BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University football team didn't let rain dampen its day as the Huskies' offense exploded for 44 points and its defense locked down Lock Haven for a 44-0 win on Homecoming, Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Huskies improved to 2-5 on the year and 1-3 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action while the Bald Eagles fell to 1-6 on the year and 0-4 in the PSAC.

The shutout for the Huskies was their first since 2015 when they rolled to a 63-0 win over Cheyney on October 3 at Redman Stadium. 

Bloomsburg hit the ground running - literally - as they racked up a season-best 227 yards on 53 carries and ran in for three scores against LHU. They averaged 4.28 yards per carry, second-best average this season only behind a 4.97 average per carry against Gannon. 

The Bloomsburg offense racked up a total of 473 yards including 246 from freshman David LePoidevin (Middlesex, N.J./Bound Brook) in the air. LePoidevin was efficient with his passing in the rain as he went 7-for-16 for the 246 yards and averaged 15.4 yards per attempt and an impressive 35.1 yards per completion. He threw a career-best three touchdowns - including a career-long 78-yard rocket to freshman Malik Langley (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy). 

Huskies' defense was impenetrable on Saturday as they gave up just 96 total yards to the Bald Eagles. LHU ran the ball 32 times for just 63 yards total and threw it 22 times for just 33 yards. Senior Chris Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) picked off the LHU quarterback late in the second quarter and returned it for a season-high return of 26 yards. 

Bloomsburg sacked the Bald Eagles' quarterback twice - once for senior AJ Simon (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and once for senior Chase Heath (Dover, Pa./Dover Area). The Huskies had a total 9.0 tackles for loss in the game that accounted for a loss of 33 yards for the Bald Eagles. Simon and Adam Burkhart (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) led the tackling for Bloomsburg with nine each, while Simon had four solo and Burkhart had three. 

After trading three-and-outs in the first two possessions, the Huskies forced another three-and-out for the Bald Eagles on their second possession of the first quarter that went nine yards and ran just 2:17 off of the clock. On Bloomsburg's next possession, the Huskies methodically marched down the field for a 13-yard, 80-yard drive that went for 5:30. Freshman Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) set the tone for the drive as he muscled his way through the Bald Eagles defense for a 13-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. He picked up another two on the next play before LePoidevin connected with Matthew Bowes (Somerton, Pa./La Salle College HS) for a 16-yard strike to get past midfield. Monaco ran it for another 23 yards on his next three carries before senior Tyshaun Pollard (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) ran it for a Huskies first down at the Lock Haven 19-yard line. Monaco got the Huskies down to the 12 and LePoidevin kept it himself to get to the LHU-8 and another first down. After three rushes pushed the ball down to the Lock Haven 1-yard line and facing a fourth-and-goal, head coach Frank Sheptock elected to use his quarterback and the strong offensive line to push the ball over the goal line with a quarterback sneak and the first score of the game. Freshman Mike Baloga (Hazle Township, Pa./Marian Catholic) connected on the extra point and gave BU a 7-0 lead with 2:46 to play in the first quarter. 

From that point on, it was all Bloomsburg. After forcing another three-and-out, the Huskies sustained an 11-play, 67-yard drive that spilled into the second quarter. While it didn't result in points for BU, it ate time off of the clock and kept the Bald Eagle defense on the field. 

The Bald Eagles picked up their first first down of the game on their fourth play of the second quarter. Starting on their own two, Dymeir Still rushed six yards to the LHU-15 on 3rd-and-3 to get the Bald Eagles out of safety danger. An illegal block on the next play brought the ball back to the LHU-7 and Simon sacked Ethan Persa back to the LHU-2 for a 2nd-and-23 for Lock Haven. The Huskies defense stood tall and forced a couple of incomplete passes and a punt from Lock Haven. 

Starting at the LHU-45 after a 43-yard Lock Haven punt, the Huskies needed just one play to go up 14-0. LePoidevin connected with Langley on the first play from scrimmage for a 45-yard catch-and-run touchdown and Baloga's extra point put the Huskies up 14-0. 

The 14-0 advantage for Bloomsburg held going into halftime as the rain fell harder on Danny Hale Field. 

The Huskies scored on three of their first four drives of the second half to put up 17 points in the third quarter - the most points in a quarter for BU this season. Baloga connected on a 25-yard field goal for the first score of the quarter and LePoidevin hit Langley for the 78-yard TD for the second score.  The Huskies forced a fumble on Lock Haven's next possession at the Bald Eagles 15-yard line which set up a short field and an easy 13-yard connection between Pollard and LePoidevin for the 31-0 Bloomsburg lead. 

The Bald Eagles worked their way past midfield on their last drive of the third that continued into the fourth quarter but the Huskies defense stalled them at the Bloomsburg 43-yard line after a fumble on 2nd-and-1 pushed the Bald Eagles back to the Bloomsburg 43 and they had an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-5. The Huskies took over on downs after Jordan Heisey couldn't connect with Kareem Davis on 4th-and-5.

Senior Alex Gooden (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) broke free on the first play of the drive and muscled his way down to the Lock Haven 10-yard line for a 47-yard pick up, his longest run of the season. Gooden kept the ball for most of the drive and eventually punched it in from one yard out to give Bloomsburg a 38-0 lead. 

The Huskies forced a three-and-out on the next drive and started their drive at the 50-yard line with 8:15 to play in the game. After senior Nyfease West (Philadelphia, Pa./North Penn) rushed for 15 yards on three carries, freshman quarterback Ben Ries (Bloomsbury, N.J./Phillipsburg) kept it himself for a 34-yard score and the 44-0 Bloomsburg lead. 

The Bald Eagles went 3-and-Out on their next drive and the Huskies ran out the clock on their final drive of the game to seal the 44-0 win on Homecoming. 

Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) finished the day with 18 carries and 91 yards on the ground - almost entirely positive yardage as he went backward just once for a loss of one yard. Gooden ran it six times for 55 yards while West carried it eight times for 40 yards.

Langley caught the ball twice for 123 yards - both touchdown catches - including the 78-yard TD. Pollard finished with two catches for 48 yards. 

The Huskies return to action next Saturday as they travel to East Stroudsburg for a 1:00 pm PSAC East contest.