[Kutztown Football] Golden Bears Finish 2-8, 2-4 PSAC East, in 2005

[Josh Leiboff]

  KU Football Fact Sheet #11-2005      2005 Review
(click here for a PDF version of this release, with more in-depth information and stats)

Golden Bears Finish 2-8, 2-4 PSAC East, in 2005 

The Season

         The Kutztown University football team finished the 2005 season with a 2-8 overall record, including a 2-4 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division.  The Golden Bears finished fifth of seven teams in the PSAC East.  KU was 0-3 against teams from the PSAC West and 0-1 against non-conference foes.  Kutztown was 1-4 at home and 1-4 on the road.  

The Coach

Dave Keeny (Kutztown, '82) completed his eighth season as head coach of the Golden Bear football program.  Keeny has a 38-45 career record, including a 23-25 mark in the PSAC East.  He has the third-most coaching victories in school history.   

The Seniors

Kutztown bid farewell to 14 seniors this season.  Safety Michael Baldwin (Philadelphia/Dobbins Tech) finished his career with 203 tackles, 24 pass breakups, five forced fumbles, eight blocked kicks and three interceptions. DT Chris Branco (Hellertown/Saucon Valley) finished with 34 career tackles, including four tackles for loss and two sacks. RB Tony Bria (Warminster/William Tennent) rushed for 1,273 yards and nine touchdowns on 329 career carries, caught 50 passes for 386 yards and returned 75 punts/kickoffs for 933 yards. TE Andre Coles (Philadelphia/Abraham Lincoln) hauled in seven career passes for 64 yards.  DT Tony Garipoli (Reading/Antietem) had 69 career tackles with two tackles for loss and six breakups.  LB Drew Hicks (Allentown/William Allen) notched 223 career tackles, with 27 tackles for loss and three sacks, 10 pass breakups, five forced fumbles, and two interceptions.  OL Don Keen (Lancaster/McCaskey) played in 21 games over three seasons.  OL Charlie Kehs (Gilbertsville/Boyertown) started the final 40 games of his career.  CB Matt Millard (Secane/Ridley) had 106 tackles, three for loss, 12 pass breakups, and four interceptions.  LB Greg Mitchell (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic) had 292 career tackles, with 22 for loss and 3.5 sacks, 14 pass breakups, six forced fumbles, and 10 fumble recoveries.  OL Adam Ogorek (West Chester/Henderson) played in 35 career games, starting at offensive guard this season and for two seasons at defensive tackle, compiling 76 career tackles.  K Matt Scartozzi (Malvern/Bishop Shanahan) set the career field goals made (24) and field goal percentage (63.2%) records at KU.  DT Warren Spivey (Philadelphia/St. Joseph's Prep) had 11 tackles over two seasons at KU.  OL Tom Sweeney (Sweedsboro, NJ/Kingsway) was a four-year letterwinner. 

Notable

Kutztown had one of the hardest schedules in the region in 2005, playing five teams ranked in the top eight of the region, including four in the month of October...KU had four of the six Northeast Region NCAA Playoff teams on its schedule (Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, West Chester, Southern Connecticut State)...four of KU's eight losses were by seven points or less and KU suffered five losses this season in which it had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead...KU committed a PSAC-low 44 penalties in 2005, its second-straight season leading the PSAC in the category.  

Cheyney Recap: KU 29, Cheyney 12

Kutztown ended the season for the second-straight year with a win, defeating Cheyney, 29-12.  Rookie quarterback Shane Martin (fr. New Holland/Garden Spot), making his second start of the season, threw two touchdowns.  Tyler Dinnis (fr. Doylestown/Central Bucks West) and Travis Barron (so. Coatesville/Bishop Shanahan) scored on short touchdown runs for KU.  Martin completed 7-of-12 passes, throwing first-half TDs to James Brooks (jr. Lancaster/McCaskey) and Larry Baumgardner (so. New Oxford/New Oxford).  Maurice Adams (so. West Chester/Henderson) rushed for 89 yards on 19 carries, while Dinnis gained 35 yards on eight carries.  

The Golden Bears took advantage of several errant snaps on Cheyney punt attempts, scoring a safety on one, driving for a TD after the ensuing free kick, and punching in an additional touchdown after another botched punt.  DE Leroy Azubuike (so. East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg South) got the safety for KU after pushing Cheyney's punter out of the back of the end zone.  Drew Hicks (sr. Allentown/William Allen) blocked another Wolf punt.  

Defensively, KU was led by Greg Mitchell (sr. Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic), who had six tackles, with one for loss and two breakups.  The senior notched his first career interception in the fourth quarter.  Safety Michael Baldwin (sr. Philadelphia/Dobbins Tech) had five tackles, while Azubuike had five stops, three for loss, a forced fumble and a sack.  Defensive tackles Scott Smith (so. New Oxford/Delone Catholic) and Nick Cresta (r-fr. Wallingford/Strath Haven) had 1.5 sacks each and combined for five tackles for loss.  Hicks had three tackles, one for loss, a sack, forced fumble and a pass breakup.  

Ryan Nye (fr. Reading/Holy Name) averaged 39.4 yards on five punts. 

2005 Season Review

Offense

Kutztown's 2005 offense struggled against a tough schedule.  The Golden Bears had a streak of 234 minutes, 59 seconds of game time between offensive touchdowns in October.   KU finished the year ranked 11th of 14 teams in the PSAC, averaging 268.1 yards of total offense, including 114.7 yards rushing (11th in PSAC) and 153.4 yards passing (10th).  The highlight of the season came on Sept. 24 at Mansfield, when the team racked up a school record 582 yards of total offense.  The lowlight came on Oct. 22 vs. Millersville, when KU was held to 71 yards of offense, its lowest output since 1993.  

Despite the inconsistency this season, the future is bright for the Golden Bears, with most of its skill position players being underclassmen.  

Quarterback Kyle Spotts (so. Tamaqua/Tamaqua), who missed the final two games due to injury, completed 128-of-270 passes for 1,297 yards.  He had 11 touchdowns and was picked off nine times.  Martin filled in for Spotts in the last two games, completing 20-of-34 passes for 237 yards and three scores, with one interception.  Baumgarder led the team with 38 catches for 447 yards and eight touchdowns.  Brooks hauled in 34 passes for 395 yards and four scores.  TE Jason Henley (jr. Gilbertsville/Boyertown) had 16 catches for 134 yards and a TD, while Brett Harbach (jr. Sinking Spring/Wilson) had 16 grabs for 111 yards and a score.  

Adams led the ground attack, with 662 yards and two touchdowns on 151 carries.  Tony Bria (sr. Warminster/William Tennent) rushed 103 times for 387 yards and a TD.  Dinnis averaged 6.4 yards on 26 carries.  

KU's offensive line consisted primarily of tackles Charlie Kehs (sr. Gilbertsville/Boyertown) and Dustin Woodward (jr. Lancaster/Penn Manor), guards Adam Ogorek (sr. West Chester/Henderson) and Brian Long (jr. Souderton/Souderton) and center Ray Yannuzzi (jr. Wallingford/Strath Haven).  

Defense

Kutztown sported a big-play defense in 2005, the Golden Bears had 25 sacks and forced 19 opponent fumbles.  KU returned 15 of those fumbles for 239 yards, including four taken back for Golden Bear touchdowns.  

For the season, KU's defense allowed 358.3 yards of total offense by opponents (10th in PSAC), including 170.9 rushing (8th) and 187.4 passing (10th).  

The Golden Bears were led by senior linebackers Hicks and Mitchell.  Hicks had 84 tackles, including 12 for loss, a sack, four breakups and four forced fumbles.  He returned a fumble 89 yards for a touchdown vs. Millersville.  Mitchell ended up with 83 tackles, including five for loss, four breakups, an interception, and two forced and recovered fumbles.  Mitchell finished just shy of cracking KU's top-five career tacklers.  He had 292, six short of the top five list.    Azubuike had a breakout sophomore season at defensive end.  He had 63 tackles, including 10 for loss and four sacks.  Baldwin anchored the secondary, with 61 tackles.  He had nine pass breakups, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, returning one a school record 98 yards for a TD at Clarion.  DE Mike Grosso (jr. Hackettstown, NJ/Pope John) had 56 tackles, with team-highs of 14 tackles for loss and six sacks.  Safety Brian Bingnear (so. Boothwyn/Chichester) had 53 tackles, with three breakups.  LB Tom Cressman (so. Sellersville/Pennridge) notched 47 tackles, with seven for loss and sharing the team lead with six sacks.  He also forced three fumbles.  Cresta had 44 tackles, with six for loss, 3.5 sacks and an interception.  CB Justin Gibbs (so. Pottstown/Pottstown) had 34 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass deflections.  LB Dan Chominski (jr. Boothwyn/Chichester) had 31 hits, with four for loss.  Matt Millard (sr. Secane/Ridley) added 27 tackles with three breakups and an interception.  DE Kevin Branco (r-fr. Hellertown/Saucon Valley) had four tackles for loss, two sacks and three fumble recoveries.   

Special Teams

KU's special teams contributed to the big plays in 2005, with seven blocked kicks.  Baldwin had five of the blocks, including two punts, two field goals and an extra point.  

Nye averaged 37.0 yards on 67 punts.  His 2,480 yards punting were six yards shy of the single-season KU record.  Kicker Matt Scartozzi (sr. Malvern/Bishop Shanahan) connected on 7-of-9 field goals with a long of 42.  He also hit 19-of-22 PAT kicks.  

Gibbs averaged 20.5 yards on 17 kick returns.  Bria averaged 19.6 yards on nine kick returns, and 7.2 yards on 10 punt returns.  Harbach netted 6.6 yards on 10 punt returns.   

Kelly's Sports, Ltd.
Player of the Week

Greg Mitchell (sr. Bethlehem/Bethlehem) led the defense with six tackles, including one for loss, against Cheyney.  He added a pair of pass breakups and the first interception of his career to help key the victory.

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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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