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CHEYNEY - R-So. QB Matt Soltes accounted for 419 total yards and four touchdowns, throwing three touchdown passes to R-Jr. TE Steven Jones, as East Stroudsburg University improved to 3-1 (1-1 PSAC East) with a 40-6 win over Cheyney on Saturday at O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium.

Soltes was 19-for-33 for 387 yards and three touchdowns, and added nine carries for 32 yards and a fourth-quarter TD, as the Warriors finished a three-game road trip and return to Eiler-Martin Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff with Clarion next Saturday. ESU fell at Shippensburg last week in its PSAC East opener, 41-31.

Jones had four catches for 144 yards and three TD, scoring on his first three receptions, to become the first ESU tight end with three TD under 40th-year head coach Denny Douds. His 144 yards are third-most by a tight end since 1974, and he was the first with a 100-yard game since 1991.

Jones scored on an 80-yard catch-and-run to put ESU ahead 14-0 midway through the first quarter, had a 53-yard TD midway through the second quarter, and caught a three-yard TD from Soltes in the third quarter to give ESU a 33-6 advantage.

R-Sr. WR Robert Bleiler had seven catches for 154 yards for his second straight 100-yard game and the fifth of his career. R-So. WR Jon Schnaars had a career-high six catches for 56 yards, and So. WR Gerard Wendowski had four catches for 71 yards, both career-highs.

ESU outgained Cheyney, 538-251, compiling 430 yards through the air (R-Sr. QB Nate Daniels was 3-for-7 for 43 yards) and 108 yards on 29 carries on the ground. R-Fr. TB Robert Healy, Division II's top freshman rusher with 130.3 yards per game, had 11 carries for 36 yards.

R-Sr. FB Thomas Tippett scored on a pair of one-yard runs on his only carries of the day.

The Warriors defense had three takeaways, on interceptions by R-Jr. CB Konrad Mims and Sr. OLB Darius Jackson, and a fumble recovery by R-Jr. DE Sam Trunzo.

Cheyney ran 60 plays, gaining 88 yards on 39 carries and going 11-for-21 for 163 yards and two interceptions through the air. ESU had 10 tackles for a loss and one sack, and the Wolves were just 1-for-3 in the red zone with a touchdown, interception and turnover on downs.

ESU scored touchdowns on four of its seven first-half possessions to lead 27-6 at the break.

Tippet capped a six-play, 75-yard drive - which started with a 43-yard pass from Soltes to Bleiler - with a one-yard run at the 8:45 mark of the first quarter.  Mims' first career interception came on Cheyney's first pass attempt after ESU had just its second turnover of the season on its opening possession.

After a Cheyney punt put the Warriors on the 20, Soltes and Jones hooked up for the first of their three touchdowns on the first play from scrimmage. Jones caught a short pass over the middle and split the Cheyney safeties, with an escort from Bleiler, for the longest pass play of his career and the longest scoring play by an ESU tight end since Ernie Siegrist went 80 yards at West Chester in 1984.

The Warriors led 14-0 with 5:54 left in the first quarter, then scored again with 7:26 left in the second as Jones caught a 53-yard TD pass from Soltes as part of an eight-play, 90-yard drive.

Cheyney's Nahum Purdie scored on a nine-yard run, finishing an eight-play, 71-yard drive, but R-Jr. DT Bryan Thomson blocked the extra point to keep the score at 21-6.

A three-and-out and a short punt set the offense up at the Cheyney 25 with 1:10 left in the half, and Tippett scored on a one-yard run on third-and-goal with one second left for a 27-6 halftime lead. The extra point by Sr. K Taylor Groff went wide, ending a streak of 77 consecutive makes since late in the 2011 season.

ESU had the only two scoring plays of the second half, as Jones caught a three-yard TD from Soltes after Trunzo recovered a fumble at the 34. Soltes had a six-yard TD run to complete an 11-play, 80-yard drive early in the fourth quarter.

Soltes' 419 total yards are the third-most of his career, behind a PSAC and NCAA freshman record 666 yards (535 passing, 131 rushing) at LIU Post last October, and 463 yards (394 passing, 69 rushing) at Mercyhurst in the season finale last year.

Through four games, Soltes is 74-for-144 for 1,049 yards (262.2 per game), 11 touchdowns and one interception, and has run for 220 yards and two TD on 41 carries. He has a stretch of 139 passes without an interception going back to the first quarter of the season opener vs. AIC, the second-longest stretch by an ESU quarterback in 40 years.

Jr. LB Cody Simcox and Fr. FS Dean Vitale led the ESU defense with eight tackles. R-Jr. S Anthony Singlar had seven, including two for a loss of yardage. Thomson, the reigning PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year, had the Warriors' only sack.


GAME NOTES
* ESU extended its winning streak against Cheyney to 34 games, an NCAA all-division record for consecutive wins in an uninterrupted series. The Warriors have a 57-1 advantage in the all-time series with Cheyney's only win coming in 1979 (7-3).

* ESU has 11 takeaways and just 2 giveaways for a +9 turnover differential through 4 games. ESU was tied for the DII lead with a +2.3 margin per game entering Saturday's game.
* ESU was 2nd in DII in time of possession (36:30 per game) but had the ball for just 26:35, despite running 9 more plays (69-60).

* Jones' 144 yards are the 3rd-most by an ESU tight end in 40 years under head coach Denny Douds. Ernie Siegrist had 192 yards (11 catches) in 1982 at Millersville, and 170 yards (8 catches) in 1984 vs. Edinboro.
* Jones averaged 36.0 yards per catch. That's the 4th-highest average in the last 40 years with a minimum of 4 receptions - Evan Prall (2005 at CW Post - 51.75, 4 for 207), Jordan Hallman (2011 vs. CW Post - 47.8, 5 for 239) and Tim Strenfel (2005 at Cheyney - 39.0, 4 for 156).

* Going back to the final 3 games of the 2012 season, Jones has 21 catches for 396 yards and 10 TD in his last 7 games. He had 10 catches for 135 yards and 5 TD in the last 3 games a year ago, and has 11 catches for 261 yards and 5 TD this year.

* Ernie Siegrist had two 50+ yard TD catches in 1984 - 80 at West Chester and 53 vs. Edinboro, both from Andy Baranek.
* Jones' first 2 TD on Saturday covered 80 and 53 yards.

* Bleiler's 154 receiving yards are 2nd-most in his career, behind a 172-yard game against Pace in the 2011 season opener. He had 153 yards at Kutztown in 2011.
* Bleiler moved into a tie for 18th on ESU's career receptions list (107), and 17th on ESU's career yardage list (1,799). He had his 100th career catch last week with 9 catches for 115 yards and 2 TD at Shippensburg.

* Soltes was 4-for-5 for 155 yards and a TD in the first quarter. His 155 yards are his most in an opening quarter in 11 career starts. He was 6-for-12 for 153 yards and a TD in the first quarter in last year's season finale at Mercyhurst.
* Soltes had 304 yards of total offense in the first half, going 8-for-17 for 262 yards and 2 TD passing, and rushing 7 times for 32 yards.
* ESU gained 333 yards on 35 plays in the first half - 262 passing, and 71 rushing on 18 carries.

* Soltes' 11-to-1 TD to interception ratio through 4 games is ESU's best since Jeremy Palm had an 11-to-1 ratio in 2001.
* ESU's best 4-game stretch at any point of a season came from Jimmy Terwilliger (17-to-1 in 2005, games 9-12).

* Soltes moved into 8th on ESU's career total offense list with 4,427 yards (3,671 passing, 756 rushing) in 14 games, including 11 starts.
* He moved into a tie for 10th on the career pass TD list with 32, matching Tim Roken (2007-08).
* He is 128 yards from passing Mike Terwilliger, in his 36th year as ESU's quarterbacks coach, for career passing yardage. Terwilliger threw for 3,799 yards from 1974-77 (35 starts).

* Soltes had 400 yards of total offense (419) for the 3rd time in his career.  He is 3rd on ESU's 400-yard list behind Jimmy Terwilliger (11 400-yard games) and Damian Poalucci (7).
* Soltes has posted 350+ yards of total offense in 7 of his 11 career starts. He has had 300+ yards in 8 of 11 starts. He had 376 yards (259 passing, 117 rushing) last week at Shippensburg.
* Soltes has thrown 139 passes without an interception, the 2nd-longest stretch by an ESU QB in 40 years under head coach Denny Douds. Jimmy Terwilliger had a stretch of 170 passes spanning the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

* Tippett scored his 8th and 9th career rushing TD's, all from 1 yard out. He also had a receiving TD last year vs. Cheyney covering 49 yards.

* R-Sr. QB Nate Daniels went over 1,000 career yards passing, with 1,012 yards. He is 56-for-107 with 9 TD and 5 Int. after going 3-for-7 for 43 yards.

* Jr. P Jordan Bair had a career-long 55-yard punt to pin Cheyney at its 1-yard line on ESU's first possession of the 3rd quarter.

* Groff's missed field goal in the 4th quarter ended a streak of 43 straight conversions in goal-to-go situations since the middle of the 2011 season (39 TD, 4 FG).
* Groff moved into 5th at ESU in career points (256), and 3rd in points by a kicker. He is 31 points from the kicking record of 287 points set by Mark Brubaker (2002-05). Ed Detwiler (1989-92) is 2nd with 262.

* ESU is holding opponents to 17.0 points and 302.8 yards per game - including just 105.2 yards on the ground (3.2 yards per carry).
* Cheyney had the PSAC's 8th-ranked rushing offense with 174.3 yards per game, but had just 88 yards on 39 carries (2.3 avg) on Saturday.
* Last year, the Warriors allowed 35.9 points and 452.8 yards per game.

* Thomson extended his school record for career blocked kicks to 10 after blocking his 7th career PAT. He tied the single-season record with 6 blocks last year (3 PAT, 3 FG). He has 2 blocks this year, both extra points, and set the career record with a blocked PAT last week at Shippensburg.

* Fr. OLB Corbyn Nyemah made his first career start. He is the 12th Warrior to make his first career start this season, and the 2nd true freshman starter, joining FS Dean Vitale.

* ESU is outscoring its opponents by at least 19 points in all 4 quarters this year - 54-20 in the 1st, 39-20 in the 2nd, 20-0 in the 3rd and 49-28 in the 4th.

* ESU head coach Denny Douds, in his 40th season, improves to 240-168-3 in 411 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 2 wins away from tying Mel Tjeerdsma (NW Missouri State) for 3rd on the DII list, and Tjeerdsma and Jerry Moore (Appalachian State) on the all-time list with 242 career wins.