EDINBORO, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University football team's defense forced three turnovers, while the offense rushed for 206 yards in a 24-12 victory in front of a lively season-opening crowd at Sox Harrison Stadium on Thursday night.
The Warriors (1-0) opened the campaign with a win for the second consecutive season. The Fighting Scots (0-1) will look to bounce back against Robert Morris next week.
ESU held a strong advantage at the line of scrimmage, outrushing Edinboro 206-81.
Offensive Notables
Redshirt junior quarterback Sean McTaggart completed 12 of 23 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception.
The potent ground game featured 96 yards on 13 attempts by Tahir Mills and 77 yards on 11 carries by Tyriq Lewis. The duo each averaged over 7.0 yards per carry and each broke a 20-yard-plus run. McTaggart added 15 yards rushing, while Deante Crawford found the end zone and also finished with 15 yards on the ground.
McTaggart's balanced receiving corps featured six Warriors catching at least one pass, with John Siggins and DJ Thomson each catching a touchdown pass. Evan Roche (1 reception, 35 yards), Tahir Mills (2 receptions, 31 yards), and John Siggins (2 receptions, 30 yards) each totaled at least 30 receiving yards.
The Warrior offensive line allowed just one sack and one additional run for negative yards.
Defensive Notables
Cornerbacks Malachi Bowman and Adewale Obayanju each recorded an interception in the season opener. Aidan Hayward recovered a fumble on Edinboro's first offensive play of the season to give the Warriors early momentum.
Safety TJ Harris led the team with 10 tackles. Nickelback Noah Hambrick added nine, while linebackers Khalil Scott and Lucas Skelley each added eight. Harris also led the Warriors with two pass breakups.
Jered Fenstermaker recorded four tackles, including a sack and a total of 1.5 tackles for loss.
Special Teams Notables
Kicker Ty Quintois made his first field goal attempt from 26 yards in the first quarter. He missed his second attempt from 39 yards in the third quarter but made all three PATs.
Punter Adam Noll booted a pair of punts, averaging 42.5 yards per punt.
Justin Cook totaled 41 yards on kickoff returns, including a 28-yarder.
How It Happened
On the first play from scrimmage of the 2024 season, Edinboro fumbled possession, with ESU graduate student defensive end Aidan Hayward recovering the ball. ESU took over on the Edinboro 19-yard line. After Tyrese Brandon rushed for two yards, McTaggart found Siggins for a 17-yard touchdown on his first pass attempt of the season. The Warriors took an early 7-0 lead.
The Fighting Scots responded with a 12-play, 57-yard drive, capped by Brandon Lambert's 39-yard field goal. The Warriors answered with a 26-yard field goal of their own by Quintois to take a 10-3 lead.
Edinboro cut into the Warrior lead with another field goal after a 16-play, 72-yard drive that took 9:17 off the clock. The teams went into the locker room with ESU holding a 10-6 advantage.
After a missed Warrior field goal attempt, the Fighting Scots turned the ball over for the second time when Malachi Bowman intercepted Isaac Bernard.
Taking over at the Edinboro 20-yard line, ESU scored its second touchdown in four plays, with McTaggart finding Thomson for an 8-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Warriors extended their lead to 24-6 with a 12-play, 75-yard drive. Key plays included a 35-yard completion from McTaggart to Roche on third-and-6, a 7-yard pass to
Randy Fizer on third-and-5, and a 24-yard screen pass to Mills. Crawford scored from three yards out to give the Warriors a 24-6 lead after three quarters.
Edinboro opened the fourth quarter with a 2-yard rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-12 with 10:25 remaining. ESU ran down the clock before a turnover on downs gave Edinboro possession with 7:54 left. Obayanju intercepted a pass on fourth-and-7 from the ESU 38-yard line, allowing ESU to run out the remaining 3:35, with Mills rushing for 22 yards and McTaggart picking up a first down with a 10-yard run.
Up Next
The Warriors look to improve to 2-0 next Thursday when they visit Pace on Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. in Pleasantville, N.Y.
