*For a PDF version of this release, CLICK HERE

*For Final KU statistics, CLICK HERE

KU 5-6 overall, 4-3 in PSAC East in 2008

The Season

                The Kutztown University football team finished the 2008 season with a 5-6 overall record.  The Golden Bears were 4-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division, tying a school record for division wins and marking their first winning PSAC East slate since 2001.  KU finished in fourth place in the division, behind West Chester, Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg; and ahead of Shippensburg, C.W. Post and Cheyney.

                Kutztown opened the year with a 35-0 win over St. Anselm. After that, KU lost four in a row, with setbacks vs. Clarion (26-20), Slippery Rock (38-24), Bloomsburg (31-21) and West Chester (49-8).  A two-game winning streak vs. Cheyney (31-13) and Shippensburg (42-21) was followed by a loss at East Stroudsburg (27-3).  KU then defeated Millersville (26-17) and C.W. Post (21-14) before a season-ending loss at Indiana (Pa.) (34-7).

The Seniors

                Kutztown bid farewell to 13 seniors this season.  They are RB Maurice Adams (sr. West Chester/Henderson), who finished with 2,080 rushing yards — seventh all-time at KU, along with 14 touchdowns; DE Kevin Branco (sr. Hellertown/Saucon Valley), who had 99 tackles, including 24 for loss and 12.5 sacks in his career; DT Nick Cresta (sr. Wallingford/Strath Haven), a four-year starter who had 105 tackles, including 16 for loss and 3.5 sacks, with two interceptions; DT Craig Croman (sr. Pine Grove/Pine Grove), who had 29 tackles, including six for loss and four sacks; LB Chris Hoyt (sr. Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive),  who joined KU this year and had one tackle in five games; FS Joe Iannello (sr. Media/Strath Haven), a three-year letterwinner with two career tackles; WR Matt Lawhorne (sr. Macungie/Brandywine Heights), a three-year letterwinner; OG Darrell Martin (sr. Stroudsburg/Stroudsburg), a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter; LB Sam McKellar (sr. Allentown/Dieruff), a two-year starter with 137 tackles, including 12 for loss; punter Ryan Nye (sr. Bernville/Holy Name), a four-year starter who set KU’s career record with a 39.6 punting average, finished third in career punts (199) and punting yards (7,883), and made 24 tackles, ran for 51 yards and a TD, and passed for 35 yards; TE Dan Onorato (sr. Malvern/Malvern Prep), who had 29 catches for 287 yards and two TDs over four seasons; SS Cory Porrino (sr. Orwigsburg/Blue Mountain), who had 160 tackles, including 13 for loss, 14 pass breakups and five interceptions as a three-year starter; and FB Joe Strauss (sr. Lititz/Warwick), who ran for 482 yards and five TDs on 107 carries over three seasons as a starter.

The Coach

                Kutztown’s third-year coach, Raymond Monica (North Alabama, ’90) finishes the 2008 season with a career record of 14-18.  His teams are 8-10 in the PSAC East.  His teams recorded back-to-back wins over Millersville and Shippensburg this season, the first time since 1946-47 and 1995-96 vs. MU and SU, respectively.  Monica’s squad also won its 15th straight over Cheyney and remained undefeated vs. new PSAC foe C.W. Post.  Monica came to the Golden Bears from Division I-A Temple University, where he spent eight seasons as defensive coordinator.  Prior to Temple, Monica coached for nine seasons at the University of North Alabama, during which time the Lions won three NCAA Division II national championships (1993-95).

Indiana (Pa.) Game Recap: IUP 34, KU 7

          Kutztown kept things close vs. IUP, but 24 unanswered points over the final 21-plus minutes closed the door on KU’s upset hopes.  KU’s running offense was successful against the PSAC’s top-ranked rush defense.  KU racked up 176 rushing yards the most vs. the Crimson Hawks this season.  RB Dontay Wilson (jr. Stamford, Conn./Stamford) ran for 97 yards on 12 carries, while fellow RB Maurice Adams (sr. West Chester/Henderson) had 44 yards and KU’s only touchdown, a 7-yard run to make it 10-7 in the third quarter.  TE Nick Aspromonte (so. Tobyhanna/Pocono Mountain West)  had 40 yards on three receptions.  Kutztown’s defense stopped several IUP drives into the red zone, one by fumble caused by Sam McKellar (sr. Allentown/Dieruff) and recovered by Keith Massey (so. Allentown/William Allen), one by interception by Cody Kohn (fr. Lexington Park, Md./Great Mills) and another on a dropped field goal snap.  McKellar, Mike Gardier (jr. Dunmore/Dunmore) and Cory Porrino (sr. Orwigsburg/Blue Mountain) had eight tackles each.  Ryan Nye (sr. Bernville/Holy Name) averaged 41.3 yards on three punts and Kendell Coleman (so.  Philadelphia/M.L. King) had 104 yards on six kickoff returns. 

2008 Season Review

OFFENSE

                Kutztown University’s offense ranked ninth in the PSAC in total yards, gaining 327.9 per game.  The Golden Bears, however, had a strong running attack, averaging 188.0 yards per game, which was fifth in the PSAC.  KU’s 2,068 rushing yards are just shy of the most yards by a Golden Bear team in the last 30 years (1998 team had 2,070 rushing yards).  The running game was fueled by Wilson, who finished with 884 yards and seven touchdowns on 120 carries in nine games.  The yards were the most by a KU back since 2001.  He averaged 98.2 yards per game, which was third in the PSAC, and 7.4 yards per rush, best among PSAC runners with at least 100 carries.  Wilson had five 100-yard rushing games and 11 rushes of 25-plus yards.  QB Shane Martin (jr. New Holland/Garden Spot) was KU’s second-leading runner with 431 yards and two touchdowns.  He is currently tied for the lead among PSAC quarterbacks in rushing yards (Bloomsburg’s Dan Latorre can add to his total in the NCAA playoffs).  Adams finished with 284 yards and four scores on 81 carries.  RB Cory McFadden (jr. Freemansburg/Bethlehem Catholic) had 204 yards and a score on 71 rushes, and Coleman had 141 yards and a TD on 31 carries.

                Martin was 126-of-259 passing, for 1,534 yards.  He threw for nine touchdowns, but was intercepted 12 times.  WR Jason Uhlig (so. Blue Bell/Wissahickon) led the receiver corps with 29 catches for 518 yards and four touchdowns.  He had at least one catch in all 11 games, extending his streak to 16 games with a catch.  WR Kaleb Klosky (jr. Fisher/Clarion-Limestone), who also had at least one grab in all 11 games, had 27 catches for 283 yards and three touchdowns.  WR Mike Dietrich (jr. York/York Catholic) had 24 grabs for 299 yards.  Aspromonte hauled in 22 passes for 267 yards.

                In addition to paving the way for the most rushing yards at KU in 10 seasons, the Golden Bear offensive line allowed just 20 sacks.  Of those, only nine came in the season’s final seven games.  Primary O-line starters were tackles Tyler Romberger (jr. Muir/Williams Valley) and Josh Alger (r-fr. Wyomissing/Wilson), guards Shane Kadlac (so. Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and Darrell Martin (sr. Stroudsburg/Stroudsburg) and center Evan Reese (jr. Centre Hall/State College).

DEFENSE

                The Golden Bear defense was markedly better in 2008 than the year before.  KU ranked eighth in the PSAC in yards allowed at 327.4 per game, 67 fewer yards allowed per game than in 2007.  The biggest difference came on the ground.  KU’s run defense, which ranked sixth in the PSAC, allowed 133 yards per game, the fewest rushing yards allowed since 1997.  Kutztown led the PSAC East in sacks (25) and ranked fourth in the league in red-zone defense (72.2 percent). 

                FS Khalief Evans (so. Philadelphia/Imhotep Charter) won the team’s tackle title with 74 in 2008.  He added three pass breakups and two forced fumbles.  Gardier had 72 tackles in nine games, with seven for loss and three sacks.  He forced three fumbles.  DE Kevin Bolinsky (so. Ashland/North Schuylkill) topped the lineman with 69 tackles, including six for loss.  He recovered two fumbles.  McKellar notched 68 stops, including four for loss and forced three fumbles.  Porrino recorded 64 tackles with eight for loss and two interceptions.  LB Joel Irwin (so. Coatesville/Bishop Shanahan) had 49 hits, including six for loss.  Massey had 39 tackles.  CB Brent Howard (jr. Gilbertsville/Boyertown) had two interceptions and six pass breakups.  DT Nick Cresta (sr. Wallingford/Strath Haven) had eight tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, while DE Greg Rotkowski (so. Macungie/Emmaus) had nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.  DE Kevin Branco (sr. Hellertown/Saucon Valley) had 3.5 sacks among his seven tackles for loss. 

SPECIAL TEAMS

                PK Matt Dineen (so. Wilmington, Del./Concord) set single-season KU records for field goals (13) and field goals attempted (18).  His 72.2 field goal percentage ranks sixth on KU’s single-season chart. Dineen also hit 25-of-26 PAT kicks, the best percentage on record for a KU kicker. 

                Punter Ryan Nye (sr. Bernville/Holy Name), in addition to his career punting average record, averaged 41.2 yards on 49 punts this year, ranking third on the single-season punting average chart. 

                Coleman finished second in the PSAC in punt return average, netting 16.3 yards on 16 punts.  His 78-yard return for a touchdown vs. Shippensburg highlighted his efforts.  Coleman’s 261 punt return yards are tied for second-most in a season at KU.  He also averaged 20.8 yards on eight kickoff returns.

                Wilson averaged 18.4 yards on 17 kick returns, with Adams netting 22.3 yards on 13 kick returns.

Next Up

                Kutztown’s 2008 season is complete.  The official 2009 schedule is expected to be released in the spring. The ’09 season opener will be on the final weekend of August at St. Anselm (see page 3 for complete tentative schedule)

Kelly’s Sports

Player of the Game

RB Dontay Wilson

(jr. Stamford, Conn./Stamford)

                Wilson ran for 97 yards on 12 carries, averaging 8.1 yards per rush, vs. Indiana (Pa.).