PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - Week 6
Updated PSAC Standings
Updated PSAC Composite Schedule/Results
Updated PSAC Statistics
A pair of New Jersey natives and a pair of Ohio natives garner this week's weekly football awards. The Garden State duo of
Matt Soltes (Offensive) and
Darius Jackson (Defensive) of East Stroudsburg are the East honorees after both of their efforts helped the Warriors upset West Chester on a game-winning touchdown pass with just five seconds remaining.
Out West, Buckeye State natives
Harvie Tuck of IUP (Offensive) and
Bruce Davis of Edinboro (Defensive) earn the awards. Tuck notched his third 200-yard rushing performance of the season in his team's win over Slippery Rock while Davis helped the Fighting Scots to a win over Gannon.
PSAC Athletes of the Week - Oct. 7
(Week 6)
PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Matt Soltes, East Stroudsburg
QB, Fr., Vernon, N.J./Vernon
Soltes set the East Stroudsburg single-game completion percentage record by completing 30-of-37 pases (81.1 percent) for 366 yards and three touchdowns in just his second career start to lead the Warriors to a 35-28 upset win over West Chester. Soltes threw the game-winning 33-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Tim Wilson with just five seconds left to help the Warriors hand West Chester its first Division II loss of the season. Soltes, who threw just one interception, also ran for seven yards to finish with 373 yards of total offense as East Stroudsburg dominated the time of possession, holding onto the ball for over two-thirds of the game (42:37) as the Warriors converted on 12-of-17 third downs. Soltes, who went 9-for-10 for 119 yards on third downs with eight conversions, went 5-for-5 for 68 yards on the game-winning drive after West Chester had tied the game with just 1:01 left. All three of Soltes' touchdown passes came in the second half as ESU knocked off West Chester for the first time since 2009 and the first home win over the Golden Rams since 2003.
PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Darius Jackson, East Stroudsburg
LB, Jr., Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley
Jackson led the defensive effort for the Warriors in their 35-28 win over West Chester as East Stroudsburg held the Golden Rams to just 313 yards of offense and also held Rondell White, the PSAC's second-leading rusher entering the game, to just 51 yards on 15 carries. Jackson made five tackles (four solo), including one for a loss of five yards, and also made an interception in the second quarter, which set up an East Stroudsburg touchdown that sent the game into halftime tied 14-14.
PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Harvie Tuck, IUP
RB, Sr., Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary
Tuck was the workhorse for IUP in the Crimson Hawks' 33-16 win over Slippery Rock as he ran the ball 36 times for 233 yards (6.5 ypc) and a touchdown to earn his second PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week recognition of the season. The 233 yards on the ground were part of a 388-yard rushing effort for IUP and it marked the third 200-yard rushing game of the season for Tuck, which is the most in a season at IUP since James Suber also had three 200-yard games in 1996. Tuck, whose touchdown run from a yard out gave the Hawks a two-possession lead at 20-9 with 2:19 left before halftime, also moved into third place on IUP's career rushing chart with 3,676 yards.
PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Bruce Davis, Edinboro
LB, Sr., Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville
Davis keyed the Edinboro defense as he made nine tackles, including eight solo stops and two sacks in a 44-24 win over Gannon as the Fighting Scots picked up a win in their first of two annual games against cross-county opponents this year. Edinboro, which moved to 7-0 all-time against Gannon, has now won three straight against Erie County neighbors Gannon and Mercyhurst and six of the last seven. Davis paced the Fighting Scot defense, which held Gannon to 349 yards, including just 86 rushing as Edinboro recorded four sacks, three interceptions and blocked a punt. Davis accounted for half of those sacks, which totaled a loss of 17 yards.
Team Notes
Bloomsburg
The Huskies rolled to a 38-14 victory over Millersville. It was the 13th consecutive Bloomsburg win over Millersville … Larry Webster, the PSAC's leader in sacks, caught his first touchdown pass of the season on Saturday … With MU attempting to get on the board with a field goal deep in BU territory, sophomore Cole Parkinson roared around the edge and blocked the MU attempt … Senior Terrell Oglesby picked up the loose ball and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 35-0 lead entering halftime … It led by as much as 38-0 in the third quarter … Junior kicker Dan Fisher moved into fourth place on the PSAC career field goal list. Fisher booted a 32-yarder on the opening drive of the second half, his eighth of the season and 45th of his career. He is now two behind Indiana (PA)'s Craig Burgess's mark of 47 set in 2010 for third place … Junior running backs Franklyn Quiteh and Eddie Mateo each ran for 100 yards for the fifth time this season … Quiteh, the third-leading rusher in Division II, led the way with 143 on the ground and two touchdowns. It is his second straight two-touchdown outing … Mateo, the ninth-leading rusher in Division II, rushed for 110 yards on 15 carries.
California
The Vulcans remain tied for first place in the PSAC West following a 41-22 victory at Clarion on Saturday … Cal U has now won eight-consecutive meetings against Clarion, including four-straight on the road … The Vulcans improve to 15-3 in games following a loss since the 2005 season … Senior QB Peter Lalich surpassed the 300-yard mark for the fifth-straight game and has passed for 718 yards in two career games against the Golden Eagles … Lalich has totaled nine 300-yard games over the last two seasons with the Vulcans posting a 7-2 record in those games … Junior wide receivers Trey Johnson and Mike Williams both finished with 100-plus yards receiving … Williams has eclipsed the century mark four times in the last five games, while Johnson has three-straight 100-yard games … Senior DB Rontez Miles has recorded 33 tackles and three interceptions in the last three games … Cal U limited Clarion to a season-low 95 rushing yards after it had allowed nearly 500 rushing yards the last two weeks … The two teams combined for 959 yards of total offense with Clarion passing for 410 yards, marking the first 400-yard passing game against the Vulcans in recent program history (since 2002) … Cal U hosts Lock Haven for Homecoming this weekend … The Vulcans have won their last seven Homecoming games en route to earning at least a share of a divisional title each year
Cheyney
Cheyney fell 56-7 to Kutztown … Despite trailing 56-0 the Wolves were able to engineer a late fourth quarter scoring drive that consumed 83 yards on 16 plays to avoid the shut out. Jay Journigan powered up the middle from one yard out to give the Wolves their only points of the afternoon … Marcus Jones and Justin Watkins combined for 105 yards on 28 carries to bolster most of the offensive load. Back-up quarterback Leroy Stanford played the entire second half and was five of 10 for 43 yards. Shannon Burch led the Cheyney defense with nine tackles including a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Clarion
Clarion dropped a 41-22 decision to #16 ranked California at Memorial Stadium ... Golden Eagle QB Ben Fiscus had a monumental day on the gridiron ... He set new Clarion records in passing attempts (64), completions (36) and passed for 410 yards, then fourth most in a single game in Clarion history ... His 64 attempts were more than Mike Carter's (56) vs. Ferris State in 1989, and his 36 completions were more than Craig Ray’s 34 vs. West Chester in 1994 ... Fiscus also rushed for 39 yards and 1 TD - moving into 10th place all-time at Clarion in rushing yards with 1,808 ... He passed former great Steve Nolan's 1,807 from 1971-74 ... Receiver Jon Reid grabbed 10 passes for 154 yards, while Aaron Barlow had a career best eight grabs for 104 yards … Clarion returns home to host Slippery Rock on October 13 at 1pm ... The game will be the third annual "Milk Jug" game.
East Stroudsburg
Fr. WR Tim Wilson took a short pass 33 yards for the game-winning TD with 5 seconds left as the Warriors upset West Chester, 35-28 ... Fr. QB Matt Soltes (30-37, 366 yards, 3 TD, 1 Int.) set ESU's single-game completion percentage record (81.1) in his 2nd career start ... Soltes led offense that held the ball for 42:37 (82 plays, 508 yards), while WC ran 45 plays for 313 yards ... Wilson's catch, his 2nd of the game (both on final drive) and 4th of his career, came after he muffed a punt at the 5-yard line with 7 minutes left, helping WC come back from 28-14 to tie it 28-28 with 1:01 left ... Soltes was 5-5 for 68 yards on final drive ... He was 14-15 to start the game and 18-22 for 194 yards in the 1st half ... ESU was 12-17 on 3rd down (Soltes 9-10, 119 yards, 8 conversions) ... Jr. WR Dusty Reed (13 catches, 139 yards) was one catch from tying school record ... Warriors defense forced 5 turnovers, 4 in the first half (WC QB Mike Mattei 3 Int., threw 3 in 128 attempts entering game) ... ESU inducted its 1964-65 State Championship teams into the Hall of Fame, and the 1982 PSAC championship team held its 30th anniversary ... Soltes' dad, Andy, threw go-ahead TD in 4th quarter of 17-9 win at WC in 1982 ... Denny Douds (235-164-3, 39 years) faced WC for the 40th time, and sees Bloomsburg for the 40th time Saturday ... Douds and Danny Hale meet for the 26th time in the fourth-ever match-up of 200-win coaches in DII ... Douds was involved in 2 of the first 3, vs. California's John Luckhardt the last 2 years.
Edinboro
Edinboro celebrated Homecoming with its win over Gannon as Cody Harris had another big day. The junior quarterback extended his streak of consecutive touchdowns accounted for to 13 as he threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more. He completed 28 of 34 passes for 312 yards, his second straight 300-yard effort, while adding 46 yards rushing. He moved into fifth place in career yards passing (5,224) … Harris has completed 77.4 of his passes over the last three games (82 of 106) and is completing 73.6 percent of his passes on the season. A year ago he set a school record when he completed 72.2 percent … Senior tight end Seth Hembree caught a 12-yard TD pass, his first career touchdown … Branden Williams moved into sole possession of third place in career interceptions with his 16 career pickoff … Tthe Boro defense came up with four sacks, two by Bruce Davis, and three interceptions along with blocking a punt. Alec Gluvna blocked the Gannon punt, with Devin Ghafoor picking it up and returning it 18 yards for a touchdown … Edinboro has now won all seven meetings against local rival Gannon … The Fighting Scots extended their streak of shutout quarters against the Golden Knights to ten after holding them scoreless in the first quarter … Now the Scots face a similar challenge themselves this week against 22nd-ranked Indiana(Pa.). The Crimson Hawks have posted back-to-back shutouts over Edinboro … The Gannon game was the first of three televised the SPORTSfever Television Network. This week’s IUP game will also be shown.
Gannon
Gannon dropped its fifth consecutive game with a 44-24 loss at Edinboro … The Golden Knights have suffered eight straight road setbacks dating back to last season … Senior Ashton Jones recorded a career-high 10 tackles after entering the game with seven tackles through the first five contests … Senior Will Giles reached double digits in tackles for the second consecutive week with 10 stops … Senior Khayree Connors-McChristian jumped two more spots on Gannon’s all-time tackling chart with six stops at Edinboro, giving him 11th place with 223 career tackles … Junior Jansen Jones rushed for at least 70 yards for the second straight week, recording season-highs in rushing yards (79) and rushing touchdowns (2) … Freshman Liam Nadler threw for 263 yards, recording his fifth 200-yard game of the season … Nadler is two 200-yard games shy of the school’s single-season record.
IUP
The 22nd-ranked Crimson Hawks improved to 5-1, 2-1 in the PSAC West with a 33-16 win over rival Slippery Rock on Homecoming … IUP piled up 388 rushing yards as Sr. RB Harvie Tuck ran for 233 and Sr. RB De’Antwan Williams added 158 … Tuck’s total helped move him into third place overall for career rushing yards in the school record book, as he now has 3,676 yards … It was his third 200-yard rushing performance of the season, the most at IUP since James Suber hit that milestone three times in 1996 … IUP dominated Slippery Rock on Saturday, owning the time of possession 41:14 to 18:46 and tallying 29 first downs to The Rock’s 13 … The Crimson Hawks also picked off three passes and sacked Rock quarterbacks four times … So. K Brett Ullman’s four field goals also tied a single-game IUP record … The Crimson Hawks hit the road next week to face Edinboro.
Kutztown
KU downed Cheyney 56-7 for Kutztown's 19th in a row over the Wolves ... The Golden Bears limited Cheyney to just 59 passing yards ... Brett Fox had five catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including a 68-yard score ... Jeremy Tucker was all over the field for Kutztown ... He blocked a field goal, returned an interception for a touchdown, had one tackle on defense and carried the ball twice for three yards ... Kevin Morton ended the game with 751 career completions, surpassing Andy Breault's 733 ... The senior now has 9,706 career pass yards and 10,413 career yards of total offense ... With three touchdown passes, he also moved into 14th place in Division II history with 105 career touchdown passes ... Josh Mastromatto has added the career kick return yardage record to his resume, along with the career kick return average mark ... Mastromatto tied Dom Mele for fifth place at KU with 18 career TD catches ... Jack Ruggieri is second all-time at KU with 103 extra points ... Adam Goeringer forced and recovered a fumble ... Adrian Sterling rushed for a career-high 93 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown run, to lead KU ... Zach Greenwald, the reigning PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week, led the team with eight tackles ... Zach Snyder caught the first pass of each of the Golden Bears first three touchdown drives.
LIU Post
LIU Post fell to No. 16 Shippensburg, 36-20 ... The Pioneers scored two of their three touchdowns as a result of forced turnovers against the Red Raiders ... The first TD was scored on a fumble forced by senior Anton Rukaj with a recovery by junior Tommy Williams for a 16-yard score ... The second touchdown came in the second quarter when junior Rob Bright blocked a punt that resulted in a 2-yard completion from sophomore Steven Laurino to freshman Sean Binckes ... Bright along with senior linebacker Anton Rukaj made nine tackles and each forced a fumble ... Bright also added a block and pass break up while Rukaj recorded a 15-yard sack ... LIU Post continued its streak of quarterback sacks in every game this season as Rukaj and sophomore Dan Belfiore each recorded for a total loss of 23 yards ... Laurino finished the game with 176 passing yards for one touchdown and led the team with 53 rushing yards ... The Pioneers travel to play at West Chester.
Lock Haven
Despite a tremendous defensive effort, Lock Haven fell to 0-6 on the season with a narrow 19-10 loss at Mercyhurst on Saturday … LHU is now 0-3 in PSAC West play … The loss to Mercyhurst was Lock Haven’s 48th consecutive loss, which marks the longest active losing streak in college football … Last weekend’s loss to nationally-ranked Shippensburg broke all the all-time Division II record for consecutive losses … The Bald Eagles haven’t won since the 2007 season finale at Clarion … Saturday marked the first time since Week 3 of the 2010 season (at Kutztown) where LHU led after one quarter. The Haven led Mercyhurst 3-0 … The field goal marked the first of the year for senior Noah Heimer, who started the year on the Fred Mitchell Award watch list … Defensively, Lock Haven got huge games from James Goins and George Christas, who each had 11 tackles … The nine-point loss was Lock Haven’s slimmest losing margin of the year … It marked the second TD pass of the year for fifth-year QB Jarrett Kratzer, who made his 19th career start under center.
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst improved to 5-0 lifetime against Lock Haven with a hard-fought 19-10 victory over the Bald Eagles on Saturday … Mercyhurst also extended its winning streak to five straight with the victory - tied for the third-longest streak in program history and is the longest streak since the program-record seven straight wins during the 2010 PSAC Championship season … Mercyhurst would come up with one of its best drives of the season to put away any thoughts of Lock Haven's ending its losing streak on Saturday … With the Bald Eagles trailing 13-10 with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Laker offense would put together a 15-play, 70-yard drive that took 8:13 off the clock and was capped off by a three-yard touchdown pass by redshirt junior Anthony Vendemia to junior fullback Jeff Groene … Junior running back Allen Jones II rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown to lead the Lakers on Saturday … With the output, Jones now has 1,009 rushing yards in his career to become the 12th player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards … He trails Darryl Lewis (1984-87) by 20 yards for 11th on the all-time list. Mercyhurst will put its winning streak on the line next Saturday with a trip to crosstown rival Gannon University … The Lakers are 9-5-1 lifetime against the Golden Knights but have lost the last two meetings. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
Millersville
Connor Casey became the first true freshman to start a game since Drew Folmar in 1997 and completed 30-of-43 passes, marking the most pass completions and the most yards by a Marauder true freshman on record … It was also the first time since 2010 that a Millersville QB completed 30 passes and threw for 300 yards … He had 187 yards in the first half, which was more passing yards than in any of the previous 16 games … He was the fifth starting QB in the last 16 games and the third of 2012 but the first of this season to not throw an interception in a game … Mike Jones caught 13 passes for the most catches by a Marauder since Ryan Clift in 2003. He also caught his third TD pass of the season, giving him five total … Dominic Sanders caught a career-high nine passes … Trenton Petrovich became the first Marauder tight end to catch a pass this season … Shane Doughty made his first career TD catch, and Jeff Buchanan made his first career catch … Jones' 55-yard reception was the longest since October of 2010 for Millersville … Millersville totaled 400 yards of offense against a PSAC East opponent for the first time since Oct. 10, 2009 against Cheyney … It was also the first 300-yard passing game against Bloomsburg since 2004.
Shippensburg
The No. 16 Shippensburg University football team achieved a 36-20 Homecoming victory over LIU Post ... SU extended its winning streak to 10 games, which is now tied for the longest active run in Division II with Pittsburg State after Grand Valley ended its 12-game run with a loss on Saturday night ... The Red Raiders also snapped a three-game losing streak against the Pioneers that dated back to the 2009 season ... Senior tailback Mike Frenette surpassed the 2,000-yard mark for his career ... His 2,051 career rushing yards ranks sixth in school history ... Junior quarterback Zach Zulli was an efficient 21-of-32 for 276 yards and a pair of touchdowns, moving into fourth place on SU’s career passing yards list (4,883) ... Saturday marked the first time this season that the Red Raiders did not score a touchdown in the first quarter ... SU head coach Mark ‘Mac’ Maciejewski ’92/’96M is 13-4 through his first 17 games as a head coach, the second-best coaching start in school history ... Harry Newsham Bentz, back in 1924, 1925, and 1927, began his coaching career 14-3 ... SU has outscored its opponents 66-7 in the third quarter this season, including its 16-0 margin on Saturday ... SU’s offense ran a season-high 88 plays en route to 503 yards from scrimmage ... Senior Bryan Barley had two catches for 61 yards on Saturday, which moved him past SU Hall of Famer Ed Noon ’82 into 10th place in school history with 1,567 career receiving yards ... Junior Michael Lloyd’s 43-yard field goal was the longest by a Red Raider since Jamie Reder made one from 45 yards out at Clarion back on Oct. 6, 2007 (51 games).
Slippery Rock
Junior DT Tony Papley recorded a career-high 10 tackles and junior LB Bob Westerlund had a career-best nine takedowns last Saturday at Indiana ... The Rock will seek to end a three-game losing skid this fall and snap a string of five consecutive road-game losses when they travel to Clarion next Saturday to face a Golden Eagles team coached by former Rock defensive coordinator Jay Foster.
West Chester
West Chester fell, 35-28, to East Stroudsburg on a Warriors 33-yd TD pass with :05 left ... The loss is the first by the Golden Rams to a Division II opponent ... Sr. WR Sean Beahan caught five passes for a career-high 129 yards ... It marked his first career 100-yard receiving day ... Jr. RB Rondell White rushed for just 51 yards ... However, it was enough to push him past his previous single-season high for rushing yards ... He now has 714 yards on the year ... So. MLB Ronell Williams made a career-high 17 tackles on defense.