Box Score (New/Sortable Format) Box Score

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- A bruising ground game and three field goals by Dan Fisher paced 19^th-ranked Bloomsburg to a 30-14 win over Edinboro on Saturday afternoon at Redman Stadium.  The Fighting Scots were playing in their season opener, while Bloomsburg improved to 2-0 with the victory.

The top rushing team in the PSAC the last two years and three of the last four years, Bloomsburg showed the Fighting Scots a lesson in physical football.  The Huskies finished with 319 yards rushing, the11th-highest single-game total by an Edinboro opponent and the most since Shippensburg rushed for 326 yards in 2002.

The tandem of Eddie Mateo and Franklin Quiteh each rushed for over 100 yards, marking the sixth time they have done so in their careers.  Mateo led the way with 148 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, while Quiteh finished with 134 yards and a score on 20 carries. Quiteh, a junior, is Bloomsburg's fourth all-time leading rusher with 3,559 yards, just 27 yards shy of third place.   

Bloomsburg finished with 413 yards and 24 first downs while dominating the time of possession (35:43).  Edinboro's new no-huddle offense struggled in the first half, but put together several promising drives as the game wore on. Unfortunately, the Fighting Scots could finish just two drives, and the last was with just 29 seconds remaining.  The Scots finished with 313 yards in total offense.

Cody Harris completed 23 of 35 passes for 209 yards with a touchdown.  He added 25 yards rushing on 11 carries.  Marcus Johnson caught 6 passes for 48 yards, and Devin Ghafoor added 6 catches for 42 yards.  Ghafoor, normally a defensive back, made his first career start at wide receiver and caught his first career touchdown pass.

Senior free safety Kenny Pettis had a career-high 19 tackles to pace Edinboro defensively.  Pettis finished the 2011 football campaign with a total of 61 tackles.  

Bloomsburg opened the scoring with an impressive eight-play, 77-yard drive that featured Quiteh.  He carried five times for 40 yards, including a burst up the middle for 11 yards and the game's first score just 2 minutes 52 seconds into the game.  Dan Fisher's extra point made it 7-0.

Following a three-and-out for the Fighting Scots, the Huskies put together another long drive, going 75 yards on 13 plays, covering 6 minutes 24 seconds before the Boro defense stiffened inside the five. Fisher came and booted the first of his three field goals, a 22-yarder with 4:36 left in the first quarter to give Bloomsburg a 10-0 advantage.

The Edinboro defense would spend the rest of the first half playing solidly.  On the ensuing kickoff a mental miscue on a bloop kick gave the Huskies the ball back at the Edinboro 35, but the Huskies managed just one first down before a sack by T.J. Lawrence forced the Huskies to punt.

The lead grew to 16-0 in the second quarter on a pair of long Fisher field goals, both aided by a strong prevailing wind.  The first covered 45 yards and the second was a school-record 52 yards, giving the Huskies a 16-0 lead 5:47 with remaining in the second quarter.

Edinboro's new hurry-up offense finally got untracked on the following series, managing the team's initial first down with 5:21 to play on a seven-yard pass from Cody Harris to Kevin Sonnie.  The Fighting Scots would drive down to the Bloomsburg 26 on 12 plays, but a 4^th-and-14 pass from Harris to D'Andrea Vaughn came up to two yards short.

Bloomsburg dominated statistically in the first half, finishing with 226 yards and 14 first downs compared to 92 yards and six first downs for the Scots.

The teams traded long touchdown drives in the third quarter.  Edinboro closed the gap to 16-7 with a 10-play, 79-yard march that got started with a 32-yard wide receiver screen from Harris to Marcus Johnson.  Harris later completed a nine-yard pass to Shawn Walker on a 3^rd-and-4 play for a first down at the BU 7.  Vaughn lost two yards on first down, but Willie Lowe took it to the four on a five-yard run, and on third-and-goal the Iowa transfer sprinted to the left corner of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run.  Sean Seefeldt's extra point closed the gap to 16-7 with 6:12 left in the third quarter.

Unfortunately, Bloomsburg responded with a 64-yard scoring drive that boosted the lead back to 23-7.  Mateo did most of the damage, carrying five times for 31 yards.  The Scots appeared to have the Huskies stopped, facing a 1^st-and-goal from the 25, but redshirt freshman quarterback Tim Kelly found Kyle Fisher for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:18 left in the third quarter.

The Huskies would boost the lead to 30-7 on another long march, this cover 12 plays and 85 yards.  Mateo broke off a 29-yard run into Edinboro territory, and Kelly later scrambled for 20 yards on a 3^rd-and-18 to the Boro three.  Mateo scored three plays later on a one-yard run with 4:53 remaining.

Edinboro would tack on the final points of the game with 29 seconds to play, as Harris drove the Scots 92 yards in six plays.  His 50-yard completion to Ben Eisel gave the Scots a first down at the Bloom 11, and on 3^rd-and-7 Harris found Ghafoor for the six-pointer, as the sophomore hauled in a tipped ball at the edge of the end zone.  

Edinboro heads home for another against a ranked opponent as the Fighting Scots host tenth-ranked California(Pa.) in their home opener on Saturday, September 15.  The kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Sox Harrison Stadium with the game designated as Whiteout Night and First Responders Night.