Kutztown Crashes Homecoming

Matthew Saur

The stands at Hickox Field were packed, the crowd was ready to erupt at any moment, but the C.W. Post football team didn’t give them much to cheer about in the first half of their 2011 Homecoming game on Saturday, October 22nd. Kutztown managed to open up a 21-0 gap before the end of the first half, but the Pioneers came back to score 30 points after that. Despite their efforts, though, the deficit was too large to overcome. The 42-30 loss snapped the Pioneers’ four-game win streak and brought their record to 4-4 overall, 4-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

The Golden Bears scored on their first three drives of the game, converting a pair of 15- yard touchdown passes from quarterback Kevin Morton, and a three-yard run from Josh Mastromotto gave Kutztown an early 21-0 lead.

It took a while for the Pioneers offense to get going, but right before the end of the first half, they scored a pair of touchdowns to cut the lead to 21-17. Sophomore wide receiver Kyle Hardy caught a pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Laurino for the first touchdown, and then sophomore running back Anthony Brunetti rushed into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown.

Kutztown struck back shortly after to pad their lead, however, with a two-yard run from Mastromotto. By this time, the Pioneers offense had begun to click, and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Joe Botti caught an 11-yard pass for a touchdown to get the Pioneers right back into the game. But, before the Pioneers could get the chance to tie or possibly take the lead, the Kutztown offense struck one last time on a 74-yard drive to give them a 42-23 lead. Sophomore running back Jeff Mack was able to score a touchdown for the Pioneers on a 16-yard rush into the end zone, but it was with only 45 seconds remaining in the game and was not enough to prevent the loss.

The Kutztown offense had 576 yards of offense, 458 of which came from Morton. The Kutztown defense also did its job, sacking Laurino seven times and intercepting three of his passes.

The loss drops the Pioneers to 4-4 on the season, ending their win streak and handing them their first conference loss. Post looks to start a new winning streak this Saturday, October 29th, on the road against second-ranked Bloomsburg University. Coverage on 88.1 FM and wcwp.org begins at 2 p.m., with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m.