BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – A defensive stop and a touchdown in all three phases of the game led the Bloomsburg University football team to a 21-16 win over West Chester University Saturday evening. The Huskies improved to 2-3 on the year and 1-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East action, while the Golden Rams dropped to 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.
 
With 2:27 to play in the fourth, the Golden Rams started their drive at the Bloomsburg 35-yard line thanks to a 43-yard punt return by Phil Poquie and a Bloomsburg penalty. WCU opened the drive with an incomplete to Julian Kelly. After a six-yard pick-up on the ground, the Huskies' defense stepped up, forced two more incomplete passes to take over on downs, and then ran out the clock for the 21-16 win.
 
"I challenged the team that we have to go into games knowing we are good enough to win," remarked head coach Frank Sheptock. "West Chester has a good record, and maybe we haven't beaten (them) in a few years. But we still have to believe that we can do that – we have to prove that we can do it. Boy, in that second half, some things started to go against us. But you see some things coming to fruition about stepping up and making plays and closing a game out. We still have to get better in a lot of ways."
 
The Huskies defense set the tone for the game on the opening drive. West Chester began the game at its own nine-yard line after Poquie managed just nine yards on the opening kickoff return. Ethan Kohler connected on his first two passes of the game to get the Golden Rams to their 35-yard line. After that, the Huskies' defense settled in and forced two incomplete passes, one broken up by Quentin Gaskill (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) and a punt from the West Chester 37.
 
Graduate student Tyshaun Pollard (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) had a fair catch at the Bloomsburg 14 off the punt, and the offense got to work. After an incomplete pass, freshman KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) hit Matthew Bowes (Somerton, Pa./La Salle College HS) for a 23-yard catch and a first down at the BLOOM 37. Riley and Bowes connected for another five yards before Riley found Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) in space and a 58-yard touchdown catch on the Huskies' fourth play of the game. Monaco caught the pass at the West Chester 30-yard line and took off for the final 30 yards of the 58-yard TD pass.
 
The Golden Rams got down to the Bloomsburg eight-yard line on their next drive and were threatening to score before Giovanni Cancro (Pequannock, N.J./Pequannock Township) forced a fumble out of the hands of Ja'Den McKenzie in the end zone for a touchback.
 
The turnover did not lead to points for the Huskies, but it kept the Golden Rams off the scoreboard, and they held on to their 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
West Chester returned the favor forcing a fumble on the Huskies' drive that continued in the second quarter as the Huskies were threatening again. Starting from their own 19, the Golden Rams made it to their 43 yard-line before the drive stalled out, and they were forced to punt. The special teams took over as sophomore Ryan D'Ambra (Southampton, Pa./Archbishop Wood) got his first career blocked punt, and sophomore Hakeem Bacon (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy) scooped up the loose ball and scrambled into the end zone for a special teams TD and the 14-0 lead thanks to freshman Brendan McGonigle's (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) extra point.
 
"We get the punt block which is a tremendous game swing. You've got to take your hat off to Coach Jones over the last two years with how our special teams have played," said Coach Sheptock. "Because between field position and some of the things that we are doing, it is very impressive and has made our program significantly better. I am really proud of our kids because they are really buying into that part of the game."
 
The Golden Rams broke up the shutout with a field goal on their next drive. After getting into the red zone, Kohler was sacked on 3^rd-and-8 for a loss of four yards back to the Bloomsburg 24 by junior Joseph Kahn (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove), and WCU settled for the 41-yard field goal.
 
The Huskies went three-and-out on their next drive, and the Golden Rams drove down the first using eight plays to go 56 yards before Kohler fumbled the snap at the BLOOM-12. Redshirt junior defensive lineman William Martin III (Darby Township, Pa./Academy Park) grabbed the ball and hustled down the field for an 88-yard fumble return touchdown with two seconds left in the half. The Huskies led 21-3 at the break.
 
Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter before West Chester put the pressure on the BU defense in the fourth quarter. The Golden Rams scored on their first drive of the fourth to cut the Huskies' lead to 21-10 with 7:47 to play. The Huskies went three-and-out on their next drive, and West Chester again found the endzone on an 11-yard rush by Poquie with 5:06 to play. West Chester's two-point conversion play failed, and Bloomsburg clung to a 21-16 lead.
 
The Huskies were in danger of going three-and-out once again with time left off on the clock, but a pass interference call gave them a first down and new life in their drive. Bloomsburg was able to rush the ball three more times to run the clock down before punting the ball away with 2:27 to go. The Huskies' defense stepped up in the final two minutes and sealed the win for BU.
 
"We made the stands when we needed to," commented Coach Sheptock on his defensive unit. "We got the 88-yard touchdown by Billy; we got some big stops throughout the game that I thought impacted the outcome and gave our defensive guys some great confidence. They stepped up and made the play on the 4^th-and-5 to end the game; it was a real signature play."
 
D'Ambra led the defensive unit with 12 tackles and a blocked kick, while Gaskill made nine stops, forced a fumble, and broke up a pass for the Huskies. Martin finished the day with seven tackles, including 1.0 for a loss and the 88-yard fumble recovery touchdown.
 
Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) finished the day with 123 all-purpose yards behind 58 receiving, 22 rushing, and 43 on the kick return. Riley went 3-for-7 with 86 yards and rushed for 26. Davin LePoidevin was 3-for-6 with six yards passing and 13 yards rushing.
 
The Huskies return to action next Saturday as they hit the road for just the second time this season. Bloomsburg travels to Kutztown University for a PSAC East match-up slated to kick off at 12:00 p.m.