KUTZTOWN, PA (October 14, 2009) – The Kutztown University football team celebrates homecoming when it hosts East Stroudsburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game on Saturday, October 17 in a 1:05 p.m. kickoff at University Field.(GAME NOTES)

The game will be broadcast on WEEU-830 AM based out of Reading beginning at 12:50 p.m. with the pregame show. Fans throughout the world can listen to game at www.kubears.com.

In addition, the game will air live on KUTV, which is Service Electric Channel 24 and Hometown Utilicom Channel 28 in Kutztown and eastern Berks County.  The game will be replayed at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19 and noon Tuesday, Oct. 20.  

Kutztown (3-4 overall, 1-3 PSAC East) and East Stroudsburg (5-2, 2-2) are looking to bounce back after suffering tough defeats last week. Kutztown dropped a 26-22 decision to Shippensburg. Meanwhile, East Stroudsburg lost 27-13 to Bloomsburg, ranked fifth in the NFCA Division II Top 25 poll.

East Stroudsburg leads the all-time series, 42-14-1.The Golden Bears’ last victory in the series was a 17-16 decision in 2000. East Stroudsburg defeated Kutztown, 27-3, last season.

Kutztown overcame a pair of second-half deficits against Shippensburg to take a 22-19 lead with three minutes, 25 seconds remaining when freshman wide receiver Dominick Massey (Abington/Abington) caught his first career touchdown and freshman wide receiver Jake Cahill (Ridley Park/Ridley) converted the ensuing two-point conversion.

However, the Red Raiders drove the field and scored the decisive touchdown with 55 seconds remaining. Despite the defeat, the Golden Bears gained 206 of their 290 yards in the second half. Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Morton (Abington/Abington) completed 13 of 28 passes for 123 yards.

Senior running back Dontay Wilson (Stamford, CT/Stamford) gained 81 yards on 12 carries. He became the 10^th player in school history to top the career 2,000-yard rushing mark. Wilson has 2,033 career yards. With 25 yards on the ground this week against ESU, Wilson will move into seventh place on the KU all-time rushing list past Stephen Gammage (2,056), Phil Anthony (2,057) and Bob DiRico (2,057). If Wilson averages 34 yards per game over KU’s final four games, he will also surpass Bruce Harper’s career rushing total of 2,169 yards. Harper spent time in the NFL with the New York Jets. Wilson is fourth in the PSAC in rushing (84.8).

During the Shippensburg game, Wilson and Morton each had a run covering 60 or more yards. Wilson’s second carry of the game was a 60-yard touchdown run. Morton’s first carry of the second half produced a 63-yard gain.

Defensively, senior defensive back Mike Gardier (Dunmore/Dunmore) led Kutztown with nine tackles and junior linebacker Joel Irwin (Coatesville/Bishop Shanahan) added eight tackles. Junior defensive lineman Kevin Bolinsky (Ashland/North Schuylkill) finished with two sacks. It was his second multi-sack game of the season.

The Kutztown defense held Shippensburg to 82 yards rushing, the fourth team this season to be limited to fewer than 100 rushing yards. This was the first time this season that Shippensburg was held under 100 rushing yards. Kutztown also held Shippensburg, the PSAC leader in scoring offense (36.3), 10 points below its average. The Golden Bears are fourth in the conference in rushing defense (105.4).

Kutztown has strong special teams. Junior kicker and punter Matt Dineen (Wilmington, DE/Concord) is among the conference leaders in several categories. He is first in field goals made (13), third in punting (40.2), fifth in scoring (7.43). Meanwhile, junior returner Kendell Coleman (Philadelphia/Martin Luther King) is fourth in punt return yards per game (9.78) and eighth in kick return yards per game (23.9).

East Stroudsburg allowed 256 rushing yards in its loss to Bloomsburg. After cutting Bloomsburg’s advantage to 20-13 with 6:59 remaining in the third quarter, East Stroudsburg gained 10 yards of offense the remainder of the game.

Playing in place of ESU’s leading rusher Zach Krise, freshman tailback Kendrick Williams gained 106 all-purpose yards in his first career start, running for 49 yards on 16 carries and leading the Warriors with 57 yards on three receptions. Freshman Bryan Ogden also set career-highs with four catches for 44 yards.

Defensively, the Warriors forced three turnovers. Senior safety Nicholas Artinger had two interceptions, giving him five this season, which leads the PSAC. Sophomore linebacker Mike Bergey led ESU with 11 tackles, redshirt sophomore Taylor Cave and junior Mark Kalo had nine and redshirt junior Matt Freed had eight tackles and two sacks.

East Stroudsburg has had success through the air this season. The Warriors lead the conference in passing efficiency (158.6) and are second in passing offense (254.1). In addition, ESU is fifth in the conference in scoring defense (20.4), fifth in total offense (384.6) and sixth in scoring offense (26.7). The Warriors are 12^th in rushing defense (149.6) but they are one of four teams that have 10 interceptions, which is tops in the PSAC.

ESU junior quarterback Matt Marshall is second in passing efficiency (151.6), second in total offense (257.7) and third in passing average (227.1). Junior wide receiver Jeff Giglio is second in all-purpose yards (125.1), third in receiving yards per game (84.3) and tied for fifth in receptions per game (5.0). Freed is fourth in the PSAC in tackles per game (9.6) and fifth in sacks (five).

Next Saturday, Kutztown returns to action when it visits Millersville beginning at 1:30 p.m. East Stroudsburg hosts C.W. Post starting at 1 p.m.

--KU--