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Game Box Score

"The bubble burst today." The words of Bloomsburg coach Danny Hale summed up the Huskies day at the NCAA Division II title game in Florence, AL. That's where the Huskies lost to the Statesmen of Delta State University, 63-34, Saturday afternoon.

The Statesmen (14-1) dominated play with outstanding speed, size and execution--scoring on its eight of its first nine possessions of the game. The only time the Statesmen were stopped was by the end of the first half when they took a knee on two consecutive plays.

"Delta State played a great game," said Hale. "They were the better team today in every aspect. We just could not stop them offensively. They were able to take advantage of all their weapons, exploiting the matches we were giving them."

The day started well enough for the Huskies (12-3) who took the opening kickoff and with Eric Miller directing the offense, moved Bloomsburg 66-yards in six plays connecting with Mike Lelko for an eight-yard scoring pass. On the drive Miller was 4-4 for 41 yards. Lelko's touchdown catch was his eighth of the post-season, a new NCAA Division II record.

Delta State responded on its first drive with a quick scoring drive of its own. Quarterback Josh Bright capped the five-play, 62-yard scoring drive with 35-yard run up the middle of the line. The extra point, though, was missed leaving Bloomsburg with a 7-6 lead.

Delta State used some trickery recovering an on-side at the Statesmen's own 46 on the ensuing kickoff. Bright then directed another scoring drive going in from seven yards outs with 5:04 to play in the first. Bright then completed a two-point conversion to James Grubbs making it a 14-7 lead for Delta State. The scoring drive for the Statesmen was 54 yards in 11 plays.

The Huskies responded with a long scoring drive on its next possession. Taking the ball at its own 26-yard line, the Huskies moved 74 yards in just seven plays. A big play in the drive was a 22-yard pass from Miller to Lelko down to the Statesmen's one-yard line. Two plays later the pair hooked up again for a two-yard scoring pass. Chris Thompson's point after kick tied the score at 14-14 with 2:16 to play in the first.

Delta State's next possession resulted in another score for the Statemen. Changing quarterbacks to give Bloomsburg a different look, Delta State moved downfield primarily with the pass. Once inside the 10-yard line, the Statesmen brought starter Josh Bright back into the lineup. On a fourth-and-one from inside the one-yard, Delta's Tanny Flowers jumped over for the score. The point after was good giving the Statesmen a 21-14 lead.

Bloomsburg was held to a three and out on its next possession, forcing the Huskies to punt for the first time in the game. Joe Deitrich then punted to midfield giving Delta good field position. On a third-and 14, the Statesmen converted a screen pass into a 15-yard gain and a first down to the Huskies 34-yard line. Several plays later Rico McDonald bowled over from one-yard out giving the Statesmen a 28-14 lead.

On Bloomsburg's next drive, the Huskies looked like they were getting back into scoring position with a Arrastene Henry picking up 20 yards on two carries down to the Statesmen's 40. However, on a first and 10 play, Henry fumbled the ball with Delta recovering at the Bloomsburg 35-yard line.

The Statesmen continued to play near perfect football on the ensuing drive. Marching 65 yards in 10 plays, the Statesmen converted several third down opportunities, including a third and five from the nine yard line with Jason Franklin taking a reverse handoff and going in for the score giving Delta a 35-14 lead at the half.

In the first half the Statesmen outgained the Huskies 304-167 in total offense and held a 2-1 edge in time of possession (19:40 to 10:20).

Bloomsburg handed Delta State a taste of its own medicine to start the second half of play with an on-side kick, which was recovered by kicker Zach Quigley at the Bloomsburg 46-yard line. The Huskies moved the ball to the Delta State 30-yard line before Miller was dropped for a six-yard sack. On third and 16, Miller hit Tierell Johnson with an 18-yard pass to the Statesmen's 17-yard line.

After a Glaze run to the 12, Miller scrambled 11 yards to the one-yard line before scoring himself on the next play. Thompson's point after brought the Huskies to within 35-21.

Delta State wasted little time moving downfield getting a 28-yard run from Bright to the Bloomsburg 40-yard line. After a shortpickup by Tanny Flowers, Bright ripped off a 17-yard run the Bloomsburg 14. After advancing the ball to the two-yard line, Deforest Hart completed the scoring drive with two-yard run. The point after gave the Statesmen a 42-21 lead with 8:28 to play in the third.

Bloomsburg's Bryant Stone gave the Huskies good field position with a 40-yard kickoff return to the Delta State 45-yard line. The Huskies used a nice mix of the run and pass to get to the Delta 16-yard line. After three passes by Miller went incomplete, the Huskies went for it on fourth down with Miller hitting Darryl Williams with a 16-yard scoring pass with 5:45 to play in the third. Thompson's PAT pulled the Huskies to within 42-28.

But as had been the case the entire game, Delta used its superior size on the offensive line to march downfield yet again. On a second and five from 25, Bright went through a big hole to untouched for a score with 3:51 to play in the third making it a 49-28 game.

Bloomsburg's defense finally appeared as if it had make its first stop of the game when on fourth and two when the Huskies' jumped offsides giving Delta a first down by penalty. The Statesmen took advantage of the Huskies miscue and methodically marched downfield with Tanny Flowers scoring on a seven yard run with 12:03 to play in the game to make it 56-28.

The Huskies, as they have done through out the season, never gave up in the game. The Huskies had one touchdown called back in the fourth period on a penalty and also intercepted one pass.

Gary Smith put the capper on the game for the Statesmen with an 18-yard scoring run with 5:26 to play in the game. With the extra point, Delta State led 63-28.

Bloomsburg's final score when Arrastene Henry scored from five yards out with 3:32 to play in the game. But, as was the case the entire game, the extra point was blocked making the final, 63-34.

Quarterback Eric Miller set NCAA Division II tournament records for most passing yards (1,237) breaking the mark of Chris Crawford of Portland State in 1988 (1,226). Miller's three touchdown passes also increased his tournament record to 17 touchdown throws.

"They took us out of our game today," said Miller. "They secondary is very good and everything we tried they were able to defend."

Mike Lelko also set two NCAA tournament records after making 10 catches for 87 yards on the aftternoon. Lelko finished the tournament with 33 receptions (breaking the mark of 29 set by Tony Miles of Northwest Missouri State in 1999) and nine touchdowns (breaking the mark of seven by Steve Kreider of Lehigh in 1977).

Defensive tackle Brian Sims was a first hand witness to the firepower of the Statesmen today.

"The stops just did not come for us today," said the senior co-captain Sims. "We usually slow an offense down by the end of the second period or at least into the third period, but that did not happen today."

Bloomsburg's Jeremiah Dyer did have a standout day for the Huskies. The Berwick graduate made 18 tackles on the day, 14 of them solo.