BLOOMSBURG — And then there was one.
With eight teams remaining in the NCAA Division II Football Championships, it is Bloomsburg University that will carry the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference banner into the Super Regional One final Saturday, Dec. 6, in West Virginia against Concord.
That matchup was set Saturday when the PSAC Eastern Division champion Huskies defeated Virginia State 35-14 on Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium. Meanwhile, Concord prevented an all-PSAC quarterfinal with a 51-36 victory over West Chester.
Saturday was the first NCAA victory for the Huskies (11-1) since 2010, with the win over VSU (10-3) advancing them to their first quarterfinal since 2008.
Coming off a disappointing 28-26 loss at Slippery Rock in the PSAC Championship Game on Nov. 15, the Huskies were determined to wear the Falcons down by running the ball. They were successful, rushing for 230 yards, including 21 carries for 129 yards by Eddie Mateo. The senior became the school’s fifth-leading career rusher with 3,432 yards, while his 21-yard touchdown run to open the scoring moved him into fourth on the career rushing list with 42.
“It was good to get back on the field after the disappointment of the championship game,” Bloomsburg coach
Paul Darragh said. “We got heeled up and got back to doing what we do.”
Quarterback Tim Kelly also rebounded with some of his best play calling and execution of the year, running eight times for 28 yards and completing 12-of-20 passes for 175 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown pass to D.J. McFadden early in the second quarter for a 14-7 lead.
That play provided not only a spark for the offense, but the defense as well. The advantage grew to 35-7 on a 6-yard TD run by Kelly with 52 seconds left in the half and TD runs from the 5 and 1 by the junior quarterback in the third quarter.
“We knew that play to McFadden was going to be there because their defense is so aggressive,” Kelly said. “On the previous series we ran that play, but wasn’t able to catch the ball.”
Senior linebacker/captain Justin Shirk had 12 tackles, including 2½ for minus-10 yards and 1½ tackles for minus-10 yards. Senior defensive end Tony David made the most of his five tackles, getting 2½ sacks for minus-12 yards and 2½ tackles for minus-12 yards.
The Huskies held the Falcons to just 113 yards rushing on 37 attempts and had a season-high eight sacks. Bloomsburg also limited quarterback Tarian Ayres to 14-of-28 passing for 154 yards, with 55 coming on Virginia State’s first possession, including a 50-yard touchdown pass from Ayres to Jaivon Smallwood to tie the game at 7.
“We made some adjustments after that first series, and when they came out for their second series we knew what we had to do,” Shirk said. “This was such a huge win for us, and it really means a lot to get this playoff win here at home.”
A week off to help heal the ankle injury that hampered Mateo against Slippery Rock did wonders for his performance, but he said an even bigger factor was the surge by the offensive line. Dai’Shon Munger had nine carries for 40 yards, adding to the team total of 230 yards on 47 carries.
“When we looked at them on film, we saw that no one had really gouged them, and that’s what we wanted to do” Mateo said. “We knew that this was probably going to be our last game here at home, but we didn’t want it to be our last game, and the way our offensive line came off the ball, we made sure of that.”
In the process, the Huskies, who were picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish third in the East, made sure they are the last PSAC team still standing.