* Schnaars set a career-high with 9 catches, and tied his career-high with 124 yards. He also had 124 yards as a redshirt freshman last year at LIU Post, as Soltes set the PSAC record for total offense (666 yards) and ESU set the PSAC record for offense (828 yards).
* Schnaars has 25 catches for 278 yards and 2 TD this year.

* Jones was the first ESU tight end with 3 TD in a game last week at Cheyney (4 catches, 144 yards).
* In his last 8 games, Jones has 25 catches for 473 yards and 11 TD. He has 14 career TD, most ever by an ESU tight end.

* Tippett had career-highs with 4 catches for 78 yards, and had his 2nd career receiving TD. He has 9 career rushing TD, all from the 1-yard line, including 2 last week at Cheyney.

* ESU's only games with more than 692 yards of total offense: 828 at LIU Post in 2012, 736 at New Haven in 1996, 712 vs. SCSU in the 2005 NCAA Playoffs, 705 vs. Bloomsburg in 1968, and 798 at Mansfield in 1996.

* ESU was 4th in the PSAC and 18th in Division II in total offense with 505.2 yards per game entering the week.
* The Warriors are averaging 542.6 yards per game (312.8 passing, 229.8 rushing) after Saturday's performance.

* R-Sr. C Greg Blue made his 33rd career start and 22nd consecutive, both the most among current Warriors.
* R-Jr. DE Brandon Gattelli made his 23rd career start and 18th consecutive, both the most on the defense.

* Clarion was 3-for-11 on 3rd downs. ESU was tied for 10th in DII in 3rd down defense (25.0 percent, 13-for-52) coming into the week.
* Clarion was 3-for-9 on 3rd-and-long (5+ yards). ESU opponents are 8-for-46 (17.4 percent) on 3rd-and-long this year, and 16-for-63 (25.4 percent) overall.

* Sr. K Taylor Groff moved into a tie for 2nd on ESU's career list for points by a kicker with 262 points, matching the total of Ed Detwiler (1989-92). He is tied for 4th with Detwiler on ESU's overall points list.

* ESU head coach Denny Douds, his 40th season, improves to 241-168-3 in 412 games. Douds is 2nd among active coaches in games coached and 4th in wins.
* He ranks 4th in Division II and 25th in college football history in career wins, and is 1 win away from tying Mel Tjeerdsma (NW Missouri State) for 3rd on the DII list, and Tjeerdsma and Jerry Moore (Appalachian State) for 23rd on the all-time list with 242 career wins.