Following a two-game road swing, the Bloomsburg University football team returns to Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium for its annual Homecoming contest against Lock Haven. The Huskies are coming off of their first divisional victory of the season last Saturday at East Stroudsburg while the Bald Eagles have dropped six straight after a season-opening win against Lincoln.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against Lock Haven, 48-40-3. Last season, the Huskies snapped a modest two-game skid against the Bald Eagles after posting a 33-7 victory in Lock Haven. Bloomsburg finished with 470 yards of total offense while limiting Lock Haven to just 246 total yards on the afternoon.
Erik Benjamin (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) threw for 190 yards and three scores while
Alex Gooden (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) led the Huskies' ground game with 94 yards on just 11 carries. Chantz Swartz led the Bald Eagles with 114 yards on only seven carries - 84 of which came on a single run early in the second quarter.
THROUGH THE ARCHIVES with BLOOMSBURG ARCHIVIST BOB DUNKELBERGER
- The victory over East Stroudsburg on Saturday put Bloomsburg above .500 in the all-time series against the Warriors, 45-44-2. The is the first time the Huskies have had the advantage against East Stroudsburg since 1958, when the series record stood at 14-13-2.
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- The 22-17 final with East Stroudsburg was the first time in 1,090 games in school history the Huskies have won a contest by that score. The games closest to it were both victories against Millersville: 21-17 on the road in 1996 and 23-17 at home in 1970. The latter was a last-minute win at Homecoming.
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- The all-time record for Bloomsburg on October 26 is 12-2, with a record of 9-0 at home and 3-2 on the road. The first game was a 48-0 victory over the Harry Hillman Academy of Wilkes-Barre in 1895. Bloomsburg has won five straight on this date since the last loss in 1974. Four of the nine home victories have been on a Homecoming: 6-0 over Indiana in 1935, 24-14 over Shippensburg in 1940, a 44-14 win against Cheyney in 1991, and 42-19 over Shippensburg in 1996.
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- This weekend, the 92nd Homecoming is being celebrated - since the first one held in 1928 - and the 90th Homecoming football game. Bloomsburg's record on Homecoming is 55-33-1. The Huskies have lost three straight Homecoming games for the first time since 1980-82. Only twice before has Lock Haven been the Homecoming opponent, both losses, by a score of 14-6 in 1937 and 8-7 in 1945, when the Bloomsburg state teachers college team consisted of naval officer cadets.
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- Saturday's contest with Lock Haven is the 92nd in the series, with Bloomsburg's record in the first 91 games being 48-40-3: 27-17-3 at home and 21-23 on the road. The first game was 111 years ago, when the Bloomsburg State Normal School won at home in 1908 by a score of 9-5. The Huskies are 17-3 against the Bald Eagles in the last 20 games since 1993 - 9-1 at home and 8-2 on the road.
- Bloomsburg is two wins shy of 600 in program history while
Paul Darragh is two wins shy of his 51st career victory which would move him into second place on the school's all-time wins list.
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- Bloomsburg has had a winning record in the PSAC East for 26 consecutive seasons and 34 of the last 36 since 1983. The only non-winning records since then were 3-3 in 1989 and 1-5 in 1992.
- The Huskies have scored at least one point in 191 consecutive games dating back to a 21-0 home loss against Shippensburg on September 13, 2003.
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg enters Saturday's contest with a record of 2-5 overall and an 1-3 mark in the PSAC East after defeating East Stroudsburg, 22-17, last Saturday. Offensively, the Huskies are last in the league as they are averaging only 230.0 yards of total offense over the opening seven weeks of the 2019 season. Bloomsburg is seventh in the league on defense, allowing 354.5 yards per contest. Last week, all 22 of the Huskies' points came on defense and via special teams in the victory over East Stroudsburg.
On the ground, redshirt sophomore
Khalil Nelson (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter Thomas) leads the team in rushing with 341 yards on 77 attempts while redshirt junior
Nyfease West (Philadelphia, Pa./North Penn) has added 230 yards on 53 totes of his own. Bloomsburg is 11th in the league in rushing, averaging 95.3 yards per game - and just 2.9 yards per carry. Redshirt freshman
Logan Leiby (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) has completed 55.2% of his passes (90-of-163) for 913 yards and four touchdowns - with four interceptions on the year. The Huskies' 130.4 passing yards per game average is last in the league with Edinboro (174.7) being the next closest in that category. Senior
Michael Allen (Oley, Pa./Fleetwood) leads the Huskies with 31 catches for 429 yards and two scores.
Defensively, the Huskies are led by senior
Alex Annan (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) who has recorded 49 total tackles and six tackles for a loss. Junior
Aaron Trumino (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) has chipped in 43 total stops and a pair of defensive touchdowns while junior
Alex Findura (Stockbridge, Ga./Woodland) has 42 tackles and a team-high nine tackles for a loss. Findura also recorded the Huskies' first safety since 2005 in last Saturday's win at East Stroudsburg. Redshirt sophomore
Cameron Young (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) leads the team in interceptions with two while redshirt sophomore
Tariq Blakney Jr. (Philadelphia, Pa./Abraham Lincoln), redshirt sophomore
Chris Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West), and Trumino have also each tallied an interception. Ten players have had a hand in 11 total sacks for Bloomsburg thus far this season.
Findura is the reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week while Monaco, who returned a kickoff 87 yards for his first collegiate touchdown last week, is the reigning PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week.
SCOUTING LOCK HAVEN
Lock Haven has won just one of its seven games this season with its only victory - a 57-13 win against Lincoln - coming in its opening game of the season. Lock Haven is sixth in the PSAC in total offense (391.9 yards per game) but ranks last defensively in average yards allowed per game (479.0).
The offense is led by quarterback Kyle Knight who has completed 49.3% of his passes (69-of-140) for 1,031 yards and six touchdowns. On the ground, Chantz Swartz leads the way with 119 carries for a league-best 666 yards and four touchdowns. Swartz' 95.1 yards-per-game average ranks second in the PSAC in that category - trailing only Clarion's Mylique McGriff (121.4). Jalen Jackson leads the team in receiving with 25 receptions for 406 yards and four touchdowns.
Kahari Whitifield is tops on the team with 47 total tackles while Alex Welch is next on the team with 43 total stops. Lock Haven ranks last in the league in sacks with just five on the season.
UP NEXT
Bloomsburg will be back on the road next Saturday, November 2, for its final contest away from home in the 2019 season. The Huskies will square off against the Marauders of Millersville University at Biemesderfer Stadium beginning at 12:00 p.m.
