HTML BOX SCORE

CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University football team wrapped up the 2018 season on Saturday afternoon with a 28-13 loss at California University of Pennsylvania. The Huskies, who had their four-game winning streak snapped, concluded the year with a 6-5 overall record while the Vulcans ended their season at 7-4 overall.

Redshirt junior Alex Gooden (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) had a big day for the Huskies as he finished with 20 carries for 68 yards and one score, three catches for 34 yards, and two kickoff returns for 117 yards which included an 86-yard return for a touchdown late in the third quarter. It was Bloomsburg's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Jesse Cooper returned a kickoff 91 yards for a score at Millersville on October 4, 2008. Gooden totaled 219 all-purpose yards on the afternoon. Unfortunately for the Huskies, they had no answer for California running back Nelson Brown who carried the ball 33 times for 214 yards and three scores and also caught three passes for 39 yards on the afternoon. Brown became the first opposing running back to surpass 200 yards on the ground against the Huskies since West Chester's Rondell White had 211 yards on November 3, 2012.

Bloomsburg could muster only 208 yards of total offense on the day with 92 of those coming on its opening possession. After the Vulcans got into Huskies' territory on their opening drive but were forced to punt, Bloomsburg took over at its own eight-yard line and marched right down the field as Gooden capped off an 11-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run and, after redshirt freshman Jaco Sattamini (Delaware Water Gap, Pa./Stroudsburg) added the extra point, the Huskies led 7-0 with 4:33 left in the opening quarter. Senior Hakeem Sillman (Philadelphia, Pa./Frankford) led the way with 28 yards on the ground during the drive while Gooden chipped in with 25. Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Erik Benjamin (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) was 2-of-2 for 39 yards on the drive including a 30-yard strike to junior Marshall Rizzuto (Port Matilda, Pa./Williston Northampton (Mass.)) to get the Huskies into California territory.

The Vulcans answered right back as Brown found paydirt from 16 yards out to cap off a six-play, 60-yard drive. Brian Alsobrooks added the extra point and the game was tied at 7-7 with 2:09 left in the opening quarter.

Bloomsburg got back into the California half of the field on its next drive but Jermal Brown intercepted Benjamin at the Vulcans' 15 and returned it 54 yards to the Bloomsburg 31. Four plays later, the Vulcans had their first lead of the day when Brown scored again, this time from 23 yards out, to give the hosts a 14-7 advantage with 12:21 left in the first half. California had two more opportunities to put additional points on the board before halftime but an Alsobrooks' 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked by sophomore Kasean Patterson (Philadelphia, Pa./Lankenau) with 7:43 left and then Alsobrooks missed wide right on a 30-yard try with 20 seconds remaining. The Huskies' defense came up with a huge win on the final drive of the half as California had first-and-goal from the four before having to settle for the 30-yard field goal try that was missed.

However, the potential momentum swing never came to fruition as the Vulcans scored on their first two possessions of the second half to extend the advantage to 28-7. Quarterback Noah Mitchell hit Tyson Hill on a 31-yard touchdown strike with 10:17 left in the third which was followed by Brown's third rushing touchdown of the day, this time from two yards out, with 4:42 remaining in the quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Gooden took it to the house for an 86-yard kickoff return - Bloomsburg's first in ten years - to cut the lead to 28-13 with 4:29 left in the third quarter. Those points, however, proved to be the final points of the afternoon as the Huskies could get no closer.

Bloomsburg had an even 100 yards rushing and 108 yards passing to account for its 208 yards of offense on the afternoon. The Huskies had 125 yards of offense on their first two drives but could manage only 73 yards over the course of their final eight drives. Gooden led the ground attack with his 68 yards while Sillman finished with 53 on 11 carries. Benjamin was 6-of-9 passing for 70 yards and one interception but had to give way to redshirt sophomore Blake Levengood (Boyertown, Pa./Southern Lehigh) after leaving the game with an injury. Levengood went 4-of-8 for 38 yards in the first substantial action of his career. Redshirt junior Michael Allen (Oley, Pa./Fleetwood) led the receiving corps with six catches for 44 yards. Gooden had three receptions for 34 yards while Rizzuto had a single catch for 30 yards during the Huskies' opening drive.

The Vulcans, meanwhile, finished with 398 yards of offense which included 228 on the ground. Mitchell finished the day going 15-of-29 for 170 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Hill was the leading receiver with five catches for 70 yards.

Defensively, redshirt junior Alex Annan (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) finished with a career-high 14 total tackles (seven solo, seven assisted) and had one-and-a-half tackles for a loss. Redshirt senior Josh Salak (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) had seven stops while senior Chris Gary (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and redshirt freshman Logan Yohn (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) added six each. Senior Jake Klinger (Berwick, Pa./Central Columbia) had the Huskies' lone sack of the afternoon and redshirt freshman Tyshaun Pollard (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) had the Huskies' pick. California was led by London Cloud who finished with 17 total stops (seven solo) and a tackle for a loss. Lamont McPhatter had two of California's four sacks.

Bloomsburg finishes the 2018 season with a 6-5 overall record and took third place in the PSAC Eastern Division standings with a 4-2 divisional mark and, for the 20th consecutive season, the Huskies wrapped up the year with a winning record and won six or more games. The latter is a conference record and the winning-season streak is the third longest in conference history, behind 31 for West Chester and 22 for Clarion. Bloomsburg's previous school-record streak for consecutive winning seasons was 10, set from 1946 to 1955. The winning record this year also came against long odds as it was only the third time in school history the program managed a winning record after having a losing mark through five games. The other two were in 1946 and 2007, which ended with four- and five-game winning streaks, respectively.

Stay up to date with the Huskies all season long by following us on our official social media accounts: Twitter (@GoBUHuskies), Facebook (BUHuskies), and Instagram (BUHuskies).