BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University football team got back to its winning ways with an exciting 27-21 victory over Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon at Redman Stadium.
The Warriors (3-5, 2-3 PSAC East) put a halt to its three-game skid with the win, while the Huskies (3-5, 2-3) drop its Homecoming matchup.
Holding possession with 5:08 to go, Bloomsburg drove down the field in hopes of scoring the potential game-winning touchdown. A 3rd and 5 at the ESU 12-yd line resulted in a fresh set of downs after a pass interference call. The Huskies had four attempts to get into the end zone from the two-yd line, but the Warrior defense was up to the challenge and forced the goal-line stand with the game on the line.
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Notables
- ESU's defense was suffocating in the first half, allowing just 55 yards on 11 plays.
- Tahir Mills posted a career-game, with the freshman accounting for 116 yards and a 37-yd touchdown. A total of 99 yards came in the first half.
- Â 14 of Bloomsburg's points came via special teams, with a long fumble return of a fake field goal attempts along with a blocked punt in the end zone that was recovered by Bloomsburg.
- Jake Cirillo tossed 13 completions on 25 attempts for 142 yards on the day. Ezequiel Lopez led the receivers with five receptions for an even 50 yards.
- Freshman Justin Cook tied a Warrior program record with a 100-yd kickoff return, shattering Rece Bender's 99-yd kickoff return record against Lock Haven a season ago.
- Defensively, Sergei Felizor had another impressive performance with 13 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. He has now totaled 40 tackles over his past three games and leads ESU with 77 on the season. Jahan Worth, Malachi Bowman and Noah Hambrick each added five plus tackles. Bowman was recorded a forced fumble.
- 2021 AFCA All-American Deshawn McCarthy registered a sack and four tackles.
- Adewale Obayanju led the quad with two passes defended.
- Bloomsburg was led offensively by KJ Riley who totaled 181 passing yards (13-21, 1 TD 0 INT) and 62 yards rushing. Nas Jones led the Huskies in receiving yards with 62 on five catches. John Ayres found the end zone with a 39-yd touchdown on his lone reception. Chris Monaco returned a 59-yd fumble return  for a touchdown, while Owen Anderson blocked and recovered a punt in the endzone. Â
- The win marks the first time ESU has defeated Bloomsburg in consecutive seasons since 1992-93, when ESU and Bloomsburg met at a neutral site in Moosic's Lackawanna County Stadium.
How it Happened
- ESU struck first on its first possession. Mills found room on a 37-yd yard rushing touchdown to set momentum in favor of ESU.
- The Warrior defense forced a punt, and looked to go-ahead by 10 points with a field goal attempt. A fake field goal attempt would result in a fumble, as Monaco took the ball 59-yards to tie the game.
- On its next drive, Cirillo was able to find the end zone from a yard out to put the Warriors back ahead. Another Warrior stop defensively, with Bowman's forced fumble and Devon Banks jumped on it. Â Devin Bartholomew continued his excellent play this season with a 49-yd field goal through the uprights to take a 13-point lead. He added another field goal from 40 yards out to wrap up the first half.
- ESU continued its strong presence defensively in the second half, with Felizor forcing a fumble and a Husky turnover.
- With the Warriors forced to punt in the end zone, BU's Anderson was able to get a paw on Jaco Sattamini's punt and jumped on the ball for seven points.
- ESU instantly responded with the program-record matching 99-yd kickoff return by Cook to make it a 27-21 contest in the third quarter.
- That would wrap up the scoring in the contest after three quarters. The Warrior defense closed the contest with two fourth quarter stops, and the dramatic goal line stand to seal ESU's 27-21 victory. Â
Up Next
- ESU closes the two-game road trip at Shippensburg on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
