Football | 11/17/2025 2:31:00 PM
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Senior
KJ Riley (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) and freshman
Eli Zimmerman (Schnecksville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) ended the season with standout performances in Bloomsburg football's 30-24 overtime win over Slippery Rock on Saturday and earned Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week accolades by the PSAC.
Riley delivered one of the most poised and efficient performances in the PSAC this week, guiding the Huskies to a dramatic 30-24 overtime victory and accounting for three total touchdowns in the upset win over Slippery Rock.
Riley completed 22 of 31 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, finishing with a season-best 71.0% completion rate while spreading the football to seven different receivers. He engineered three long touchdown drives of 72, 75, and 58 yards, and he capped the afternoon by powering in the game-winning 1-yard rushing touchdown in overtime, sealing Bloomsburg's biggest home win of the 2025 season.
Riley was exceptional on third down—Bloomsburg converted 8 of 13—consistently extending drives with accurate short-game timing throws and off-schedule scrambles. He opened the day by going a perfect 6-for-6 for 66 yards in the first quarter and threw touchdown passes of 17 yards and 7 yards to
Gabe Brower (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley). Both touchdown drives featured Riley orchestrating long, balanced possessions that chewed clock and controlled momentum.
He added 32 rushing yards on 14 attempts, including multiple designed keepers that sustained drives and his overtime touchdown plunge that clinched the win.
Against one of the PSAC's toughest defenses, Riley produced a turnover-free performance, posted the highest passing yardage Slippery Rock has allowed in over a month, and led Bloomsburg to scores on four of its first five red zone trips.
Riley finished the season with 2,568 passing yards, third all-time in a single season, and 26 touchdown passes - tying the program's single-season record. Riley averaged 233.5 passing yards per games and had eight games of at least 200 passing yards. He threw at least two touchdown passes in 10 of the 11 games this season and had at least one touchdown pass in every game.
Zimmerman delivered one of the most impactful special teams performances in the PSAC this week, sparking the Huskies with a combined 139 return yards and setting up multiple short fields in Bloomsburg's 30–24 overtime win over Slippery Rock.
Zimmerman flipped momentum throughout the afternoon, beginning with a 28-yard opening-kickoff return that immediately put the Huskies near midfield and set up their first scoring drive. He added a 10-yard return later in the first quarter before breaking loose for the biggest special teams play of the game—a 43-yard punt return with :06 remaining in the first half, giving Bloomsburg the ball at the SRU 37. The Huskies capitalized moments later with a field goal to take a 17–7 lead into halftime.
He continued to provide field position advantages in the second half, returning a third-quarter kickoff 19 yards to set up another touchdown drive, and added a fourth kickoff return to finish with four kickoff returns for 74 yards (18.5 avg) and two punt returns for 65 yards (32.5 avg)—both season-best marks for the Huskies.
Zimmerman's 139 all-purpose return yards were the most by any Bloomsburg player this season and were instrumental in Bloomsburg posting its highest point total of the year. His effort directly led to 10 points and consistently tilted the field in the Huskies' favor during one of their biggest wins of 2025.
The freshman emerged as one of the elite returners in the PSAC this season, averaging 23.0 yards on kick returns and 12.6 yards on punt returns, with a season-long return of 43 yards.
