EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — For the first time since 2013, the ESU football team defeated Kutztown in an instant classic at Eiler-Martin Stadium, besting the No. 3 Golden Bears in overtime, 32-25.
After trailing 22-10 early in the fourth quarter, Kutztown stormed back to tie the game and force overtime, outscoring ESU 15-3 to end regulation. The Warriors got the ball to start the extra period, with FB
Matt Frame punching it in from the goal line. The ESU defense stood tall, stonewalling Kutztown on four straight goal-to-go downs, as DB
Leyden Hertz broke up a pass in the endzone on the game's final play.
The hero for the Warriors was K
Ty Quintois, who set a pair of records in the win. Quintois went 6-for-7 on field goal attempts, breaking the single-game record for makes, which brought his season total to 20, a new record in that regard as well.
Everyone on the Warriors' defense proved to be up for the challenge of holding an offense that averaged the fifth-most points in Division II to just over half of its usual output. Snapping the Golden Bears' 39-game regular-season winning streak and handing them their first PSAC East loss since 2022, all three levels of ESU's defense made plays when it needed to. DL
Ashton Blose had his best performance of the season, coming up with seven tackles, a solo sack, and a forced fumble. LBs
Camerin Gross and
Mason Smith created headaches for Kutztown, with Gross adding to his team-leading tackles for loss with another on Saturday, and Smith breaking up two passes at the line of scrimmage. DB
Cam Jefferson had multiple moments in the secondary, leading the way with four PBUs, five tackles, and an interception, while DB
Armonie Torres had a team-high nine tackles on the back end as well.
Offensively,
Elijah Ford had one of the biggest performances by an ESU wide receiver in recent history, considering the stakes. Ford reeled in five receptions for a career-high 140 yards and a touchdown, accounting for the majority of QB
Matt Machalik's production through the air in the junior's second start. RB
Deante Crawford had the best outing in ESU's backfield, going for 72 yards on eight carries, while RB
Ajani Walker also contributed with 61 yards on 16 attempts.
Kutztown opened the scoring on their second drive of the game after the Warriors won the coin toss and deferred, as Judd Novak floated a pass into the end zone for Noah Kracyla for their first touchdown connection of the game.
ATH
Elijah Carroll set the Warriors up nicely to start their next drive, bringing the ball out to the ESU 40-yard line. After an 18-yard completion to Ford that moved the chains, Carroll took a carry to the right and picked up another first down for ESU. Quintois got the Warriors on the board with a couple of minutes left in the first quarter, making a 42-yard attempt to make it 7-3.
ESU forced Kutztown to four three-and-outs on the day, the first one coming after the field goal. Dakota Campbell's punt only traveled 17 yards, setting ESU up on the Golden Bears' 38-yard line. Machalik tried for Ford twice on throws that would have kept the drive alive, but Quintois was called on for another 42-yard attempt, delivering once again. The Warriors got the ball right back, stuffing two runs to start their stand as Smith knocked a pass down to get ESU's defense off the field. Kutztown got the ball back shortly after, but ESU's linebackers took over once the Golden Bears crossed midfield. Gross stopped Craig Miller for a loss of two to set up a second-and-12, making another tackle on the next play to keep Kutztown in a third-and-long situation. Just like the last drive, Smith created pressure up the middle and deflected a pass that fell incomplete.
The Warriors took the lead on their next drive, opening it with a couple of runs to Walker to get things going. After leaning on the run game to start the sequence, Machalik took his shot deep down the middle, hitting Ford in stride on a 54-yard strike with five minutes left in the half.
East Stroudsburg got the ball back a minute later, looking to give itself a two-possession lead. Ford and Crawford gained 58 yards on back-to-back plays, with Crawford breaking multiple tackles all the way to the two-yard line. Kutztown's defense bent but didn't break, smothering two runs and sniffing out a play-action pass to force a field goal from Quintois, making it 16-7.
Novak and the Golden Bears had just under one minute to work with, moving down the field to get points before the break. Completions to Kracyla and Rich Paczewski got the ball to the 50-yard line, and another pass to the latter moved Kutztown into field-goal range. Novak tried for Paczewski again in the end zone, but Torres broke the pass up, holding Kutztown to a field goal as Gavin Pereira was good from 39 yards out.
After breaking off a couple of long runs in the first half, Crawford got the ball to start the second half out of the ESU backfield. He continued his strong game, going for 37 yards to put the Warriors in the red zone. Machalik nearly converted a 3
rd and 12 with his legs, but after getting stopped four yards short, Quintois came on for the 31-yard field goal to restore ESU's nine-point lead.
On Kutztown's first drive of the third quarter, Novak picked up three yards on the opening play before running again for 22 immediately after. Facing a 3
rd and 3, Novak looked to his go-to target, Kracyla, down the right side, picking up 24 yards on a back-shoulder throw. Novak completed another pass to Kracyla for eight yards two plays later, setting up a 4
th and 1 at the Warriors' 10-yard line. Lining up with two players in the backfield, Novak handed the ball off to Rocco DeBiaso for his first carry of the game. Blose and Gross blew up the play, stopping DeBiaso for no gain, which was upheld after the Golden Bears challenged the ruling.
The Warriors punted after three plays, but P
Adam Noll pushed Kutztown back with a 54-yard punt that Noah Micks had to run backwards and fair catch, one of Noll's two punts that netted at least 50 yards. Blose ended another drive himself when Kutztown took the field, strip-sacking Novak on third down. Off another short punt and an ESU bounce, the Golden Bears' punt only went six yards, giving the Warriors possession on the Kutztown 46-yard line. Walker ground his way through the defense, ending the third quarter with five runs for 22 yards, picking up two first downs as the period expired. The drive fizzled out shortly after entering the red zone, but Quintois stayed hot with a 34-yard make to put ESU up 22-10 with 13 and a half minutes left in regulation. ESU had a chance to put the game out of reach after Jefferson came up with an interception, but they were forced to punt shortly after.
Kutztown got the ball back with 6:25 on the clock after each team punted, cutting its deficit with a one-play scoring drive that took all of 11 seconds. Novak hit Kracyla on a crossing route over the middle as he took it to the house by picking up 57 yards after the catch. ESU bumped its lead up to eight, burning four minutes of clock on the next possession. A deep pass to Ford down the right sideline picked up 39 yards, setting Quintois up for another field goal.
Trailing by a touchdown and a two-point conversion and starting on their own 12-yard line, Novak led the Golden Bears down the field to tie the game. ESU's defense stiffened up as Kutztown got closer to the end zone, bringing up a 4th-and-5 from the 19-yard line. However, Novak threw it up to Kracyla, who finished the game with a career-high 12 receptions for 209 yards, and hauled in his third touchdown of the game. Tying the game, a quick pass to Luke Maxwell evened things up, leaving 31 seconds before a potential overtime.
Carroll took the ensuing return out to the 30-yard line, but the Warriors got an additional 15 yards on an unnecessary roughness call against the Golden Bears. Machalik completed passes to Burti, Crawford, and Ford to get the ball out to the 40-yard line. Quintois attempted a 57-yard field goal, which would have been the longest make in program history, but with the wind going against him, it fell short.
Starting overtime, the Warriors got the ball and moved into scoring range with runs from RB
Cade Sawyer and Machalik, getting down to the goal line. Frame pushed the pile across, giving ESU the lead. Similar to ESU, a pair of runs by Novak and Jaedyn Stewart, who ran for 114 yards in the game, put the Golden Bears at 1
st and Goal from the 10-yard line. A short gain and false start gave Kutztown three tries from 13 yards to get a touchdown to extend or win the game, but the Warriors came up with the game-saving stop. On the final play, Novak looked for Kracyla once again at the right pylon, but Hertz got redemption and broke up the pass.
GAME NOTES
- ESU snapped an 11-game losing streak against Kutztown and defeated the Golden Bears for the second time since 2010. It's their first home win over Kutztown since 2008. It's the first time Kutztown's HC Jim Clements has lost to the Warriors, blemishing his previous 11-0 record in the series, while it's HC Jimmy Terwilliger's first win over the Golden Bears in seven games.
- The Warriors have punched their ticket to the PSAC Championship game, clinching at least a share of the PSAC East title. A win next week will make them outright winners, as they'll travel to Slippery Rock on Nov. 14 for a 1 p.m. kickoff, looking to avenge their lone loss of the season for their first conference title since 1982.
UP NEXT
The Warriors close out divisional play on the road against Millersville, looking to finish undefeated against PSAC East opponents. Kickoff is scheduled for noon next Saturday, Nov. 7, at Biemsderfer Stadium.
