KUTZTOWN — Talk about a sense of timing.
On the day Kutztown University named its stadium in honor of 2014 National Football League Hall of Fame inductee and former Golden Bears wide receiver Andre Reed from Allentown Dieruff, red-shirt sophomore wide receiver D.J. McFadden from Abington had his most productive performance to date for Bloomsburg University.
McFadden opened the scoring by catching a 42-yard pass from quarterback Tim Kelly for his first career touchdown and then scored on a 17-yard pass just 44 seconds into the second quarter to key a 31-13 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East victory Saturday over Kutztown.
The victory sets up a showdown of unbeatens next Saturday at Bloomsburg between the 12th-ranked Huskies (7-0, 6-0 PSAC) and 10th-ranked West Chester (7-0, 6-0).
Kelly completed 11-of-17 passes for 200 yards, including the two TDs to McFadden, who finished with four receptions for 76 yards. Equally impressive was a running game that controlled the ball and ate time off the clock with 45 rushes for 242 yards.
Senior running back Eddie Mateo continued his return to form, ripping the Golden Bears (3-4, 3-3) for 163 yards on 20 carries. He scored on a run of 3 yards in the second quarter for a 21-0 lead and for all intent put the game out of reach with an 84-yard run in the third quarter for a 31-6 lead.
That run is the second longest in school history only to the 87-yard run Jamar Brittingham had in 1989, when Bloomsburg began keeping football records, and is the 34th of Mateo’s career, moving him into fifth place all-time.
Also contributing to the running attack was Dai’Shon Munger with 14 carries for 69 yards and Kelly with six carries for 20 yards.
“Right now, it’s all about West Chester,” McFadden said, not wanting to dwell on his two TD receptions. “That’s all that matters. Our offense is getting better not just game by game, but day by day in practice.”
Kelly, who had an 81-yard touchdown run in last week’s victory over Millersville that was the longest ever by a Bloomsburg quarterback, said he sees an increased continuity in the offense. And while he’s pleased with the production, he said neither he nor the team is satisfied.
“I’d say we’re playing well, but we’re certainly not playing as well as we are capable of playing,” Kelly said. “We’ve been able to mix in some new plays, and I think I’ve surprised some teams with some of my runs, but we just want to keep getting better.”
Kutztown was limited to just 80 yards rushing on 28 carries, forcing the Bears to become one dimensional and rely on the passing of Chad Barton, who completed 19-of-32 passes for 148 yards.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Anthony Kelly from Pottsville High made a highlight-reel TD reception in the back corner of the end zone to score on an 8-yard pass with 1 second left in the third quarter.
Anthony Kelly’s touchdown reception was the 15th of his career, breaking a tie with Reed and moving him into a tie for 11th place in school history. Kelly was targeted seven times, but his TD reception was his only catch of the day.
Kodi Reed, who is No. 11 on Kutztown’s all-time yardage list for receivers, was limited to three receptions for 24 yards, giving him a total of 1,513. Brett Fox, who is No. 12 on the list, had one reception for 1 yard, giving him a total of 1,452.
“We knew they had some good receivers, but we were confident that we could get a pass rush and create pressure,” Bloomsburg safety Donovan Morris said. “When we get a pass rush, that allows us to play man-to-man and get tight coverage.
“It was real important that we come down here and get off to a good start with them having homecoming. This is a good team, so we couldn’t look past to West Chester.”
While the Huskies’ offense was in full stride with some big-play scores, the defense was just as balanced. Lineback Justin Shirk compiled 13 tackles, including two sacks and had three tackles for losses. Morris was the leading tackler in the secondary with seven, combining with cornerback D.J. Robinson for one tackle for lost yardage.
An area of concern for the Huskies was eight penalties for 80 yards, equaling the total yards the Bears had rushing. Overall, however, this was a day to focus on a solid victory over a quality opponent and, of course, West Chester.
“Now we focus on West Chester,” Morris said.
Indeed, that time has come.