BLOOMSBURG – The players on the field ultimately decide who wins and loses football games on a week-to-week basis.  However, the head coaches of Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg have been the guiding forces to building two successful programs that have them respected at the national level.  This weekend, they get the chance to square off in an historic matchup.
 
Danny Hale's Bloomsburg Huskies (6-0 overall, 3-0 PSAC East) and Denny Douds' East Stroudsburg Warriors (3-2, 2-1) face off at Danny  Hale Field at Redman Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 13 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game beginning at 3:30 p.m.
 
The game will be broadcast live on WHLM (930-AM) based out of Bloomsburg with Jim Doyle and Andy Ulicny calling all the action. In addition, listeners throughout the world can listen to and watch the game live on BU's website at www.buhuskies.com. The pre-game show will begin 30 minutes before kickoff.
 
Saturday's game is believed to be the fourth matchup of 200-win coaches in Division II history.  Douds has been part of two of the previous three.
 
Hale is in his 20th year at the helm of the Bloomsburg football program.  He has had an illustrious career with the Huskies, posting a 169-54-1 (.754) record and the most wins in school history.  In 24 years of coaching, Hale has totaled an overall record of 209-67-1 (.755) and is ranked third among active coaches in winning percentage and fourth in total victories.
 
Douds is in his 39th season coaching the Warriors and holds an overall record of 235-164-3.  He's the all-time winningest coach in the history of the PSAC and set the NCAA Division II record for most games coached last season. He's coached 402 games in his career, third-most among active coaches. Douds ranks second among active Division II coaches, and seventh among all active coaches in college football, with 232 career victories entering the 2012 season.
 
This will be the 84th meeting between the Huskies and the Warriors.  East Stroudsburg leads the all-time series 43-38-2, but Bloomsburg has won the last six matchups.  During his tenure as head coach of the Huskies, Hale owns an impressive 16-4 overall record against Douds'.
 
The Huskies have been on a roll through their first six games of the season, conquering opponent after opponent on their way to being one of 14 undefeated schools in Division II.  They are also one of two PSAC programs to remain unbeaten (Shippensburg).
 
Offensively, Bloomsburg has scored 30 points in seven consecutive games dating back to last season, setting a new school record.  The six straight this year ties the most in a single season, set the final six games of 2000.
 
BU's coming off a 38-14 win over Millersville in which the Huskies roared out to a 38-0 lead early in the third quarter.  The offensive line did an excellent job of leading the top-ranked rushing offense in Division II to a 340-yard performance, and keeping the Bloomsburg quarterbacks on their feet by not allowing a sack.  It was the second time this season BU did not allow a sack and since 1999, BU is 33-2 when not allowing a sack. 
 
BU's top rusher this season is junior Franklyn Quiteh (Tobyhanna/Pocono Mountain West).  Quiteh is third in Division II in rushing at 160 yards per game.  He has run for 960 yards and can be the first BU back to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons with 40 on Saturday. 
 
Quiteh ranks tenth in the PSAC in career yards at 4,167 and based on his average yards, the junior can move up to seventh with 70 yards against ESU.  A 243-yard outing would rate him sixth all-time.
 
Fellow junior running back Eddie Mateo (Bethlehem/Freedom) has rushed for 100 yards in five of BU's six games.  He's fourth in the PSAC and 16th in Division II at 125.83 yards per game.  For his career, Mateo eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark last week at Millersville (including his 154 yards at D-I Stony Brook in 2009). For his BU rushing total, Mateo has run for 1,940 yards over the past two seasons and would be Bloomsburg's 12th 2,000-yard rusher with 60 against ESU on Saturday.
 
Junior kicker Dan Fisher moved into fourth place on the PSAC career field goals list with his 45th last week.  The school's leader in career field goals leads the PSAC and is tied for tenth in Division II in field goals per game (1.33) and can move into third with two against ESU. 
 
Fisher and ESU kicker Taylor Groff have each booted 50+ yard field goals this season.  Fisher kicked a 52-yarder against Edinboro on Sept. 8, and Groff kicked a 50-yarder against Clarion on Sept. 29.
 
ESU makes the trip to Bloomsburg coming off a dramatic, momentum-building win over West Chester.  Freshman quarterback Matt Soltes threw a 33-yard touchdown pass with five seconds left to lift the Warriors to a 35-28 victory. 
 
In doing so, Soltes and linebacker Darius Jackson were named the PSAC East Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.  Soltes was 30-for-37 for 366 yards and three touchdowns and set ESU's single-game completion percentage record (81.1) in his second career start. 
 
Jackson was part of a defensive effort that forced five turnovers, including four in the first half, and had a key interception with ESU trailing 14-7 in the second quarter. The pick set up the game-tying TD with 21 seconds left in the 1st half, as ESU never trailed again.
 
Saturday also marks Bloomsburg's annual homecoming game.  The athletic department will be hosting two important collections during the game. The Huskies Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be taking up its annual Make-A-Wish collection. In addition, to celebrate the 79th birthday of Roongo, the school mascot, the Huskies will be collecting dog and cat food donations to benefit the Animal Resource Center (ARC). Fans can bring their donations and place them in boxes that will be near the main gate of Redman Stadium.
 
Bloomsburg hits the road for the next two weeks with stops at Cheyney and Shippensburg.  Next week's game against Cheyney on Saturday, Oct. 20 is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.  ESU returns home for its final home game of the year to host Kutztown at 1:05 p.m.