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EAST STROUDSBURG – Redshirt sophomore quarterback Matt Soltes accounted for 536 yards of total offense in less than three quarters, throwing for 462 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 74, and East Stroudsburg University rolled up 696 total yards in a 52-28 win over Lock Haven on Homecoming Saturday at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

Senior kicker Taylor Groff set ESU's career record for points by a kicker with 295, surpassing the mark of 287 set by Mark Brubaker (2002-05) with a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter. Groff has 49 career field goals, one from the mark of 50 held by Ed Detwiler (1989-92).

Redshirt senior wide receiver Robert Bleiler had seven catches for 230 yards and two touchdowns, including an ESU record-tying 99-yard pass from Soltes midway through the third quarter. In 1990, Bret Comp threw a 99-yard TD to Ken Kopetchny in a 56-27 loss at Mansfield.

Redshirt sophomore Jon Schnaars had five catches for 118 yards, and sophomore Tim Wilson and junior Ray Dominguez added TD catches.

The Warriors improved to 6-3 (3-3 PSAC East) as they opened a three-game homestand to finish the season. They host Millersville next Saturday and Mercyhurst on November 16.

ESU head coach Denny Douds recorded his 243rd career win, breaking a tie with Mel Tjeerdsman (Northwest Missouri State) to move into sole possession of third on the DII all-time wins list. Douds was recgonized with ESU's "Great Teacher Award" at Friday night's Alumni Awards Banquet for his classroom service at ESU.  (Complete Release)

ESU gained 423 yards in the first half and had 658 yards through three quarters, leading 52-14 going into the fourth.

The Warriors ran for 234 yards in the game, led by redshirt freshman tailback Robert Healy's 89 yards on 16 carries. Junior tailback Gerald Van De Cruz had 14 carries for 75 yards and three touchdowns, all from one yard out.

Soltes was 18-for-28 passing in his 16th career start and had his third career game with 500 yards of total offense, second-most in PSAC history behind ESU's Damian Poalucci, who had four such games, all in the 1996 season. He gained 400 yards of total offense for the sixth time, and threw for 400 yards for the fourth time, also second behind Poalucci's seven games.

Soltes is the third QB in PSAC history with multiple 500+ yard games in a season, joining Poalucci (4 in 1996) and Shippensburg's Zach Zulli (2 in 2012). He was already the first underclassman (freshman/sophomore) with multiple career 500+ yard games.

Soltes also moved into second in PSAC history in career total offense by a player in his sophomore season with 6,407 yards, passing recent QB's Drew Folmar (Millersville) and Kevin Morton (Kutztown). ESU's Jimmy Terwilliger had 7,634 yards through two years (2003-04) on his way to an NCAA Division II record 16,064 career yards.

Caleb Walton was 20-for-40 for 255 yards and four touchdowns for Lock Haven (3-6, 2-4). James Wilbern (7 catches, 87 yards, TD) and Jesse Hoover (5 catches, 85 yards, TD) were the top targets, and Brandon Brader ran for 121 yards on 19 carries.

ESU led 10-7 after the first quarter – Van De Cruz capped a 76-yard drive with a one-yard run, and Groff connected on a 37-yard field goal – before erupting for 28 points in the second quarter for a 38-14 halftime lead.

Soltes threw three TD passes in the second quarter – 30 yards to Dominguez, 28 yards to Bleiler and 11 yards to Wilson – as the Warriors gained 296 yards in the period.

ESU's second-quarter scoring drives covered 87 yards (Van De Cruz one-yard TD run), 55 yards, 75 yards and 64 yards.

The Warriors had two 90+ yard TD drives in the third quarter to cap their scoring – leading 52-14 with 7:11 left in the period.

They went 96 yards in nine plays, capped by Van De Cruz's third TD run, and 99 yards in one play – Soltes' TD pass to Bleiler which tied the school record.

All told, the Warriors gained 531 yards on 41 plays spanning the second and third quarters – with Soltes going 15-for-21 for 401 yards and 4 TD.

ESU averaged 10.2 yards per play (696 yards on 68 plays) for the afternoon and had another turnover-free game. The Warriors have just seven turnovers in nine games while forcing 20 takeaways, including two Saturday.

Sophomore cornerback Teron Dobbs had his fourth interception of the season, and seventh in 17 career starts. Freshman free safety Dean Vitale had a forced fumble that was recovered by redshirt junior safety Anthony Singlar in the second quarter.

Redshirt junior defensive end Brandon Gattelli had two sacks, giving him six this season and 14 in his career. Redshirt junior defensive tackles Bryan Thomson and Jon Noble also had sacks – Thomson had 3.5 in a 43-26 win at Kutztown last week to earn the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week award.

Redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Kaje Cowans and junior linebacker Cody Simcox both had a team-high eight tackles.


GAME NOTES
* ESU won on Homecoming for the 2nd straight year. The Warriors are 25-15 in 40 Homecoming games under head coach Denny Douds.

* Douds coached his 416th career game, extending his DII record, and moved into sole possession of 3rd on the DII wins list with 243. He passed Mel Tjeerdsma (Austin, NW Missouri State), who he tied last week at Kutztown.
* Douds is 243-170-3 in 40 seasons as head coach at ESU.

* The top 3 kickers in career scoring in PSAC history are all active kickers in the PSAC East in Bloomsburg's Danny Fisher (342), West Chester's Shawn Leo (303) and ESU's Taylor Groff (295).
* Mark Brubaker's 287 points from 2002-05 were the PSAC record prior to this season.
* Groff ranks 3rd in total points in ESU history behind Anthony Carfagno (402, 2002-05) and Evan Prall (320, 2003-06).

* Groff is one field goal from the career record of 50 held by Ed Detwiler (1989-92). He has made 5 straight field goals to improve to 7-for-14 (opened season 2-for-9).
* Groff currently holds ESU's career record at 68.1 percent (49-for-72), surpassing Brubaker's 67.2 percent (39-for-58).

* ESU went over 500 yards of total offense (696) for the 7th time in 8 games – the first time the offense has accomplished that in school history. They had a streak of 6 times in 7 games in 2004.
* The Warriors are averaging 534.1 yards per game –the school record of 509.1 ypg was set in 1996.
* ESU was 13th in DII in total offense (513.9 ypg) entering the game, and 12th in passing (320.6 ypg). The Warriors are now averaging 336.3 ypg passing.

* In 16 career starts, Soltes has 9 games with 300+ passing yards, and 12 games with 300+ yards of total offense.
* Soltes has 6 games with 400 yards of total offense, and 4 games with 400 passing yards.
* He has 3 games with 500 yards of total offense – 666 (535 passing, 131 rushing) at LIU Post last year, a PSAC and NCAA all-division freshman record – 542 (476 passing, 66 rushing) vs. Bloomsburg two weeks ago – and 536 (462 passing, 74 rushing) against Lock Haven.

* ESU's Damian Poalucci (4, all in 1996) is the only other PSAC quarterback with 3+ games of 500 total yards.
* ESU QB's have 11 of the 17 games with 500+ total yards in PSAC history.
* Soltes is the 3rd QB in PSAC history with multiple 500+ yard games in a season, joining Poalucci (4 in 1996) and Shippensburg's Zach Zulli (2 in 2012). He was already the first underclassman (freshman/sophomore) with multiple career 500+ yard games.

* Soltes has 6,407 career yards of total offense (3158 + 3249) – the 2nd-most by a sophomore in PSAC history. Jimmy Terwilliger had 7,634 yards in 2003 and 2004 (16,064 career).  Kutztown's Kevin Morton (6,039, 2009-10) and Edinboro's Trevor Harris (6,011, 2006-07) now rank 3rd and 4th.

* Soltes stands 4th on the list of passing yards by a PSAC QB through his sophomore year – Terwilliger 6,813, Trevor Harris 6,175, Kevin Morton 5,554, Soltes 5,448.  Gannon's Liam Nadler currently has 5,225 passing yards.

* Soltes has 28 TD passes and 3 interceptions this season. He is 181-for-297 (60.9%) for 2,826 yards, and has 82 carries for 423 yards and 2 TD.
* Soltes was 12th in DII in total offense per game (339.1 ypg) entering the day. He is averaging 361.0 ypg after posting 536 yards Saturday.

* Soltes ranks 6th on ESU's career total offense list with 6,407 yards. Bret Comp (1989-92) is 5th with 6,774.
* Soltes is 7th on ESU's career passing list with 5,448 yards, passing Bill Dukett (5,197 – 1967-69). Andy Baranek (1982-84) is 6th with 5,533 yards.
* Soltes is 6th on ESU's career passing TD list with 49. Comp is 5th with 50.
* Soltes is 7th on ESU's TD responsible for list with 53. Dukett is 6th with 54, and Comp is 5th with 55.

* Bleiler's 230 receiving yards are tied for the 4th-most in school history with John Kotarsky, who had 230 yards at Mansfield in 1999.

* Bleiler has 2 of the 3 longest receiving plays in school history. He had a 97-yard TD from Ray Wagner vs. Pace in 2001 season opener.
* Bleiler is the only receiver in PSAC history with 2 career receptions of 95+ yards.

* ESU has 8 pass plays of 90+ yards in school history, thrown by 8 different quarterbacks – but not Jimmy Terwilliger, who set the DII record with 14,350 career passing yards.

* Bleiler ranks in ESU's single-season top 10 in catches (59 – 10th), yards (1,034 – 7th) and TD (10 – t-9th) after his big performance on Saturday.
* He had his 5th 100-yard game of the season, and the 8th of his career. Only Evan Prall and Tim Strenfel have had 6+ 100-yard games in a season, which Bleiler will attempt to reach the next 2 weeks.

* Bleiler moved into 5th at ESU in career receiving yards (2,449), passing Anthony Carfagno (2,425 – 2002-05) and John Kotarsky (2,224 – 1998-01).
* He ranks 8th in career receptions (141) and tied for 8th with 18 TD.

* Schnaars had his 2nd 100-yard receiving game of the season, and the 3rd of his career. He has 43 catches for 582 yards and 5 TD during a breakout season.

* Healy moved into ESU's single-season top 10 in rushing yards with 905.  He remains 2nd on the freshman list behind Stewart Ford's 1,109 yards in 1997.
* Healy can put together the 7th 1,000-yard rushing season in school history (and become the 6th 1,000-yard back).

* Healy has 1,073 yards from scrimmage (905 rushing, 168 receiving). Ford had 1,222 yards in 1997 (1,109 rushing, 113 receiving) – also the 4th-highest single season in school history.

* Van De Cruz is the first ESU player with 3 rushing TD since Kendrick Williams had 3 vs. Cheyney in 2010.

* Two Warriors made their first career starts in R-Fr. OL Jordan Jones at right guard, and R-So. OLB Jamyl Aminu. They are the 14th and 15th Warriors to make their first career starts this season.

* ESU is projected to have 18 returning starters entering the 2014 season, losing 3 on offense (Bleiler, R-Sr. FB Thomas Tippett, R-Sr. C Greg Blue) and 1 on defense (Sr. OLB Darius Jackson). The Warriors will also lose Groff at kicker, and return Jordan Bair for his senior year at punter.