Box Score (HTML)

ATHENS, W. Va. – A valiant rally effort by the Bloomsburg University football team came up just short in the Super Region 1 Championship Game on Saturday afternoon at rainy Callaghan Stadium as Concord held on for a 32-26 victory to move on to the NCAA Division II semifinals.

Bloomsburg (11-2) rallied from 21 points down to tie in the third quarter and appeared to have all the momentum before the Mountain Lions (13-0) responded to keep their perfect season alive.

"I'm extremely proud of the effort of our guys," Bloomsburg head coach Paul Darragh said. "It's disappointing to get this close and lose a tough game like that, but the season we had is a credit to our guys and to our staff.

"We stayed the course and battled back," Darragh continued. "We have played our best football in the second half this season. To our guys' credit, we did stay in and fight back."

Eddie Mateo (Bethlehem/Freedom) rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries while Tim Kelly (Camp Hill/Cedar Cliff) finished by completing 16 of 36 pass attempts for 239 yards and a score, rushing for another. D.J. McFadden (Willow Grove/Abington) caught five balls for 97 yards and a score while Chad Hoffman (Drums/Hazleton) had three catches for 68 yards.

The Huskies pulled into their bag of tricks on the very first play of the game, calling for an on-side kick from Tyler Smith (Gettysburg/Gettysburg). The play worked to perfection, allowing Smith to recover his own kick to give Bloomsburg possession near midfield.

Bloomsburg's drive moved just 17 yards before Concord forced a turnover on downs to end the threat.

Concord, the Mountain East Champions, then quickly displayed its electric offense which ranked third in the nation entering the day, using three plays of 15 yards to march 64 yards in nine plays – finding the end zone on an eight-yard strike from Brian Novak to Ryan Stewart for the 6-0 lead. The point after attempt found the Mountain Lions fumbling the snap, though, allowing linebacker Garrett Pope (Northumberland/Shikellamy) to scoop up the loose ball and race the length of the field for two points and a 6-2 score less than six minutes into the game.

The Mountain Lions forced Bloomsburg to go three-and-out on the next drive, and again pushed deep into Huskies territory. Bloomsburg's defense forced a Mountain Lions field goal attempt and Andy Ellington easily punched his kick through the uprights from 22 yards out for a 9-2 edge at the end of the opening quarter.

Both teams possessed a return man who ranked inside the top 10 nationally in punt return average entering the day and it was the Mountain Lions who would strike first on special teams. Just over a minute into the second quarter, Concord return man Jermeil Douse made a man miss quickly and then cut up the near sideline for an 81-yard touchdown to give the Mountain Lions a 16-2 lead.

Concord kept rolling on the ensuing kickoff, forcing a Huskies fumble in the pouring rain and the Mountain Lions took over at the Bloomsburg 25.

Just 2:41 later, Concord took full advantage of the Huskies fumble. After Bloomsburg's Scott Beltz (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl Area) pulled down Mountain East Conference Offensive Player of the Year Calvinaugh Jones at the 1-yard line, Concord set up in field goal formation. Head coach Gavin Justice called timeout and sent out his offense and it turned out to be the right call as Jones plunged in from a yard out on the next play to extend the Mountain Lions lead to 23-2.

Bloomsburg finally found a spark late in the first half on a 53-yard pass play over the middle from Kelly to Hoffman. Five plays later, a pitch to Mateo saw the senior tailback force his way through defenders and fall backward into the end zone for the first offensive points of the day and a 23-9 deficit for the visitors entering the half.

The first drive of the second half for Bloomsburg was quickly snuffed out, but it wasn't long before the visitors continued their rally. The Huskies entered the day just one away from the school record for turnovers generated in a season (42) and tied it on a second quarter interception from Jerrin Toomey (York/West York). Bloomsburg broke the record on one of the biggest plays of the season – a Concord snap went over the head of Novak, allowing Jeremiah Lowery (Sharon Hill/Academy Park) to pounce on the ball at the Lions 15.

 Mateo rushed for 13 yards on the first play from scrimmage for the Huskies and was stopped one yard short of the goal line on the next attempt. Kelly would not be denied one play later, shoving his way into the end zone to cut the deficit to only a touchdown.

Bloomsburg's defense continued to gain strength on the next drive, forcing three-and-out to give the ball back to the offense once more.

The offense kept humming, working into Concord territory on a 26-yard run from Lawrence Elliott Jr. (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) Later in the drive, facing 4th-and-7 at the Concord 22, the field goal unit hit the field. After a timeout, however, head coach Paul Darragh made the call to go for it – and was quickly rewarded. D.J. McFadden (Willow Grove/Abington) beat his defender on a double move on the far side and worked himself wide open in the back of the end zone where Kelly found him for the 22-yard touchdown and a 23-23 tie.

With all of the momentum in the favor of the Huskies, Concord counter-punched with a four-play, 74-yard touchdown drive capped on a 16-yard sprint by Jones. The point after attempt again was soured by a poor snap, however, leaving the score at 29-23.

Bloomsburg cut into the deficit once more, going 52 yards in 11 plays. Braden Drexler (Bethlehem/Nazareth) was forced to wait for a teammate to run on the field at the last second before the field goal attempt, but was neither deterred by the dwindling play clock nor the rain, making good from 28 yards out to pull within 29-26 with 1:39 left in the third.

Concord looked in position to potentially punch it in once more on its next drive, but a receiver slipped in the end zone to force a 21-yard field goal from Andy Ellington to make it 32-26 with 9:15 to go.

Bloomsburg's defense gave the Huskies one more chance – stopping Jones on 3rd-and-2 to force a punt, taking over at their own 37 with exactly two minutes to play.

Forced into a 4th-and-5 situation, a Kelly pass was tipped by a Concord defender near midfield and intercepted by Lions defensive back Derrick Johnson to seal the Super Region 1 title for the Mountain Lions.

Novak completed 15 of 22 passes for 185 yards and a score with his favorite receiver being Douse who caught seven balls for 67 yards. Jones tallied 116 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.

Concord now advances to play at Minnesota State-Mankato, the Super Region 3 champions and national No. 1, on Saturday, Dec. 13.