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Pioneers Fall Short of Comeback

It was a dog fight from the start, the offenses from the Pioneers and the Kutztown Golden Bears driving down the field possession after possession. The Pioneers were right in the middle of the shoot out but couldn’t lock it up at the end even with Erik Anderwkavich setting records.

Kutztown scored early but the Pioneers fought back but the score remained at 10-7, Post got its touchdown when Anderwkavich connected with Darnell Williams for a 5-yard catch.

Kutztown would push the lead to 19-7 when Kevin Morton found Chris McCormick for a 35-yard touchdown. Post responded with running back Thomas Beverly, who has been banged up the past few weeks, but against Kutztown you would have never realized it. Beverly scored twice in the second quarter to give the Pioneers a 21-19 lead heading into the half.

The nationally ranked Golden Bears showed why they were undefeated coming out in the third quarter, putting up three touchdowns within ten minutes. The Pioneers defense struggled to this point with the Golden Bears offense and the Pioneers offense was sputtering.

The Pioneers found themselves down 47-27 in the fourth quarter, but instead of giving up, they began to make a comeback.

Erik Anderwkavich lead the team down the field on a quick drive and connected with second year wide out Grayson Larine for a touchdown to make the score 47-34. The Golden Bears still had one last score in them kicking a 38-yard field goal to push the lead to 50-34.

But once again the Pioneers pushed down the field, and Anderwkavich would once again find Darnell Williams in the end zone for a 6-yard pass. Instead of kicking the field goal coach Brian Collins called for a two point conversion. The conversion was successful with Anderwkavich connecting with his old pal Williams to make the score 50-42.

The Pioneers defense deserves a lot of credit, although they may have given up 50 points, they held down the high powered Kutztown offense when it mattered. While the Pioneers were rallying to stay in the game, the defense made plays and gave the offense a chance to get back in the game.

Once the Pioneers got the ball back again, Anderwkavich found wide receiver Joe Botti for a 71-yard hail-mary pass, suddenly the Pioneers just needed to convert the two point conversion and score would be tied. But Post was unable to convert, falling inches short of the end zone.

The score would stand at 50-48, the Pioneers defense came up with a huge stop and it was up to Anderwkavich and the offense to win the game.

The Pioneers would drive 74 yards down the field, and bring the ball to the Kutztown six for a first and goal with 15 seconds in the game. On the next play Anderwkavich was sacked for a loss of seven. With four seconds on the clock, the Pioneers elected to kick a field goal and looked to freshman kicker Keith Hagnagy. Hagnady’s lined up to kick the 30 yard field goal and was iced twice, when the Kutztown coach called for back to back time outs. Finally Hagnagy lined up and missed wide left as the clock struck zero. The Kutztown Golden Bears had defeated the Pioneers and found a way to remain undefeated.

Erik Anderwkavich set a PSAC and school record with 651 total yards (85 rushing, 566 passing); Anderwkavich also had five touchdown passes on the day. Thomas Beverly scored a pair of touchdowns, while rushing for 51 yards. Darnell Williams and Joe Botti had huge games, each catching two touchdowns; Williams collected 131 yards while Botti caught 10 for 227 yards.

The Pioneers may have ended a four game win streak with the loss to Kutztown, but can look to rebound next week against Bloomsburg University. It will be the final home game at Hickox field this season, as always coverage will be on 88.1 FM and wcwpsports.com starting at 12:30PM with kick off slated at 1pm.

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