BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Controlling play from the opening kickoff to the final whistle, the ESU football team handled business on the road at Bloomsburg, shutting out the Huskies in a 34-0 win on Saturday night.
Coming into the game, the main matchup on paper was the seventh-ranked rushing offense of East Stroudsburg going against the third-ranked rushing defense of Bloomsburg. The Huskies' run defense, which entered the contest limiting opponents to 63.6 yards per game, was unable to hold up against ESU's rushing attack, which put up 253 rushing yards on them. The question of which unit had the advantage was never in doubt, as the Warriors leaned on the run all game long en route to the win. Fresh off his first career PSAC East Offensive Athlete of the Week award, senior RB
Ajani Walker picked up another 100-yard rushing game, finishing two yards over the century mark, leading the Warriors on the ground. Senior QB
Harrison Susi kept the defense honest with his legs, rushing 16 times and picking up 59 yards, while fifth-year RB
Deante Crawford picked up 55 yards as well.
The Warriors only had to complete 10 passes to secure the win, but junior WR
David Washington Jr. announced his arrival in his second game of the season. He brought in four receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown, and he was complemented on the outside by fifth-year WR
Elijah Ford and his five receptions for 38 yards.
ESU's defense turned in its third straight defensive gem in a row, holding Bloomsburg to 147 yards of total offense. During this winning streak, the Warriors' opponents are averaging just 175.7 yards per game, as ESU has outscored teams 112-13. Junior LB
Camerin Gross led the Warriors in tackles again, coming up with six total and 2.0 tackles for loss. Gross and senior DL
Ashton Blose accounted for half of the Warriors' eight tackles for loss, as Blose's two tackles were a solo TFL and a sack. The turnover battle swung ESU's favor as well, as the Warriors didn't give the Huskies any extra possessions or strong starting field position. Senior LB
Mason Smith had a fumble recovery in the first half, and fifth-year DB
Everette Dingle picked off his second pass in as many weeks after halftime.
The action started on ESU's second drive after forcing two three-and-outs on defense, as Walker opened the drive by ripping off a 44-yard run to go from the ESU 22-yard line to the Bloomsburg 34-yard line. The Warriors ran their way down to inside the 10-yard line, where Susi rolled out and hit senior TE
Damien Padilla on a quick out to set up 4
th and 3. Faced with an early decision, ESU opted to go for it, with the decision paying off immediately. Walker ran right and ran over two Bloomsburg defenders, barreling his way into the end zone.
Bloomsburg's offense began to find its rhythm on its third drive, moving into ESU territory as the first quarter expired. However, on the first play of the next period, Smith read the play in the backfield and secured a backwards pass in stride, winning the foot race 72 yards all the way for the touchdown. Penalties were an issue for the Huskies on their next drive, as an unnecessary roughness call anchored down a drive and the Warriors forced a punt.
ESU chewed clock through its running game, using an 11-play, seven-minute drive to wear down the Huskies' defense. It resulted in a 31-yard field goal for senior K
Ty Quintois, who made both of his field goals and all four of his PATs on the night.
The Warriors got the ball to start the second half, and after nearly forcing a punt after three plays, another 15-yard penalty on the Huskies came back to bite them. ESU took the fresh set of downs and got three points out of the drive, set up by junior QB
Matt Machalik hitting Washington Jr. down the left sideline for the full-extension catch and a 37-yard gain. The Warriors' defense held up its end once again by forcing a punt, getting the offense back on the field. They continued to pound the rock, as their drive was capped off by a nine-yard touchdown from junior RB
Cade Sawyer.
Now facing a 27-0 hole, the Huskies were running out of time to turn it around. Their next drive was their shortest of the night, losing two yards on a sack by fifth-year DL
Trenton Dunnick and throwing an interception to Dingle downfield at the ESU 40-yard line.
Machalik came back into the game at quarterback as the drive carried over from the end of the third quarter to the final frame, frequently targeting Washington Jr. Fittingly, the drive ended with a screen pass from five yards out to the go-to receiver, as he navigated his way after the catch over the goal line to make it 34-0.
GAME NOTES
- Smith's 72-yard fumble recovery touchdown was the Warriors' longest return in 12 years, which happened at Danny Hale Field as well. Konrad Mims returned a fumble for 76 yards at Bloomsburg in 2014, which also stood as the longest defensive touchdown over that timespan as well.
- It has been 45 years since the Warriors have had as dominant of a win over the Huskies as they had on Saturday night, with the 34-point differential being the largest since their 49-0 shutout at Bloomsburg in 1981.
- ESU hasn't shown any road blues when traveling to Bloomsburg, with this being its second straight shutout in the series as the visitors. The Warriors handed the Huskies their worst home loss since 2021, when they lost by 44 to Shepherd.
- After averaging 9.4 penalties per game for 88.8 yards, the Warriors played their most disciplined game of the season. ESU was only called for 3 infractions totaling 20 yards, their fewest in each category since getting flagged twice for 15 yards against the Huskies last year.
UP NEXT
ESU caps off its mini two-game road stretch next week at Shippensburg, taking on the 2-4 Raiders at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 17, at Seth Grove Stadium.
