[Kutztown Football] Golden Bears Look to Get Offense Going at Clarion

[Josh Leiboff]

KU Football Fact Sheet #02-2005      KU vs. Clarion 

Golden Bears Look to Get Offense Going at Clarion 

The Game

         The Kutztown University football team will hit the road on Saturday, September 3 for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference inter-division matchup at Clarion University.  Kickoff is set for 6:00 PM at Clarion's Memorial Stadium.

         The Golden Bears are 0-1 in 2005, losing a defensive struggle vs. Shippensburg, 10-3, last Saturday.  Kutztown was 4-6 in 2004.

The Clarion Golden Eagles also enter the game 0-1 after losing to West Chester, 43-14, on Friday.  Clarion finished with a 3-8 overall record last fall. 

Electronic Coverage

The game will be broadcast live on WEEU, AM 830, based out of Reading.  Matt Santos and Steve Hahn will call the action.  Listeners throughout the world can also hear the broadcast on KU's Website at kubears.com.  The broadcast will begin 15 minutes before kickoff.

The Coaches

Dave Keeny (Kutztown, '82) is in his eighth season as head coach of the Golden Bear football program.  Keeny has a 36-38 career record.  He has the third-most coaching victories in school history.  Keeny is 3-4 against Clarion.

Malen Luke (Westminster, '76) is in his 12th season at Clarion.  He owns a 54-67 record at CU and a 91-88 record in 18 seasons overall.  He is 4-3 vs. KU. 

The Series

This game will mark the 17th meeting between Kutztown and Clarion, dating back to 1941.  The Eagles lead the series 12-4, but the Golden Bears have won the last two between the schools.   Last year, Kutztown picked up a 25-14 victory at home against the Eagles behind strong play by the defense and special teams.  Three of Kutztown's four scores came off a blocked punt, a fumble and an interception, all returned for touchdowns.  Matt Millard returned the blocked punt to paydirt, while Michael Baldwin returned the interception, the only one of his career, 65 yards for the score.  Baldwin also forced and recovered a fumble.  Drew Hicks recorded 14 tackles, including four for loss.  Tony Bria rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  Brandon Dando completed 11-of-22 passes for 141 yards, while Bo Busch had 10 tackles for the Eagles.  In 2003, Kutztown escaped Clarion with a 20-19 victory.   Kutztown was out-gained, 449-216, but recovered six Golden Eagle fumbles.  In 2002, Clarion defeated the Bears 31-7 at Memorial Stadium.  Kutztown lost to Clarion in the 1980 PSAC "State Game" following KU's only East Division title in school history. 

 Tracking the Golden Bears

Offense

The Golden Bear offense hopes to learn from its mistakes and develop consistency, coming off of its 10-3 loss to Shippensburg.  KU managed just 212 yards of offense in the contest, and just 76 after halftime.  KU turned the ball over six times, was sacked three times and managed just 11 first downs.

New QB Kyle Spotts (so. Tamaqua/Tamaqua) completed 14-of-39 passes for 149 yards, but was picked off four times.  WR Mike  Zulkowski (jr. Shenandoah/Shenandoah Valley) caught three passes for 82 yards, including a 44 yarder late in the game.  Tony Bria (sr. Warminster/William Tennent) and Maurice Adams (so. West Chester/Henderson) shared the rushing load.  Bria notched 33 yards on eight carries, while Adams had 31 yards on 16 rushes.  As a team, the Bears had just 60 yards on 34 carries.  Brett Harbach (jr. West Lawn/Wilson) had three catches for 19 yards, while Adams had two catches for 21 yards.

A glimpse of what the offense may be capable of came on the Bears' lone scoring drive of the game.  The march spanned the end of the first and beginning of the second quarters.  Spotts completed 4-of-6 passes to four different receivers for 47 yards as KU moved 64 yards on 14 plays.  The drive, however, stalled inside the Raider 10 yardline, and the Golden Bears had to settle for a field goal.  

Left tackle Charlie Kehs (sr. Gilbertsville/Boyertown) started his 31st consecutive game, the longest active streak on the team.  He was joined on the line by tackle Dustin Woodward (jr. Lancaster/Penn Manor), guards Adam Ogorek (sr. West Chester/Henderson) and Don Keen (sr. Lancaster/McCaskey), and center Raymond Yannuzzi (jr. Wallingford/Strath Haven).  

 Defense

While the offense struggled, the defense seemed to be in mid-season form against Shippensburg.  The Golden Bears forced five Red Raider turnovers, sacked Ship's QB six times and gave up just 225 yards of total offense.  

Defensive end Mike Grosso (jr. Hackettsown, NJ/Pope John) made a triumphant return from a leg injury which ended his 2004 season in last year's third game.  Grosso notched four sacks, causing two fumbles which were recovered by KU.  He added another tackle for loss among his eight hits, and broke up a pass.  Grosso's final sack and forced fumble gave KU the ball in Shippensburg territory late in the fourth quarter, but the Bears couldn't capitalize.  Linebackers Drew Hicks (sr. Allentown/William Allen) and Greg Mitchell (sr. Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic) also stood out.  Each tallied 11 tackles and a tackle for loss.  Mitchell added a forced fumble.  Safety Brian Bingnear (so. Boothwyn/Chichester) had six tackles, while cornerback Cory Porrino (jr. Orwigsburg/Blue Mountain) had five hits.  Tackle Nick Cresta (r-fr. Wallingford/Strath Haven) had a forced fumble, a pass breakup and had four tackles, including two behind the line and a sack.  End Kevin Branco (r-fr. Hellertown/Saucon Valley) recovered two fumbles and had a sack for three yards among his three tackles.  Cornerback Matt Millard (sr. Secane/Ridley) intercepted a pass in the end zone late in the first half to end a Raider threat.

 Special Teams

KU's only points of the game came off the foot of kicker Matt Scartozzi (sr. Malvern/Bishop Shanahan).  Scartozzi connected on a 28-yard field goal early in the second quarter.  The score was the 18th of the senior kicker's career, moving him into a tie for second place on KU's career field goal chart with Mike Attardi (1985-87).  Scartozzi is just one shy of the school record of 19 held by Steve Kratz (1989-92).  Ryan Nye (fr. Reading/Holy Name) punted seven times for an average of 39.7 yards, including a long of 51, in his collegiate debut.  Bria returned two kickoffs for 42 yards, while Harbach returned four punts for 32 yards.   
Notable

Kutztown, the least penalized team in the PSAC in 2004, was flagged just five times against Shippensburg.    

Scouting the Clarion Golden Eagles

Clarion returns 18 starters from its 2004 team that went 3-8 overall, 1-5 in the rugged PSAC West.  Six of Clarion's losses were to nationally-ranked teams.  Clarion led in the second half against three teams, West Chester, Edinboro and East Stroudsburg, all of whom went to the Division II playoffs.

Clarion is also coming off a loss to start its season, dropping a 43-14 decision at West Chester Friday night.  The teams were tied 7-7 in the early going, but Clarion was outscored 23-7 over the remainder of the first half as WCU cruised to victory.

Clarion gained 274 yards of offense, including 112 rushing and 162 passing.  Quarterbacks Brandon Dando and Erik Yonish split time under center.  Dando got the start and completed 6-of-18 for 59 yards. He also rushed for 44 yards on seven carries out of the Golden Eagles' option offense.  Yonish was 5-of-13 for 103 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown strike to running back Michael Byrd in the first quarter.  Byrd caught four passes for 75 yards.  RB Tyrone Buckner led CU with 54 yards and a TD on 18 carries.  

Clarion's defense was touched up for 487 yards by West Chester, including 322 passing yards and 165 rushing yards.  West Chester passed for five touchdowns, all to one receiver.  LB Matt Morris led the defense with nine tackles, including two for loss.  Fellow LB Zach Gourley added seven tackles.

Nicholas Perla averaged 36.4 yards on seven punts.  Kyle Snoke's only field goal attempt was blocked.  Dwaon Woodard tallied 90 yards on five kick returns.  

Kelly's Sports, Ltd.
Player of the Week

Mike Grosso (jr. Hackettstown, NJ/Pope John) had eight tackles, including four sacks for 28 yards and tackle for loss of 1 yard.  Two of the sacks caused fumbles.  He also batted down a pass. 

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Josh Leiboff
Kutztown University Sports Information
Phone: (610) 683-4182
Fax: (610) 683-4676
Email: leiboff at kutztown.edu
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