EAST STROUDSBURG – Holding a seven-point lead in the second quarter, the East Stroudsburg University football team took full control, taking down Millersville, 38-17, on Saturday evening on Homecoming Saturday at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
The Warriors (5-1, 2-1 PSAC East) bounce back after falling for the first-time last week. The Marauders (3-3, 1-2 PSAC East) fall for the second consecutive week.
ESU outgained Millersville, 523-291, allowing just 72 yards on the ground.
Notables
- ESU quarterback Sean McTaggart completed 12-18 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged over 21 yards per completion and 14.4 yards per attempt, as he found Justin Cook for a 50-yd and 41-yd completion and DJ Thomson for a 61-yd completion, which is the longest this season for ESU. McTaggart tossed both his touchdown passes to John Siggins, who reeled in a 26 and 27-yd pass for six points. In five games played this season, McTaggart has completed 62.82% of his passes for 758 yards, 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
- The ground game for the Warriors was explosive again with 263 yards on the ground this week after being held in check last week at Kutztown. The Warriors had five different rushers account for 30-plus yards, with Tahir Mills (6 att., 87 yards, 2 TD) and Tyriq Lewis (12 att., 76 yards, 1 TD) combining for 164 rushing yards on just 18 attempts for an average of 9.1 yards per carry. Both tailbacks sprung loose, with Mills scoring a career-long 73-yd touchdown and Lewis scampered on a 45-yd rush. Deante Crawford added 34 yards on seven carries, while McTaggart tallied 30-net rushing yards. Mason Peterson added 30 yards on five carries. Overall, ESU was able to control the clock and ultimately the game by averaging 5.7 yards per rush on 46 attempts.
- Defensively, Sergei Felizor was a tackling machine registering a new career-high with 16 tackles. He also broke up a pass. Felizor's previous high of 15 tackles came against West Chester during the 2022 campaign. In six starts this season, Felizor has totaled 50 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a sack, an interception a forced fumble, three pass breakups and a blocked kick.
- Raymond Simmons IV filled in for LB Matthew Davis and shined, tallying 11 tackles and an interception. Noah Hambrick added seven tackles and a sack in the secondary, also breaking up a pass.
- Along with Hambrick's sack, Makai Booker, Deshawn McCarthy and Terrell Reynolds put pressure and registered a sack.
- AFCA All-America kicker Devin Bartholomew attempted his first two field goal attempts of the season, missing a 49-yd attempt prior to halftime but successfully put a 37-yarder through the up-rights. Freshman Ty Quintois made all five extra-point attempts.
- ESU's 260 passing yards are a season-high, while its 263 rushing yards are the second most this season, behind its 344 rushing yard output against Seton Hill. ESU has not allowed a 100-yd rusher or 300-yd passer through six games, with Lock Haven's Chris Collier totaling 68 yards on the ground and Kutztown's Judd Novak tossing 285 yards for the largest outputs against ESU.
- With the win, ESU is now tied with Shepherd and West Chester for second place in the PSAC East. The Warriors battle West Chester next Saturday. Kutztown sits in first place with a 3-0 PSAC East record after defeating Bloomsburg, 24-3.
- The Warriors have recorded eight interceptions this season in six weeks, with eight different players picking off the opposing quarterback.
- On a busy Homecoming Saturday on-campus that featured five home events, the Warriors went undefeated with a 4-0-1 record. ESU women's soccer defeated West Chester, 3-0, No. 1 ESU field hockey took down Slippery Rock, 4-1, ESU volleyball swept Shepherd and ESU men's soccer battled first-place Shepherd to a scoreless draw to pick up a point in the standings.
- ESU was assessed with 13 penalties for 143 yards, as 'Ville benefitted from five first downs via a Warrior penalty.
How It Happened
- After Millersville won the coin toss and deferred, ESU went seven plays and 73 yards for its first of five touchdowns. McTaggart rushed for 27 yards on the first play from scrimmage. On 3rd and 12 from the Millersville 27-yd line, McTaggart found Siggins for his first of two touchdowns through the air, as ESU grabbed an early lead.
- After allowing a first down via a penalty, ESU forced a punt, as the Warriors were able to move the ball into Millersville territory before booting a punt themselves. ESU's defense forced a 3-and-out to give ESU possession on its own 13-yd line after a 55-yd punt by Ville's Zach Banta.
- Lewis ran wild on a 45-yd rush to set himself up for a six-yd touchdown, as ESU took a 14-0 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Millersville quarterback Rob Footman Jr. fired a 46-yd touchdown on the following drive, which cut ESU's lead in half at 14-7.
- The Warriors did not allow the score to get any closer, as a 50-yd completion from McTaggart to Cook would set up a one-yd rush from Mills for his first rushing touchdown of his sophomore campaign.
- ESU and Millersville combined to punt on its next four possessions, as Raymond Simmons IV registered his first career interception on the following drive. Following the pick, McTaggart found Cook for a 41-yd gain, as ESU attempted a 49-yd field goal as time expired, but the kick did not go through the uprights. The Warriors led 21-7 at halftime.
- Millersville sliced the deficit to 11 after a field goal on the first drive of the second half. The Marauders were aided with two first downs on third down via Warrior penalties. The Warrior offense continued to roll, as a 61-yd completion from McTaggart to Thomson gave ESU possession in the red zone. Bartholomew booted his first field goal of the season from 37-yards out to lift the Warriors back to a 14-point lead at 24-10.
- The Marauders looked to cut the deficit back to a single possession, driving to the ESU 40-yd line. On 3rd-and-4, Footman tossed a second interception, as Jahmere Crumpton registered his third career interception. With ESU now holding possession, Mills broke loose on a career-long 73-yd touchdown, to all but seal a win for the Warriors with ESU holding a 31-10 lead over Millersville with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter.
- The teams exchanged punts as the fourth quarter began. After Millersville muffed a punt return that Matt Frame recovered, McTaggart found Siggins for a second time in the end zone – this time from 26 yards out – the Warriors lead grew to a commanding 28-point lead at 38-10 with 8:52 to go.
- Millersville found the endzone with a 14-yd passing touchdown from Ryan Zeltt to Mekhi Alexander to make it a three-score game with 6:09 to play. ESU was forced to punt on the ensuing drive, but the Warrior defense forced a turnover-on-downs with a sack by Reynolds on 4th-and-8.
- QB Aaron Tobias entered the contest for the first time since week one against Pace, handing the ball off three times, with Frame gaining a first down by rushing for eight yards on 3rd and 1. Tobias kneeled the ball to run out the remaining ticks of the clock in the 38-17 Homecoming win for ESU.
Up Next
- ESU looks to keep its momentum going at West Chester on Saturday, October 14. The opening kickoff is set for Noon at John A. Farrell Stadium.
