EDINBORO, Pa. – A late second-quarter touchdown run sparked the Bloomsburg offense as the Huskies rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit for the 32-27 win over Edinboro Saturday. The lead changed hands three times in the final 5:44 of the fourth quarter and the Huskies defense came up with a crucial interception at the goal line to seal the win.
 
With 5:44 to play in regulation and the game tied, 20-20, the Bloomsburg defense forced a vital 3-and-out by the Edinboro offense and the Huskies took over at their 30-yard line after a 46-yard punt with 4:44 to play. Jake Williams (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO) took the first hand off of the drive and went two yards before junior KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) found Jerry Griffen-Batchler (Norristown, Pa./Germantown Academy) for nine yards down the left sideline to get a first down. Riley carried the ball on the next play to pick up four yards. On the next play from scrimmage, Riley found senior Gabe Brower (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) at midfield who broke a tackle and got to the outside. Brower was off to the races down the right sideline in front of the Edinboro bench to get to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown catch. The extra point attempt was blocked, and the Huskies took a 26-20 lead with 2:25 to play in regulation. The touchdown catch capped a four-play 70-yard drive for the Huskies.
 
Edinboro had a quick answer to the Huskies touchdown drive with a five-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Evan Low caught a 44-yard pass from Isaac Bernard with 1:12 to play and the Fighting Scots converted the extra point kick for a 27-26 lead.
 
With 1:12 to play, Riley stayed calm in the pocket and completed a 24-yard pass and a 14-yard pass to Griffen-Batchler to get down to the Edinboro 37-yard line. Riley found Brower again for a 17-yard reception to get to the BORO-20 and the third-straight first down of the drive. Riley found Griffen-Batchler at the BORO-12 for an eight-yard pickup. Riley kept it himself to get two yards and the first down before head coach Frank Sheptock called his first timeout with 43 seconds to play. It then became the Riley Parker (Canton, Pa./Canton) show. Parker carried the ball down to the one-yard line before stepping out of bounds to stop the clock. Riley then handed the ball back off to Parker for an outside run around anyone looking to get in his way as he ran into the end zone for the score and the 32-27 Bloomsburg lead with 34 seconds to play. The Huskies tried for two to give them a seven-point cushion, but a flag brought back the catch by Matthew Bowes (Somerton, Pa./La Salle College HS) and the next attempt failed.
 
Coach Sheptock sent his defensive unit out and asked for one more stop. Riley kicked off for 35 yards to the BORO-30 when Edinboro took over with 32 seconds to play.
 
On the first play from scrimmage, Bernard completed a pass to Angelo Bartolini for four yards before he found Low for another 11 and to get down close to midfield. Pressure from Sean Paul (Roselle, N.J./Hudson Catholic) and a charging Ryan D'Ambra (Southampton, Pa./Archbishop Wood) forced Bernard to throw it away and stop the clock with nine seconds to play. Bernard completed a pass to Jaret Frantz at the Bloomsburg 43-yard line to move the chains. Edinboro brought in their backup quarterback, Bo Swartz for the Hail Mary pass attempt but Cole Turner (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) jumped the route and grabbed his first career interception to seal the win for Bloomsburg at the one-yard line.
 
Despite a sluggish start for the Bloomsburg offense, the defense kept the Huskies in the game and the score close. Bloomsburg began the game on the Edinboro 48-yard line but could not get a first down and was forced to punt from the 43-yard line.
 
The Fighting Scots started their first drive at their 12-yard line and marched down the field to the BLOOM-6.  A pair of Swartz passes fell incomplete, and Turner got the stop at the line of scrimmage on a Jerry Dinkins run to turn the ball over on downs.
 
The Huskies went 3-and-out again and needed another big play from their defense. After the Fighting Scots got back down to the Huskies' two-yard line, Dinkins rushed up in the middle for what looked to be a one-yard gain and lost control of the ball after his knee was down. Coach Sheptock challenged the play and won the challenge. Brady Thompson (Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) forced the fumble on Dinkins' run and Turner recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a Huskies touchback.
 
 
The Huskies' next drive started with just 52 seconds to play in the quarter and ended with another Husky punt with 14:06 left in the second. The Fighting Scots brought the pressure on the punt and Gage Galuska blocked it and recovered the ball in the end zone for the score and the 6-0 Edinboro lead. Giovanni Cancro (Pequannock, N.J./Pequannock Township) returned the favor and blocked the extra point attempt to keep the score 6-0.
 
After three more punts, two from Bloomsburg and one for Edinboro, the Fighting Scots finally got an offensive score with a four-yard touchdown pass from Bernard to Jaret Frantz, but the Fighting Scots elected to go for two and Bernard's pass fell short. The next Husky drive ended with an Edinboro interception, but the Huskies' defense came up swinging again.
 
Bloomsburg had the Fighting Scots 4th-and-7 on the BLOOM-42 and Edinboro ran a fake punt as Matt Carlisle completed a pass to Reed Martin for a first down. But after a three-yard run for Dinkins, D'Ambra sacked Bernard for a loss of seven yards and Ryan Woertz (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) broke up Bernard's next pass to force a 4th-and-14 from the Bloomsburg-33. The Fighting Scots went for it and Teagan Brown caught a pass from Bernard but D'Ambra and Ervin Mitchell (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) brought him down seven yards shy of the first down and gave the ball back to the Huskies' offense.
 
The fourth-down stop sparked Bloomsburg as the Huskies went 74 yards on eight plays to find the end zone for the first time in the contest. Riley found Owen Anderson (Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) for three yards before taking a sack. Riley targeted Bowes on his next pass and Edinboro was called for pass interference to put the ball on the Bloomsburg 43 and a Husky first down. Riley connected with Anderson again for 20 yards down to the BORO-42. After a four-yard run for Riley and a Husky penalty, Bloomsburg was set up at the Edinboro-43 on 2nd-and-11. Riley found Brower for six yards to the BORO-37 but a roughing the passer call against Edinboro added another 15 yards to move the ball down to the BORO-22. Brower caught another pass for five yards to the BORO-17 and a Edinboro holding penalty got the Huskies down to the BORO-8 with a fresh set of downs. Bloomsburg needed just one more play as Parker carried it the rest of the way for the score.
 
The Fighting Scots ran just one play to end to run out the clock in the first half as Edinboro led 12-6.
 
Bloomsburg forced a three-and-out on Edinboro's first drive of the second half and scored on their next drive to take their first lead of the game.
 
On 2nd-and-8 at the BORO-40, Riley found Bowes for 18 yards down to the Edinboro 22-yard line. Williams carried the ball twice down to the 13 and Parker took care of business for the second time in the game with an 11-yard run and score. Danen Lorusso (Moorestown, N.J./Roman Catholic) converted the extra point kick and Bloomsburg took a 13-12 lead.
 
Bloomsburg held onto the lead until 1:36 mark in the third when Edinboro put together an eight-play, 53-yard drive to re-take the lead 20-13.
 
Bloomsburg tied the game with 5:49 to play in the fourth thanks in part to an unnecessary roughness call against Edinboro kept the drive alive at 3rd-and-10 from the Bloomsburg 29-yard line. After the penalty, Riley found Brower for 38 yards down to the BORO-18. Williams ran it for a yard loss before Justin Wolfe (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Riley. Lorusso's kick was good to tie the game 20-20 with 5:44 to play before scoring frenzy in the final five minutes.
 
Riley finished the day 16-for-21 with 278 yards and two touchdown passes in his second appearance under center of the season. He had a long pass of 55 yards and was sacked just once. Brower had a career day with eight catches and 163 yards, catching one of the touchdown passes and having a long reception of 55 yards. Griffen-Batchler caught five passes for 64 yards and Anderson caught two for 23 yards in his 2024 debut. Wolfe caught two passes for 19 yards, one of which was a touchdown catch.
 
Williams ran the ball 16 times for 27 yards while Parker carried the ball just five times for 29 yards but three of his five carries were a touchdown.
 
Riley still took care of the punting duties for the Huskies and had six punts for 260 yards, with three pinning the Fighting Scots inside the 20-yard line and one touchback.
 
Defensively, the Huskies got big contributions from everyone. Thompson led the pack with a career-best 12 tackles, including 0.5 TFL (2 yards) and a forced fumble. Turner finished the day with eight tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a pass breakup. Freshman Nick Frame (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) grabbed his first career interception as well to go with five tackles. D'Ambra and Ian Donohue (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Blue Mountain) had a solo sack and eight players combined for 7.0 total tackles for loss (23 yards). D'Ambra and Charles Crews III (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) each had 1.5 TFL.
 
As a team, the Huskies rushed for 83 net yards on 32 carries and three rushing TDs and were 4-for-4 on red-zone chances and scores.
 
Defensively, the Huskies held Edinboro to just 40 total yards on the ground and Edinboro was 5-for-17 on third-down chances and scored just one of three times in the red zone.
 
Bloomsburg looks to carry the momentum into the Huskies' first PSAC East contest as West Chester visits Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium for a 2:00 p.m. contest. Before and during the game, the Huskies will honor Coach Hale's impending induction into the College Football Hall of Fame and celebrate Coach Hale's achievement with a post-game celebration sponsored by the Husky Legacy Club.