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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Bloomsburg University football team won its first two contests of the year with a throttling offensive attack, averaging nearly 600 total yards per game. On Saturday at Kutztown, the Huskies used timely defensive stops and big plays down the stretch when they needed them to preserve a 31-12 victory in front of 5,234 fans at University Field.

For the second straight week, the Huskies (3-0, 1-0 PSAC East) made a bit of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference history, this time when Danny Fisher (Liverpool/Central Dauphin) established a new conference record for career field goals. Fisher broke what had been a tie with Ed Detwiler of East Stroudsburg when he connected on the 51st 3-pointer of his career in maroon and gold – a 21-yard boot in the first quarter to cap a 10-play, 57-yard drive for the visitors' first scoring.

Offense was hard to come by in the early going, however, against Kutztown (0-3, 0-1). The Golden Bears defense proved stingy during the first half, limiting Bloomsburg to just 156 yards of total offense including 97 on the ground. The hosts grabbed the early momentum by controlling the clock early, putting the first points of the game on the board following a 7-yard touchdown strike from freshman quarterback Alec Werner to Kodi Reed. The point after attempt failed, leaving Kutztown with a 6-0 lead. Fisher's field goal would cut that edge in half less than four minutes later.

A Franklyn Quiteh (Tobyhanna/Pocono Mountain West) touchdown run from 10 yards out and a late defensive stop with the Golden Bears threatening before the break allowed Bloomsburg to take a 10-6 lead into intermission. Kutztown drove 55 yards in 11 plays to the Huskies' 16-yard line but Bloomsburg's defense held, forcing a 33-yard field goal attempt that came up short at the halftime buzzer.

The score remained that way when the Golden Bears attempted to seize momentum by going for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 41-yard line midway through the third. Darrell Scott tried to pick up the first down with a rush up the middle, but was instantly met by Husky defensive backs DJ Robinson (Sinking Spring/Conrad Weiser) and Jonathan Patrick (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) for a loss, giving the ball back to Bloomsburg in enemy territory.

Bloomsburg didn't waste much time to cash in on its opportunity. Tim Kelly (Camp Hill/Cedar Cliff) found receiver Connor Gades (West Chester/Unionville) in space over the middle and the redshirt sophomore did the rest, galloping to the end zone for his first career touchdown reception, a 34-yard connection for a 17-6 lead.

Another opportunistic play from the Huskies' offense effectively put the game on ice. With Bloomsburg facing third-and-3 from their own 9-yard line, Quiteh gave the visitors some much-needed breathing room. The all-time PSAC career rushing leader appeared to hit a wall of Bear defenders, but broke multiple tackles and sprinted through the Kutztown secondary for 65 yards. The rush catapulted Quiteh over 100 yards rushing for the 20th straight game. Kelly finished the drive by tossing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tony Peregrin (Mayfield/Lakeland) for a 24-6 advantage, ending much of the doubt with 11:33 to play.

Kutztown found the end zone again with 3:36 left on a 17-yard pass from Werner to Kellen Williams to pull to within 24-12 after the Huskies snuffed out a two-point conversion try. Four plays and 44 yards later, however, the Huskies were on the board once more, this time with a 28-yard scamper from Quiteh to put the exclamation point on the victory.

While the offense came alive late, it was the Huskies defense which allowed BU to maintain a lead for much of the contest. Bloomsburg completely shut down the Kutztown run game as the Golden Bears finished with -3 yards on the ground while the Huskies sacked Werner five times – including four sacks from Larry Webster (Hagerstown, MD/Elkton). Gary Postell (Philadelphia/Bishop McDevitt) paced the Huskies in stops with 10 tackles while Justin Shirk (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin) was in on nine tackles and Tyler Knoblauch (Berlin, NJ/Eastern) registered eight tackles and an interception.

Quiteh capped his day by carrying 23 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Kelly completed 11 of 17 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns with his favorite receiver being Gades, who hauled in four passes for 57 yards and a score.

Forced to throw with nothing doing on the ground, Werner put the ball in the air 58 times, completing 41 of his passes for 351 yards and two scores. Alex Tonnies tied his own Kutztown school record set in the season-opener at Clarion with 17 catches for 122 yards while Reed brought in nine grabs for 118 yards and a touchdown.

The Huskies return home next Saturday to host Lock Haven in another PSAC East contest. That game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start inside Redman Stadium.

GAME NOTES: The win avenged a 52-14 loss suffered in the Huskies' last trip to Kutztown in 2011 … Bloomsburg now leads the all-time series with their PSAC East rival, 45-21-1 dating back to 1927 … Detwiler's record of 50 career field goals had paced the PSAC since 1992 ... the four sacks by Webster set a new career-high, eclipsing the three sacks he tallied at Slippery Rock last year … Gades set new career bests in receptions (four) and receiving yards (57) … Peregrin's touchdown catch was his first as a Husky … Aaron Allison (Philadelphia/Frankford) brought in a 21-yard catch and run, a career-long … Bloomsburg finished with 239 yards rushing and 372 yards of total offense … Postell and Knoblauch each established new career-highs for tackles … Quiteh now has over 100 yards rushing in 35 of 38 career games and moved into 15th place all-time in NCAA Division II history with 5,911 rushing yards.