Football | 9/22/2023 4:57:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -  The Bloomsburg football team hits the road for its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East contest of the season as they visit Shippensburg for a 1:00 p.m. kick off.

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WATCH ON YOUR TV
• Fans can watch the game live and on-demand for free on the Bloomsburg Athletics Digital Network.
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MOBILE APP
• Fans can also watch all PSAC football games on the PSAC Sports Digital Network mobile app that is available for free in the app stores on Apple and Android devices.
• The Live Streaming Video link above will also work on all mobile devices.

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Full Game Notes (PDF)

THE GAME
The Huskies get back on the road against Shippensburg on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. contest. It's the PSAC East opener for both teams. Bloomsburg is coming off a tough 23-13 loss to Edinboro at home while the Raiders fell to IUP 49-14 in the final PSAC East/West Crossover game.

THE SERIES
The Huskies and Raiders meet for the 87^th time in program history on Saturday. The Raiders hold a 49-37 series advantage and are 6-4 in the last 10 match ups. The last Huskies' win came on September 22, 2018 when Bloomsburg defeated Shippensburg 28-24 at Redman Stadium. The last win on the road for Bloomsburg came in 2015 when the Huskies defeated Shippensburg 17-6. The Raiders have won the last three contests.

SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG
The Raiders are 0-3 entering Saturday's game. Sam Stoner looks to get his second start under center for Shippensburg. In his first game this season, Stoner threw for 122 yards and one touchdown. He was 6-for-9 on completions after coming in the second half against IUP.
 
Jake DeLuccia leads the ground game for the Raiders with 85 yards on 30 carries. He's gotten into the endzone once this season. Onasis Neely has 45 yards on 13 carries for Shippensburg. Redd Douglas has been the top receiver for the Raiders with 223 yards on 15 catches and one touchdown. DeLuccia has 167 receiving yards on nine catches and a touchdown as well. Jaimen Bryant and Tykey Reinberry each have caught a touchdown pass for Shippensburg.
 
Jaxon Montross has done all of the kicking for Shippensburg this season and is averaging 37.39 yards per punt, 62.8 yards per kick off and is 2-for-4 on field goal attempts. He is 5-5 on point after kicks.
 
Terrance Peterson, Jr. is the Raiders' leading tackler with 24 stops this season, including 15 solo and nine assisted. He has 2.5 tackles for a loss of nine yards and blocked one kick. Ibrahim Diawara leads the defense with 2.0 sacks and 4.5 TFL (19 yards). Mike Brewer and Chrisom Ifeanyi have the only two interceptions for the Raiders this season.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
The Huskies dropped to 1-2 on the year after a tough loss to Edinboro last Saturday. Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) ran for 149 yards on 15 carries and the Huskies came away with a pair of interceptions, but the Fighting Scots kept the Huskies out of the endzone in the second and third quarter to spoil Bloomsburg's home opener.

Sophomore KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) is putting together a strong sophomore campaign with 541 yards on 43-for-68 passing in the first three games. Riley has thrown two touchdown passes and is averaging 180.33 yards per game. He's rushed for 40 yards and two scores as well. Jerry Grffen-Batchler is the leading receiver for the Huskies with 16 catches, 214 yards, and a touchdown while Nas Jones (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) has caught 11 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown.

Monaco is having one of his best seasons on the ground for the Huskies with 356 yards rushing on 54 carries and two touchdowns in three games. He is averaging 118.67 yards per game after back-to-back 100+ yard rushing games for the Huskies. Last week, he ran for 149 yards after running for 126 against Clarion. Monaco has only lost 13 yards on the ground this year. Ty Pringle (Cheyney, Pa./Bayard Rustin) is a strong 1-2 punch for the Huskies with 78 net yards rushing and a score for Bloomsburg on 23 carries while Matt Buchman (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) has four carries for three net yards a touchdown.

Monaco and Griffen-Batchler have done is all for the Huskies as the two returners - Monaco on kick returns and Griffen-Batchler handling punt returns. Monaco is averaging 21.5 yards per kick return with 215 yards while Griffen-Batchler is averaging 32.0 yards per punt return.

Tom Goetz (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway Regional) leads the Huskies with 22.0 total tackles this season including 12 solo and 10 assisted stops. Goetz has 3.5 tackles for a loss of 10 yards and 2.0 sacks. He has two of the Huskies' six interceptions this season and one quarterback hurry. Ryan D'Ambra (Southampton, Pa./Archbishop Wood) is second on the team with 19 tackles and leads the team with two broken up passes and three QB hurries. Quentin Gaskill (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) has 18 tackles this season and an interception. Ron Long (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), Joseph Kahn (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove), and Ervin Mitchell (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) are responsible for the three other INTs for the Huskies.  

ON THIS DAY - SEPTEMBER 23
Bloomsburg Football History, September 23, 2017
The Bloomsburg University football team scored four times on the ground and added a pair of defensive touchdowns as the Huskies opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action with a 48-19 victory over visiting Cheyney University on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium. Bloomsburg extended its winning streak to three straight and improved to 3-1 overall while the Wolves suffered their third straight loss to fall to 1-3 on the season. It was the divisional opener for both teams.

Bloomsburg also won for the 28th consecutive time in the all-time series against Cheyney as the Wolves have not defeated the Huskies since a 31-28 win in Bloomsburg on October 14, 1989. The Huskies improved to 48-9-1 lifetime against Cheyney.

Redshirt junior Marquis Seamon (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) collected his first collegiate touchdown with a 37-yard interception return for a score late in the first quarter while freshman Aaron Trumino (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) also added his first career touchdown on a 51-yard fumble return to the house early in the fourth quarter. The Huskies' defense added five sacks on the afternoon - three from redshirt junior Chris Gary (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood). Gary's second sack of the day led to Trumino's fumble recovery.

Offensively, the Huskies rushed for 277 yards on only 36 carries on Saturday afternoon - an average of 7.7 yards per carry. Redshirt sophomore Qmac Quiteh (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) paced the Huskies with 108 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries while redshirt sophomore Alex Gooden (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) added a season-high 91 yards and a score on only nine carries. Redshirt sophomore Tre Green (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson) posted a career-high 72 yards rushing, including a career-long 49-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter, on only six totes.

Redshirt senior quarterback Chris Palubinsky (Ringtown, Pa./Shenandoah Valley) added the Huskies' fourth rushing score of the day with a one-yard plunge late in the third quarter.

History, September 23, 1889
The Japanese gaming company was created by entrepreneur Fusajiro Yamauchi as a card company called Nintendo Koppai, which was based in Kyoto. The company originally produced and sold playing cards called Hanafuda. The release of Donkey Kong, an arcade game in 1981, brought Nintendo to the forefront of electronic and video games industry.
 
Century Mark
Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) ran for 100+ yards in back-to-back games for the Huskies after rushing for 149 yards against Edinboro last Saturday. Monaco ran for 129 yards against Clarion too weeks ago and ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run to put the Huskies up 21-7 in the third quarter. The junior running back is averaging 118.67 yards on the ground for the Huskies this season.
 
For the first time in his career, Jerry Griffen-Batchler hit the century mark in receiving yards as he caught six passes for 103 yards against Fairmont State. His longest reception was for 29 yards, a late fourth-quarter score for the Huskies. His previous game-high in receiving yards was 49 last season against Millersville.

DOES IT ALL
During his career, Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) has proven himself to be one of the more dynamic backs and return specialists in the PSAC East. He opened the season with 200 all-purpose yards against Fairmont State. Monaco rushed for 81 yards, caught a three-yard pass, and had 116 kick return yards on six returns. He averaged 19.3 yards per return last week and, for his career, averages 22.7 yards a return. Two weeks ago against Clarion, Monaco rushed for 126 yards and had another 64 kickoff return yards and 28 yards receiving. Last week he ran for 149 yards, caught four passes for 49 yards and had 35 yards on a pair of kick returns.
 
Monaco leads the PSAC in rushing (118.67 yards per game), and is third in the conference with 207 all-purpose yards per contest.

Jerry Griffen-Batchler is responsible for the punt return duties for the Huskies and is averaging 32.0 yards per punt return with a 32-yard return against Fairmont State to open the season.

RIGHT ON THE MONEY
Jerry Griffen-Batchler has 16 catches on the year and 11 of those 16 catches went for either a first down or touchdown. Nas Jones (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area)  has 11 catches, seven of which went for a first down and Peyton Persing  had a first down on one of his four grabs.

Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) has run for a first down 12 times, most notably three when he was given the ball on third down out of four attempts. Ty Pringle (Cheyney, Pa./Bayard Rustin) ran for three first downs, including his 12-yard run for a touchdown on a third down play against Clarion. KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) ran for two first downs, including a 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter at Fairmont State.

MOVING FORWARD
The run game has been quite strong for the Huskies through the first three weeks of the season as the Huskies have gained 521 yards on the ground and only lost 43 yards with a net of 478 yards rushing on 93 carries. Leading the way is Ty Pringle (Cheyney, Pa./Bayard Rustin)  who has 78 yards on 23 carries and and just a loss of nine yards. Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) has 356 net yards rushing as he has only been pushed back for 13 yards on 54 total carries this season. On the other side of the ball, the Huskies have limited opponents to 459 yards rushing but have pushed teams back 62 yards on 105 carries.

QUICK RECAP – 2022 HUSKIES
The Huskies finished the 2022 campaign 4-7 with a 2-5 record in PSAC East action under head coach Frank Sheptock. Bloomsburg picked up a 42-3 win over Clarion for the Huskies' first win of the season before out-lasting West Chester 21-16 under the lights. The Huskies defeated Lock Haven 17-9 on the road last year before rounding out the year with a 16-13 win over Mercyhurst.

COACHING STAFF UPDATES
Stephen Pribble is no stranger to the Huskies' sideline but will take on a new role in 2023 after being promoted to offensive coordinator in the offseason. Chris Sprague joined the coaching staff to lead the offensive line while Deon Henry, Sr. came to Bloomsburg to coach the secondary. Matt Meloy joined the Huskies as the tight ends coach and Josh Bernocco moved from the cornerbacks to helping with the tight ends this season.

KEY LOSSES
The Huskies will hit the gridiron for the first time since 2017 without all-PSAC defensive back, Chris Monaco. Monaco compiled 145 career tackles and nine career interceptions. He returned those nine picks for 176 total yards. Monaco was a mainstay on the special teams as well with 1,194 kick return yards while returning one for a touchdown.

John Ayres departed the Huskies after two seasons for Bloomsburg. He finished with 16 total tackles, 233 yards rushing, 89 yards receiving and five total tackles.

RETURNING ALL-PSAC ATHLETES
The Huskies return three All-PSAC East performers from last year in senior Quentin Gaskill (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) and junior Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and Matthew Bowes. Gaskill led the Huskies with 92 total tackles as he started and played in 10 games this season, missing just one due to injury. He finished the regular season 11th in the NCAA and first in the PSAC with 1.4 passes defended per game, as he collected 14 total. Monaco played in 10 games for Bloomsburg and collected 513 yards on the ground on 139 carries, caught 12 passes for 175 yards and two scores, and handled the lion's share of the kick return duties and had 397 yards on 18 returns. Bowes had 249 receiving yards on 18 catches and three touchdowns. He averaged 13.8 yards per catch and was the team-leader in in catches, yards, and touchdowns from the tight end spot in a run-heavy offense.

WELCOME TO BLOOM
Bloomsburg added 20 newcomers to the program on National Signing Day including seven o-linemen, four running backs, four wide receivers, two tight ends, two defensive ends, two defensive tackles and a safety. The Huskies brought in players from four different states, including Pennsylvania (13), New Jersey (3), Maryland (2), and New York (2).

The Huskies welcome five transfers to the roster this season. Hunter Lino came from Wagner, Harry Jennings (Largo, Md./Fairmont Heights) from Shepherd, Jaden Helton and Jordan Fernandez  from Kutztown, and Neurys Ortiz from American International.

FEATURED EVENTS ON THE SCHEDULE
The Huskies host Kutztown on October 7 for their annual Think Pink Game before welcome Lock Haven to Redman Stadium for Homecoming/Parents' and Supporters' Weekend/Hall of Fame Celebration. The Huskies will honor the 2013 Team and the late Brian Clarke's number during the game. Bloomsburg is scheduled to host IUP on November 11 for their Senior Day game.

MCGONIGLE RETURNS
Brendan McGonigle returns to do the place kicking after going 12-for-15 in field goals with a long of 47 yards. He was nearly perfect in point after attempts, finishing 24-for-25 last year to lead the team with 60 points

So far this season, McGonigle is 1-3 on field goal attempts and 7-for-8 on point after tries. He nailed a 40-yard field goal as time expired at the end of the half against Fairmont State. In his career, McGonigle has converted five field goals of 40 or more yards for the Huskies. He is 31-for-33 on point after attempts.

START OF A NEW STREAK
After their streak of 211 straight games scoring at least one point was snapped midseason at Kutztown, the Huskies rebounded at Lock Haven to win 17-9 and begin a new streak.
 
Bloomsburg pushed its streak to four to end the season and is now at seven straight after two strong offensive games to start the year and a 23-13 loss at Edinboro last week. The last time the Huskies were shut out was in 2003, a 21-0 home loss against Shippensburg on September 13. Bloomsburg is 115-3 all-time when scoring at least 40 points in a game. However, the Huskies have only reached the 40-point plateau seven times in the last 49 contests. The Huskies defeated Clarion 42-3 last season at home.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN (S)
The Huskies named six captains for the 2023 campaign. Returning in their leadership role are Quentin Gaskill (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro), Tom Goetz (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway Regional), and Ky Seesholtz, while KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area), Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West), and Marlon Westcott (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) join the captains for the first time.

THE RILEY FILE
Sophomore QB KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) is back for his second season under center for the Huskies after finishing his freshman campaign with 1,320 yards and went 102-for-184 with 10 touchdown passes and five interceptions. Riley also ran for 216 yards on 69 carries and one touchdown.

Riley is putting together a strong sophomore campaign with 541 yards on 43-for-68 passing in the first three games. Riley has thrown two touchdown passes and is averaging 180.33 yards per game. He's rushed for 40 yards and two scores as well.

ONE LAST RIDE
Joseph Kahn (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove), Ron Long (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), Quentin Gaskill (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro), Brendan Gregory, Colton Sidler, Nelly Fain (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy), Harry Jennings (Largo, Md./Fairmont Heights), Ben Kave (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown), John Mack (Minisink Valley, N.Y./Minisink Valley), and Kenny Yurkonis look to leave their lasting mark on the Bloomsburg Football program as the suit up in the maroon & gold for their final season.

Kahn is a three-year member of the Huskies with 21 games under his belt and 35 total tackles while Long has 17 games and 79 total tackles in two seasons. Gaskill is in his fourth season with the Huskies and has 203 total tackles, four interceptions, and 20 broken up passes to his name. Sidler has six games and four tackles to his credit and Yurkonis is a four-year member of the Huskies with 56 total tackles in 23 games after a breakout season last year. He had 47 tackles, including 8.0 for a loss of 42 yards and 4.5 sacks for 36 yards.

SHEPTOCK ERA
Sheptock was named the 28th head football coach in Bloomsburg University as he returns to his alma mater to take over the Huskies' program. Sheptock was at Division III Wilkes University as the defensive coordinator from 1990-95 and then took over the Colonels' program and served as head coach from 1996-2014. While at Wilkes, Sheptock went 107-81 overall and established the program record for most wins in a season (11) and career (107) while leading the Colonels to nine postseason appearances.

A member of the NCAA Division II Team of the Quarter Century (1973-97), Sheptock played linebacker for head coach George Landis and holds the school records for tackles in a career (537), single-season (159), and single-game (23), as well as career fumble recoveries (12). His program record for tackles in a single game, in fact, occurred during the national semifinal contest at North Alabama.

HUDDLE WITH THE HUSKIES
For the third-straight year, head coach Frank Sheptock will host "Huddle with the Huskies" at Quaker Steak & Lube in Buckhorn, Pa., on two select Thursdays this season. The final event will take place on October 12 ahead of Homecoming and Hall of Fame Weekend against Lock Haven.

The events are open to the public, with dinner beginning at 6:00 p.m. and a short program to follow. A buffet dinner will cost $16.99 (plus tax) per person each night, including a non-alcoholic beverage. Following the dinner, Coach Sheptock will speak about the season, preview the upcoming game(s), and introduce members of the coaching staff and players from this year's roster.

The first Huddle with the Huskies was on September 7 and featured senior Joseph Kahn (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) and junior Tom Goetz (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway Regional) for the evening's program.

REMEMBERING THE GREATS
During the Homecoming game on October 14, the Huskies will honor the 2013 team which captured the PSAC Title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoff tournament. Bloomsburg will also honor the jersey number of the late Brian Clarke. Clarke's number, 77, will remain with the rest of the honored numbers at Bloomsburg from now on.

Clarke was dominant during his Bloomsburg career helping pave the way for the Huskies to rush for 3,762 yards and rank sixth among all Division II teams in rushing during the 2013 season after ranking fifth in 2012. Clarke was a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award representing the nation's top Division II lineman in 2012 and 2013, finishing third in the voting in 2013. He was named first team All-America by the Associated Press, D2Football.com, Daktronics, Don Hansen Football Gazette and Beyond Sports Network and was a preseason Sporting News All-American.

41ST ANNUAL HALL OF FAME CELEBRATION
The members of the 2023 Hall of Fame Class are Lindy (Altadonna) McKinney '99 (women's lacrosse), Amber (Hackenberg) Brosius '08 (women's cross country/track & field), Bill Paule '65 (wrestling), Franklyn Quiteh '13 (football), Tracy 'Trey' Wirth '00 (women's soccer), and Sheila (Zilinski) Hughes '04/06M (field hockey/women's lacrosse). The induction brunch and ceremony will occur on Sunday October 15, at the Kehr Union Ballroom. Festivities will begin at 12:30 p.m. The six will bring the enshrined number to 208.

CLOCK RULE CHANGE NOTE
The NCAA changed the clock rules this year and will no longer stop the clock to set the chains for first downs during most of the game. The clock will still stop briefly for first downs inside the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters, but otherwise will run on first downs. It was easy to see the impact through one week this fall. Bloomsburg averaged 55 plays per game last year and stayed consistent through the first two week of the season, running 56 plays against Fairmont with and 53 at Clarion.  The rule change benefitted the Huskies last week as they averaged allowing 71.1 plays per game by opponents last year and held the Falcons to just 66 offensive plays two weeks ago and the Golden Eagles to 67.

2023 PSAC PRESEASON POLL
The Bloomsburg University football was selected to finish seventh in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division by the league's coaches in the 2023 Preseason Poll.
 
Last year's runner's up, Shepherd, was selected to win the East this year with five first-place votes, while Kutztown was selected second with two first places votes and West Chester was picked third with one top-place vote. East Stroudsburg came in fourth in the East and Millersville claimed the No. 5 spot. Shippensburg took sixth, just ahead of Bloomsburg, while Lock Haven rounded out the East with the eighth spot.
 
On the West, reigning PSAC champion, IUP claimed the top spot with sixth first-place votes while Slippery Rock grabbed the other two and finished second in voting. California (Pa.) grabbed the No. 3 spot and Gannon took the No. 4 spot. Edinboro, Seton Hill, and Clarion finished fifth through seventh in the voting while Mercyhurst rounded out the poll with the No. 8 spot.

The Huskies finished the 2022 campaign 4-7 with a 2-5 record in PSAC East action under head coach Frank Sheptock. Bloomsburg picked up a 42-3 win over Clarion for the Huskies' first win of the season before out-lasting West Chester 21-16 under the lights. The Huskies defeated Lock Haven 17-9 on the road last year before rounding out the year with a 16-13 win over Mercyhurst.

2023 KEY RETURNERS
The Huskies return three All-PSAC East performers from last year in senior Quentin Gaskill (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) and junior Kaleb Monaco (Pocono Pines, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and Matthew Bowes. Gaskill led the Huskies with 92 total tackles as he started and played in 10 games this season, missing just one due to injury. He finished the regular season 11th in the NCAA and first in the PSAC with 1.4 passes defended per game, as he collected 14 total. Monaco played in 10 games for Bloomsburg and collected 513 yards on the ground on 139 carries, caught 12 passes for 175 yards and two scores, and handled the lion's share of the kick return duties and had 397 yards on 18 returns. Bowes had 249 receiving yards on 18 catches and three touchdowns. He averaged 13.8 yards per catch and was the team-leader in in catches, yards, and touchdowns from the tight end spot in a run-heavy offense.
 
Sophomore KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) returns to lead the Huskies' offense after finishing his freshman campaign with 1,320 yards and went 102-for-184 with 10 touchdown passes and five interceptions. Riley also ran for 216 yards on 69 carries and one touchdown. His core receivers are back which include Matthew Bowes, Nas Jones (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area), and Owen Anderson.
 
Joining Gaskill returning on defense is junior Ryan D'Ambra (Southampton, Pa./Archbishop Wood). D'Ambra was second on the team last season with 67 total tackles, including 45 solo stops. He broke up a pair of passes and forced a pair of fumbles. D'Ambra blocked one kick. Ron Long (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan)  returns after finishing 2022 with 56 total tackles, including 5.0 TFL-8 yards and forced one fumble. Kenny Yurkonis is back to lead the defensive line after finishing last year with a team-best 4.5 sacks for 36 yards. He finished the year with 47 total tackles and had one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one blocked kick.