BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – With 36 seconds to go in regulation, KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) found Jerry Griffen-Batchler (Norristown, Pa./Germantown Academy) in the far back corner of the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown to give the Bloomsburg football team and 23-21 win over West Chester Saturday afternoon. The Huskies improved to 3-1 on the year while the Golden Rams dropped to 0-4 on the season.
 
On a day that the Huskies honored former Bloomsburg football legend, Danny Hale, on his upcoming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, Bloomsburg put together an impressive scoring drive to send the Huskies off with a win.
 
West Chester scored with 1:10 to go in regulation to go up 21-17 but the Huskies didn't back down. Gabe Brower (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) took the kick off down to the BLOOM-37 after the WCU score to set the Huskies up in favorable field position. Riley found Griffen-Batchler down the middle of the field on the first play from scrimmage for 15 yards before Justin Wolfe (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) caught a 22-yard pass to get Bloomsburg down to the West Chester 24-yard line. After a quick timeout by head coach Frank Sheptock, Riley came out firing and found Griffen-Batchler in the back corner of the endzone for the go-ahead 24-yard touchdown. Griffen-Batchler was in tight coverage but came away with the catch to give Bloomsburg the lead.
 
Ian Donohue (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Blue Mountain) had a strip-sack on the first play on the Golden Rams next drive but WCU recovered the football to keep the game alive. Cameron Jordan completed a pass on the next play to Jonathan Haynes at the WCU-33 before he lateralled it back to D'Shaun Seals who got it down to the WCU-46. Seals tossed to back to Jordan but he was met immediately by Nate Capers (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) who forced a fumble that Nick Frame (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) recovered to end the game for the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg got on the board first as Bloomsburg put together a seven-play, 80-yard drive that took 3:52 and ended with a 55-yard pass from Riley to Griffen-Batchler for the 6-0 lead. Riley pulled triple duty for the Huskies and converted the extra point after a double-doink from the near goal post to the crossbar and in for the 7-0 lead with 11:02 to play as the Huskies scored on their opening drive.
 
Neither defense allowed another point through the rest of the first quarter and the second as Bloomsburg carried its 7-0 lead into halftime.
 
The Golden Rams got the ball to start the third quarter and the Huskies forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back. Facing a 4^th-and-2, West Chester elected to go for it from the Bloomsburg 29-yard line, but Jordan's pass fell incomplete thanks to a broken up pass behind the line of scrimmage by Tom Goetz (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway Regional) to give the Huskies the ball.
 
Bloomsburg took advantage and marched down the field 71 yards on seven plays to get into the endzone. Riley finished the drive himself with an 11-yard run to give Bloomsburg a 13-0 lead. Riley hit the extra point with less dramatics for the 14-0 lead with 5:07 to play in the third.
 
The Golden Rams didn't go away and put together a 13-play, 76-yard drive to start the fourth and cut the lead to 14-7 with 14:20 to go in regulation. The Huskies answered with its own 10-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a 25-yard Riley field goal that gave Bloomsburg a 17-7 lead.
 
The Golden Rams continued to press and scored on back-to-back drives to take their first lead of the game, 21-17, with 1:10 to go in regulation.  With 1:56 to play, and the Huskies up 17-14, Ryan D'Ambra (Southampton, Pa./Archbishop Wood) picked off Jordan at the BLOOM-26 as West Chester was driving. The Golden Rams forced a 3-and-out on the next drive and quickly scored to take a 21-17 lead with 1:10 to play.

With short time and the game on the line for the second week in a row, the Huskies again rose to the challenge. Bloomsburg needed just four plays to get into the endzone and take the lead for the Huskies win.
 
Griffen-Batchler finished the day with a career-best 154 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The Huskies have had back-to-back 100+ receiving yards games with two different players this season. The junior returned two kicks for 49 yards as well.
 
Riley finished the day 17-for-22 with 280 yards and two touchdown passes, while running in for another and collecting 32 yards on the ground. Riley was 2-for-3 on extra point attempts, had a 25-yard field goal kick, and had 101 yards punting on four punts. Riley's 280 passing yards was a career high, and his field goal was his first career FG conversion.
 
Defensively, the Huskies were led by D'Ambra with eight total tackles, a sack for eight yards, and his first interception of the season. Nate Capers (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) had nine total tackles, a nine-yard sack, and a broken-up pass. John Aston (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) continues to be a terror behind opponents' line of scrimmage as he collected five tackles, 0.5 for a loss of 2 yards and two quarterback hurries.
 
The Huskies get back on the road next Saturday as they head to the seventh-ranked Kutztown Golden Bears on October 5 for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff.