LOCK HAVEN – Trailing 14-7 and 21-14, the East Stroudsburg University football team never panicked, settling in for a 35-21 road win to damper Lock Haven's Homecoming and picked up its 500th win in program history in the process on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Hubert Jack Stadium.
The Warriors (4-0, 1-0) remain undefeated heading into a road clash with Kutztown (2-2, 1-0 PSAC East) next Saturday. The Bald Eagles (2-2)
Notables
- Since 1926, the East Stroudsburg University football team now has a program record of 500-359-19 (.580). ESU is just two wins away from clinching its 67th winning season in program history.
- With the win, ESU head coach Jimmy Terwilliger moves above .500 in his career, holding a 20-19 overall record.
- After completing his lone pass of the contest during the opening drive for 14 yard, Warrior quarterback Charlie McKee did not return to the contest, as Sean McTaggart posted an impressive performance of completing 15-24 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns and an interception.
- McTaggart also led ESU on the ground game, rushing for 42 of ESU's 143 rushing yards on the afternoon. Mason Peterson added 39 yards on the final drive of the game on eight carries. Tyriq Lewis added 37 yards and a touchdown.
- Justin Cook led the Warriors with 62 yards of receiving on five receptions. Randy Fizer caught a touchdown pass and finished with 56 yards on two catches. John Siggins tallied 55 yards and a touchdown on four catches, DJ Thomson added a 22-yd catch to set up a Tyriq Lewis rushing touchdown.
- Jonathan Post also caught a receiving touchdown, with his first touchdown of the season on a 15-yd strike from McTaggart.
- Defensively, linebackers Sergei Felizor (8) and Matthew Davis (6) led the Warriors with a combined 14 tackles. Felizor recorded a sack and two tackles for loss and forced a fumble, while Davis also tallied a TFL.
- The Warriors registered four sacks, with Felizor, Dasean Dixon, Daryn Blackwell and half sacks from Deshawn McCarthy and Aidan Hayward all getting home.
- Noah Hambrick made a pair of pass breakups in coverage.
- On special teams, Devin Bartholomew made all five of his PAT attempts and just had to punt once.
How it Happened
- After winning the coin toss and choosing to receive, the Warriors started possession in good field position after LHU booted the opening kickoff out of bounds. The Warriors would be forced to punt.
- LHU was also forced to punt on its first drive, with the Bald Eagles pinning ESU on its own one-yd line. The Warriors put together an impressive 17-play, 99-yd drive, with Sean McTaggart finding Dawson Stuart for a 25-yd touchdown. The drive took off 9:22 of clock.
- The Bald Eagles responded, as a 31-yd connection from QB Danny Sanchez to T-iar Young would lead to a Sanchez to another big toss of 37-yards to Chase Holmes to even the score at 7-7.
- Later on in the second quarter, the Bald Eagles intercepted McTaggart with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. LHU took all but 20 seconds off the clock, with a one-yd rush from Chris Collier accounting for the second touchdown of the day. The Bald Eagles led 14-7 after the first half of action from Hubert Jack Stadium.
- After regrouping in the locker room, the Warrior defense forced a 3-and-out, including a sack by Daryn Blackwell, setting up a 3rd and long incompletion. After the punt, ESU converted a 3rd and long with Siggins snagging an 11-yd reception. A few plays later, McTaggart fired a rocket for a 25-yard touchdown to Randy Fizer. Devin Bartholomew converted the PAT to tie the contest at 14-14 with 10:06 remaining in the third quarter.
- LHU instantly responded and retook the lead, as a 3rd and 15 resulted in a 57-yd passing touchdown from Danny Sanchez to Chandler Baker after broken coverage from the Warriors.
- The Warriors did not trail for long, putting together a seven-play, 60-yd drive which resulted in a 15-yd touchdown from McTaggart to Post. Bartholomew made the PAT to tie the contest back up at 21-21.
- After the Warrior defense forced a 3-and-out, a 35-yd punt and 14-yd return from Malachi Bowman gave ESU great field position on the LHU 38-yd line. McTaggart found DJ Thomson for a 22-yd gain on 3rd-and-8 for a fresh set of downs. From there, Tyriq Lewis punched in the touchdown from three yards out to give ESU a 28-21 advantage.
- A promising 10-play drive from Lock Haven would not result in any points after failing to convert a 4th-and-10 from the ESU 31-yd line.
- The Warriors took control of possession and drove the ball 69 yards on just six plays, helped by a pair of 15-yd Bald Eagle penalties. McTaggart targeted and completed a 29-yd pass to Siggins to wrap up the scoring at 35-21 with 8:23 remaining.
- Looking to cut into the deficit and forced to go for it on 4th-and-12 at midfield, McCarthy and Hayward got home and forced a sack and turnover on downs to give ESU back possession with less than six minutes to play.
- From there, the Warriors were able to run out the clock with Peterson combining to rush for 39 yards on eight consecutive carries to move the chains. On 4th-and-3, McTaggart used a play action naked bootleg to scamper for six yards for the first down. Now in victory formation, McTaggart kneeled the clock out to seal the 35-21 victory.
Up Next
- ESU (4-0, 1-0 PSAC East) heads to Kutztown (2-2, 1-0 PSAC East) next Saturday. The matchup with the Golden Bears is slated for noon at Andre Reed Stadium.
