LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- Holding a 31-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the East Stroudsburg University football team put the game away with a pair of touchdown drives in the final quarter to pick up a 45-21 win in the PSAC East opener against Lock Haven on Saturday night at Hubert Jack Stadium.
ESU improves to 3-1 and 1-0 during PSAC East play, while the Bald Eagles fall to 1-4 and 0-1 in league action.
In his second career start, quarterback
Matt DeLaurentis completed 19-26 passes for 276 yards and four touchdowns. His four touchdowns went to four different receivers, finding
Elie Lavarin (31-yd touchdown), fullback
David Akinwande (6-yd touchdown), tight end
Dawson Stuart (14-yd touchdown) and
Clifford Brinkley (8-yd touchdown) for scores. He completed passes to eight different Warriors and extended ESU's interception-less streak to 175 pass attempts and six full games.
PSAC leading rusher entering the day,
Gunner Anglovich rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.4 yards per carry on 16 carries.
Tyriq Lewis supplemented the rushing attack with 56 yards on nine carries.
Rece Bender set an ESU program-record with a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown during the first quarter, posting 206 all-purpose yards with six catches for 81 yards and a total of 125 kick-return yards.
James Cherry led the Warriors with 83 receiving yards on four catches including a 27-yard reception. Lavarin pulled in a pair of passes including the impressive 31-yard touchdown.
Defensively, free safety
Tyler Watson continued to wreak havoc, forcing and recovering a fumble which helped spark the ESU offense. He totaled six tackles and also broke up a pass.
Linebacker
Paul Carreras led the Warriors with eight tackles, a half sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Deshawn McCarthy got home on 1.5 sacks. The Philadelphia native now has 6 sacks on the season and 12 sacks for his career.
Jesse White and
Albert Gayle also contributed a sack each.
The Warriors began the contest strong on both ends of the field, forcing a three-and-out and capitalized on good field position. ESU converted a 3rd and 16 on the opening drive, with DeLaurentis finding Bender for the first connection of the day for 17 yards. Anglovich would pick up the remaining 19 yards on three rushes, finding the end zone from two yards out.
After a second quick LHU drive, ESU would quickly extend its lead. DeLaurentis would find Akinwande for a gain of 19 before connecting with Lavarin for a 31-yard touchdown for his first career touchdown.
The Bald Eagles would strong together an 11-play, 75-yard drive with QB Ethan Persa finding the end zone on a two-yard rush to put LHU on the scoreboard and cutting the ESU lead to 14-7.
Bender's school record 99-yard kickoff would follow, as the Lancaster native would find space on the impressive return. The return broke the previous ESU record of 98 yards, set by Dick Merring against Mansfield in 1956 and matched in 1998 by Matt Kacanda against Bloomsburg. The kickoff return is the second of the career, previously bring back a 95-yard touchdown against Clarion in the 2019 finale. He is now the owner of two of the five longest kickoff returns in Warrior history.
LHU would be forced to punt on its next possession to open the second quarter. On 3rd and 16, DeLaurentis would find
Dawson Stuart for a 15-yard gain. On 4th and 1, ESU used some trickery, with tight end and former ESU quarterback Stuart taking the snap and finding freshman
John Siggins for a first down after a 16-yard gain. The completion and reception from Stuart and Siggins were both the first of their careers.
An Anglovich scamper of 24 yards and a Bender reception of 20 yards would setup the DeLaurentis-to-Akinwande connection for his first touchdown of the season from the six-yard line. The touchdown is the second of his career, with his first coming at Hubert Jack Stadium against Lock Have during the 2019 season.
With ESU leading 28-7, the Bald Eagles would battle back and gain momentum to end the first half. A 46-yard kickoff return from LHU would provide good field position, as a 17-yard and 22 yard rush from Dante Graham would cut the Warriors lead to 28-14.
ESU would punt on three-and-out on the following drive. The Warriors defense responded and forced a turnover on downs. Gaining possession in near midfield, DeLaurentis would find Cherry for a gain of 27 yards to set up a
Devin Bartholomew 37-yard field goal attempt. The sophomore converted his second field goal of the season, to lift ESU to a 31-14 advantage.
Another solid LHU kickoff return would setup the Bald Eagles with good field position near midfield with 33 seconds remaining in the half. Ethan Persa would complete a 21-yard first down pass and would take advantage of three ESU penalties, as LHU would score a touchdown late to cut the ESU lead to just 10 at 31-21 to end the first half.
The third quarter would feature no points, and a combined four punts. ESU began its final drive of the quarter at the 2:51 mark and moved the ball with three first downs via accurate passing from DeLaurentis. DeLaurentis, a native of East Norriton, completed 6-6 passes on the drive which ended with a 12-yard strike to Stuart, who caught the ball in the back of the end zone and added style points with a hurdle over a barrier to extend the Warrior lead to 38-21.
ESU took full control on the following defensive drive, with Watson forcing and recovering a fumble on the second Bald Eagle play of the drive to setup the Warriors with short field position on ESU's 42-yard line.
DeLaurentis continued his hot streak, completing a 27-yard pass to Cherry. Lewis followed with an impressive rush of 23 yards. On the LHU 8-yard line, DeLaurentis completed his success night with an touchdown to Brinkley. He ended his night with eight consecutive completions. ESU grabbed a 45-21 lead with the score.
The next three drives of the contest would result in punts. With 4:58 remaining, sophomore
Aaron Tobias took over duties under center. The local from nearby Centre Hall, Pa. was unable to complete his two attempts, as Lewis would run out the clock with 26 yards of rushing on the final drive of the game.
The Warriors close out the two-game road trip at Kutztown (3-1, 1-0 PSAC East) on Sat., October 2. Kickoff at Andre Reed Stadium is slated for 12:05 p.m. The Golden Bears are coming off a 37-29 upset of No. 10 Shepherd.
