EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University football team put together an impressive opening drive against East Stroudsburg University on Saturday but struggled to maintain consistency on the offense as the Huskies fell to the Warriors, 35-14. The Huskies dropped to 2-6 on the year and 1-4 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East action while the Warriors improved to 5-3 for the year and 3-2 in PSAC East play.
 
The Huskies received the opening kick and marched down the field 77 yards on seven plays and used 2:47 of the clock to open the game with a 7-0 lead. The drive was capped by a 1-yard run by freshman Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and the converted extra point by freshman Michael Baloga. Monaco opened the drive with a five-yard run and after an incomplete pass intended for freshman Malik Langley (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy) just escaped his grasps, Monaco broke out a 33-yard run to get the Huskies into Warrior territory at the ESU-39 yard line. Monaco got the Huskies down to the ESU 35 before freshman David LePoidevin (Middlesex, N.J./Bound Brook) connected with freshman Nas Jones (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) for a 31-yard reception and Husky first down at the ESU-4. Monaco pushed the pile ahead three yards before getting the carry on the final play of the drive as he got into the end zone. Baloga connected on the extra point and is now 6-for-6 on extra-point attempts for the Huskies.
 
The Warriors answered the BU touchdown drive with one of their own as they used 5:31 of the clock and went 11-plays and 75 yards for a five-yard run by Tyriq Lewis to tie the game at 7-7.
 
The Huskies were forced to punt on their next possession and the Warriors used the short field to go 33 yards and settled for a 33-yard field goal to take the 10-7 lead in the final minutes of the first quarter.
 
Bloomsburg stalled out on their next drive and was forced to punt from its own 30-yard line. Senior Jaco Sattamini (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) pinned the Warriors inside their own 20 at the ESU 17 and Rece Bender returned it to the 26-yard line to start the drive. The Warriors got down to the Bloomsburg 19 and were stopped thanks to a four-yard sack by senior AJ Simon (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and settled for another field goal to take a 13-7 lead.

The next two Husky drives ended in turnovers and the Warriors capitalized on their new possessions with a touchdown at the end of their next two drives. Jake Cirillo connected with Dawson Stuart on a two-point conversion to give ESU a 21-7 lead with 30 seconds to play before the half.
 
Ryan Hieber picked off LePoidevin on the Huskies' next possession and returned it for six points and after a good extra point, the Warriors led 28-7 going into halftime.
 
The Warriors got the ball to open the second half and used 12-plays and 71 yards to push their lead to 35-7 in the third quarter. After Bloomsburg punted on its first possession of the second half, Nyree Ford-Cherry (/) intercepted Jake Cirillo at the ESU 32 to set up a short field for Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies worked their way to the end zone but were plagued by three penalties that prevented them from gaining some momentum and turned the ball over on downs at the ESU-16.
 
The Huskies forced a punt on the new Warrior drive and took over to end the third quarter and start the fourth.
 
After an ESU unsportsmanlike penalty got the Huskies down to the ESU 25, LePoidevin connected with senior Tyshaun Pollard (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) for the 25-yard strike and touchdown. Baloga improved to 7-for-7 on extra points for the Huskies and cut the lead to 35-14 early in the fourth.
 
Simon forced a fumble on the first play of the new Warrior drive and redshirt junior Mason Malozzi (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) jumped on the loose ball to give the Huskies the possession at the ESU 22.
 
The Warriors defense protected their lead as they moved the Huskies back 17 yards on the drive and forced a BU punt. The Warriors marched down the field and got to the Bloomsburg-6 before Malozzi incepted Cirillo in the end zone to end the scoring threat.
 
The Huskies and Warriors traded punts on the next two drives and the Huskies just ran out of time at the end of the game as graduate student Alex Gooden (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) picked up 12 yards on two carries at the end of the game.
 
Monaco put together a seemingly quiet 100-yard rushing game, his second of the season, as he ran for 103 yards on 17 carries and his first career touchdown.
 
LePoidevin threw for 139 yards on 13 catches and one touchdown. Langley caught four passes for 48 yards while Jones caught two balls for 41 yards. Pollard had a pair of catches for 31 yards and one touchdown.
 
Defensively, the Huskies were led by Malozzi with 11 total tackles, one fumble recovery, and one interception while junior Quinten Gaskill had 10 tackles, 1.0 TFL for four yards, and 1.0 sack for four yards. Both Gaskill and Simon forced a fumble while Ford-Cherry had an interception.
 
The Huskies return home next Saturday as they host #11 Shepherd University for their annual Think Pink Game at 2:00 pm. The Huskies will also honor their seven newest members of the Bloomsburg Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime. Tickets for the induction ceremony are available until Wednesday, October 28 at 12:00 pm.