BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The upset-minded Bloomsburg Huskies knocked off #20 Shepherd in a 14-10 defensive showdown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East action. Junior Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) hit a career milestone in the win as he became the 14th player in Bloomsburg history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards.
 

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Monaco led the Huskies with 78 rushing yards on 19 attempts, including a long of 17. With his four-yard rush in the third quarter, Monaco hit 52 rushing yards for the game and officially cracked the 2,000-yard career rushing mark. His 78 yards for the game pushed his career total to 2,029, and he is ranked 14th all-time at Bloomsburg. He needs just 12 yards to overtake the 13th spot.
 
Ty Pringle (Cheyney, Pa./Bayard Rustin) ran for 28 yards and the game-winning touchdown, while Sean Hunt (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) got his first carry of his career, a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
 
Ben Ries (Bloomsbury, N.J./Phillipsburg) had a strong game under center as he went 14-for-26 with 186 yards and a long throw of 62 yards to Owen Anderson (Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore Area). Anderson caught three passes for 79 yards, and Monaco caught six for 40.
 
Bloomsburg won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Bloomsburg kicked off to the Rams, and Christian McDowell returned the kick to the Shepherd 28-yard line. The Huskies' defense forced its first turnover of the game on the third play of the drive. After Shepherd got down to the 31-yard line, Nadir McLeod (Philadelphia, Pa./Martin Luther King) picked off Seth Morgan at the Shepherd 48-yard line and returned it down to the 38 to set up a short field for the Huskies.
 
 The Bloomsburg offense went to work and took full advantage of the excellent field position and made quick work of the Rams' defense. Ries hit Anderson for nine yards on the first play of the drive before Monaco picked up the first down with a two-yard run. Ries then found Monaco for 18 yards down the sideline to get to the Shepherd-9. A pass into the end zone intended for Nas Jones (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) was broken up, but the defensive player got a bit too much of Jones on the play and was called for passing interference. The penalty got down to the Shepherd two-yard line, and Hunt rumbled in for the score for his first career carry and a touchdown with the Huskies. Christopher George (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) made the point after attempt for the 7-0 lead.
 
The Rams moved the ball down the field on their next drive but stalled out at the Bloomsburg 36-yard line as Malakai Brown rushed up the middle on 4th-and-2, but he was met by Tom Goetz (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway Regional) immediately, who pushed him back four yards to the Bloomsburg 35-yard line and the Rams turned the ball over on downs.
 
The next Husky drive ended on an interception at the end of the first quarter. The Rams ensuing drive ended with a punt. Neither team could find the endzone again until Morgan found Jeremiah Taylor for a 35-yard touchdown catch with 35 seconds to play before halftime.
 
The Rams and Huskies traded turnovers to open the third quarter as the Rams forced a fumble on the Huskies' first drive for the half, and McLeod returned the favor on the subsequent Rams drive.
 
With 2:52 to go in the third, Shepherd took its first lead of the game with a 37-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead.
 
 Both defenses kept the score close until the Huskies put together an eight-play, 88-yard touchdown drive that ate 3:13 off the clock. Ries hit Jerry Griffen-Batchler (Norristown, Pa./Germantown Academy) 21 yards to get down to the Bloomsburg 33-yard line. After a pass interference penalty was called, the Huskies got down to the Bloomsburg 48-yard line. Monaco ran for another four yards before catching an eight-yard pass to get to the Shepherd 40-yard line. A holding penalty after a nine-yard run from Ries moved the ball down to the Shepherd 21-yard line. Pringle rushed for another 12 yards, and an unnecessary roughness call got the Huskies to the Shepherd 4. Pringle finished off the drive with a four-yard run into the front corner of the endzone to give the Huskies a 13-10 lead. George finished the drive with the extra point and the 14-10 advantage.
 
Shepherd opened the drive with a 22-yard reception before the Rams got down to the Huskies' 27-yard line with 5:07 to play. Morgan heaved the ball into the endzone for Taylor, but Devin Fleming (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) and Hakeem Bacon (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy) were in coverage and broke up the pass to keep the Rams off the board. Morgan tried to hit Taylor again on the sideline, but Fleming was in coverage and popped the ball out of Taylor's hands to turn the ball over on downs.
 
Monaco rushed for nine yards on the first two plays before Ries found Monaco for seven yards and a first down. After he went back two yards, Monaco picked up five yards on the ground to keep the clock running before running for 14 and a first down. The first down sealed the game for the Huskies and sent the Rams back on the country roads down to Shepherdstown, W. Va.
 
Bloomsburg hits the road for the Huskies' final away game of the season as they head to Millersville for a 12:00 p.m. PSAC East contest.
 

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INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) became the 14th player in school history with 2,000 career rushing yards. His 2,029 yards came in 30 games played. Monaco is on pace to reach 2,907 yards for his career by the end of his senior season, which would put him ninth all-time at Bloomsburg. He needs just 12 yards to overtake 13th on the list.
• The 10 points allowed by the Huskies' defense is the second-fewest points scored by Shepherd this season. Kutztown held the Rams to just three points in the beginning of the year.
• The 10 points were second fewest points scored by the Rams in a conference game since joining the PSAC in 2019 and third fewest points that Shepherd has scored in the last four seasons.
• Ben Ries' (Bloomsbury, N.J./Phillipsburg) 62-yard pass to Owen Anderson (Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) was the longest pass of his career and the longest reception of Anderson's career.
• Sean Hunt's (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was his first carry of his career. It is the second time this season a freshman running back scored a touchdown on their first carry as a Husky after Matt Buchman (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) did it against Clarion in the second week of the season.
• The Huskies have the third-best scoring defense in the PSAC, allowing just 17.8 points per game against PSAC opponents.
• Bloomsburg's offensive line has allowed just six sacks in conference games, the fewest in the PSAC.
• The Huskies are the least penalized team in the PSAC - averaging just 31.8 penalty yards a game after just one penalty for 10 yards against the Rams.