Calling it now: East Stroudsburg will win the PSAC East next year. This team is scary. The Warriors used a methodical offense and timely defense to unrelentingly defeat Millersville 66-7.
19 seconds is all it took for East Stroudsburg to score on their first possession. Robert Healy put on a Marshawn Lynch type show, pushing away several defenders to scamper in for the 58 yard score. That touchdown was East Stroudsburg's fastest since 1994.
ESU racked up 20 points in just six minutes on consecutive possessions. Robert Bleiler, ESU's top wideout, caught two for touchdowns, and Gerald Van De Cruz finished things off for the first quarter scoring.
The Warriors equaled their first quarter output by doing it again. 27 more points, 54 total points at the half. East Stroudsburg essentially dominated every single statistical category. Unfortunately, this was no contest.
It begins and ends with the play of Matt Soltes. The redshirt sophomore QB threw for 197 yards, which is awfully low for him, but he economically threw for six touchdowns on Saturday. His runners tallied three more.
To be fair, Millersville's defense fared a ton better against East Stroudsburg last week than Lock Haven did. The Bald Eagles allowed 696 total yards of offense to Millersville's 462, and Soltes threw for 462 yards by himself last week, and rushed for another 74 yards. So, in terms of a percentage, Soltes accounted for 77% of East Stroudsburg's offense against Lock Haven.
Soltes has already accounted for several PSAC and national records so far. He will be spectacular for two years to come.
In terms of positives for the Marauders, unfortunately there are not many to draw from this contest. Ian Sadon found a lot more openings in the second half. He finished his day with another solid 96 yard performance. Brent Collins returned five kickoffs for 147 yards, including a spectacular 65 yard return in the second half as well.
Of all players to throw a touchdown, who else than running back David Coates? Coates became the fourth player to throw for a touchdown this season. He found a wide open Kevin Porter on a trick play to put Millersville on the scoreboard.
As of the time of this blog, the team has already forgotten about this game and will have to look forward to next week's season conclusion.
In a sort of deja vu scheduling quirk, Millersville will play California on Saturday to end the 2013 campaign. Head Coach Greg Breitbach and the rest of the staff have continued to keep this season positive. Many aspects of Millersville's game have been radically changed. New plays, new players, new techniques, new mindset, and a lot more attention to certain details have all been instituted.
California lost to Mercyhurst last week 23-20. Anyone who isn't Bloomsburg or Slippery Rock will have to play out the final game and look forward to next season. It's a rather cutthroat playoff system, but you must be the best in an insanely competitive PSAC.
Cal has had a baffling season. They played so well against the East, including almost upsetting West Chester 38-31, but have played inconsistently against West opponents. Losses to IUP, Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock all show that they aren't a top team yet.
Last time Millersville played California, they scored 28 points, including 21 fourth quarter points. Laying it all on the line for one final game on senior day would mean a ton to the departing seniors. Those seniors include LB Jordan Rigby, WR Dominic Sanders, S David Rene, S Dan Miller, RV Dean May, DE Gilbert Ramos, C Alex Schwendeman, WR David Barnes and DT Doug Henninger.
They, along with the 1993 PSAC East champion football team, will be honored at home for a 4 p.m. start. Hope you can join us on MSBN then. www.millersvilleathletics.com/msbn
The PSAC Title Game has been decided after all this time. Bloomsburg upended West Chester in one final matchup to win the division by virtue of a tiebreak. All three top teams ended with a 7-1 record in conference. Seems complicated because Bloom beat West Chester, but West Chester beat Shippensburg, and Shippensburg beat Bloomsburg, but somehow, Bloomsburg won the conference.
Slippery Rock turned it up late in the season to pick up wins with regularity. Slight edge goes to Slippery Rock. They are hot, hot, hot!
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