Matthew Saur
It had been snowing all morning in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, but that wasn’t enough to stop the C.W. Post football team from handing the Bloomsburg Huskies their first loss of the season, winning 24-21. The loss was the Huskies’ first loss in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference eastern division since 2009 and the first time the Pioneers have ever beaten Bloomsburg.
The Huskies got on the board first, when running back Franklin Quiteh rushed 70 yards into the end zone to give them a 7-0 lead. Despite the snowy conditions, freshman kicker Marc Montana was able to get the Pioneers right back into the game, kicking a 27-yard field goal.
Steven Laurino did a nice job with the ball all day despite the tough throwing conditions. Laurino completed 12 of 27 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown. Laurino also rushed for 75 yards on the ground. He gave the Pioneers a short lead with a touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Ryan Derham to start the second, giving the Pioneers a 10-7 lead.
Bloomsburg then struck back to take the lead 14-10 when Quiteh rushed in his second touchdown of the day from five yards out. In the second half, the Huskies looked to gain some momentum when they scored their third touchdown of the day to give them an 11 point lead 21-10.
Jeff Mack had a huge game, rushing for 183 yards, but his biggest contributions were his two touchdowns when the team was down in the second half. Late in the third, Mack rushed it in for a six-yard score, cutting the lead to 21-17. In the fourth, Mack struck again, this time scoring from three yards out after a 13-play drive that spanned 80 yards to give Post a 24-21 lead with 6:54 remaining in the game.
The Huskies gave the Pioneers a scare as they held the ball with 1:27 remaining in the game, but junior defensive back Antonio Powell-Fields picked off Pat Carey to seal the victory for the Pioneers.
The heavy snow and a game-time temperature of 32 degrees had an effect on both teams as five of the seven scores in the game came on the ground. Huskies quarterback Pat Carey completed just 4 of 15 pass attempts, getting intercepted twice. The Pioneers rushed the ball for a combined 58 times for 265 yards.
On defense, Lou Scala had a huge game with 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks, and Michael Burton and Tuqwan Ashley forced fumbles while Casey Baisi intercepted a pass.
The Pioneers are now 5-1 in the conference and 5-4 overall, and they have a chance to go to the postseason. They play Cheyney at home for the final conference game of the season on Saturday, November 5th. Coverage on 88.1 FM begins at 11:30 a.m. with kickoff slated at high noon.
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