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BLOOMSBURG – The Bloomsburg University football team entered Saturday's contest against visiting East Stroudsburg needing just one win in its final two conference games of the year to clinch its third PSAC East title in the past five seasons.
 
Bloomsburg made sure to erase the drama quickly.
 
The sixth-ranked Huskies (9-0, 8-0 PSAC East) jumped out to an early lead and stifled an ESU offense lacking star quarterback Matt Soltes on the way to a dominating 34-13 victory at cold and windy Redman Stadium, cementing their spot at the top of the East once more.
 
Bloomsburg followed its typical blueprint for success – Eddie Mateo (Bethlehem/Freedom) ran for three scores and the defense dominated, holding the Warriors (6-3, 5-3) to 140 yards of total offense while forcing four more turnovers to run their season total to 31 turnovers gained.
 
The defense quickly set the tone.
 
East Stroudsburg received the opening kickoff, but on the fourth play of the game senior defensive end David McFadden (Allentown/Allentown Central Catholic) sacked Warriors quarterback Bruce Campbell and Jeremiah Lowery (Sharon Hill/Academy Park) picked up the loose ball for the Huskies at the ESU 15-yard line.
 
Four plays later, all Mateo rushes, the senior tailback was in the end zone for the 7-0 lead.
 
Bloomsburg forced ESU to go three-and-out on its next drive and quickly stretched its lead with a 48-yard drive spanning nine plays resulting in a Mateo 3-yard plunge to push the edge to 14.
 
East Stroudsburg gained just six yards in the first quarter offensively, but found a bit of life with a defensive play of its own early in the second quarter. With the Huskies driving near the red zone, a lateral attempt by Tim Kelly (Camp Hill/Cedar Cliff) missed its mark and landed in the open field as a live ball. ESU's Konrad Mims picked up the fumble and returned it 76 yards for the score to cut Bloomsburg's lead to 14-7.
 
A third touchdown from Mateo gave the Huskies a 21-7 halftime lead, capping a 64-yard drive in seven plays. The defense was the story, however, as the Huskies held ESU to a mere 15 yards of first half offense.
 
A pair of Braden Drexler (Bethlehem/Nazareth) third quarter field goals – the first from a career-long of 41 yards and the second from 37 yards out – gave Bloomsburg insurance at 27-7 following three periods of play.
 
East Stroudsburg finally found the end zone with its offense on a 12-yard pass from Campbell to Jon Schnaars midway through the fourth quarter, but the Huskies answered with a 45-yard drive ending with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to Aaron Allison (Philadelphia/Frankford) with 2:44 left to play for the final scoring.
 
Bloomsburg limited ESU to 17 yards on 22 rush attempts while recording two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
 
Tomas Cabrera (Hanover/Hanover Area) celebrated Senior Day with a career-best nine tackles, a forced fumble and an interception. Justin Shirk (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin) added seven tackles and an interception along with a 41-yard return. Joe Wetty (Downingtown/Downingtown East), McFadden and Ezra Ranco (Collegeville/Perkiomen Valley) all tallied sacks for the Huskies.
 
Kelly completed 13 of 29 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, adding 66 yards rushing. Chad Hoffman (Drums/Hazleton) was Kelly's top receiver with four catches for 36 yards.
 
Mateo finished with 76 yards on 21 carries with three scores and Dai'Shon Munger (Westampton, NJ/Holy Cross) added 15 carries for 60 yards.
 
For ESU, Campbell went 12-of-25 for 109 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Bryan Thomson recorded a game-high 13 tackles with two sacks for ESU.
 
With a spot in the PSAC Championship Game clinched for the second straight year, the Huskies will now wait to see who their opponent will be in the Nov. 15 title contest. The team emerging with the Western Division championship following next week's contests will host that game.
 
The Huskies will finish their Eastern Division slate and try to continue improving its NCAA Playoff resume with a trip to Lock Haven next Saturday.
 
GAME NOTES: Bloomsburg has won the PSAC East title 15 times in school history, with nine titles coming since 2000 … The Huskies honored 14 seniors prior to the game – Cabrera, Drexler, McFadden, Mateo, Shirk, Bernadain Decena (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan), Matt Heilig (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin), Brady Knerr (Macungie/Emmaus), Tyler Knoblauch (Berlin, NJ/Eastern), Shawn Mitchell (Nazareth/Nazareth), Brody Myers (Akron/Ephrata), DJ Robinson (Sinking Spring/Conrad Weiser), Dylan Spangler (Waynesboro/Waynesboro) and Dylan Stair (Alpha, NJ/Phillipsburg) … This year's seniors own a 38-6 record during the past three-plus seasons including a 20-3 mark at home … Mateo moved into a tie for fourth in Huskies career touchdowns (41) along with Marques Glaze (1998-2001) … Mateo also surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in a season for the third time… Bloomsburg won its ninth straight game over ESU … Bloomsburg, the leading scoring defense in the PSAC, has allowed 14 or fewer points six times this season including five straight games … The Huskies entered the day ranked No. 1 in the Super Region One standings.