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Indiana (PA) Holds on to Beat Bloomsburg

Game Stats, Play by Play

BLOOMSBURG—Indiana (PA) University rallied from a 27-14 second period deficit and then hung on to beat Bloomsburg University, 42-40, in the season's final regular season game.

The IUP defense came up big forcing four turnovers, turning them into 21 points to help the Indians rally for the win and keep their post-season hopes alive.

Bloomsburg (7-4) started quickly going up 13-0 in the first period. Huskies' quarterback Jack Lydic hit Nick Kurtz with a scoring passes of 23 and 13 yards, the first of school-record tying five touchdown passes for the sophomore signal caller.

IUP (10-1) answered back early in the second quarter when tailback Chris Morgan scored on a 25-yard run to make it 13-7. Bloomsburg came back and went up 19-7 when Lydic connected with Donny Patrick on a 13-yard scoring pass with 11:26 to play in the second period. However, the extra point was wide for the second time which would later come back to haunt the Huskies.

IUP's Kareen Dutrieuille cut the deficit to five when he scored on a nine-yard run to cap a 72-yard scoring drive with 4:25 to play before halftime. Bloomsburg though needed just 37 seconds to stretch the lead back 13 points at 27-14 when Mike Ceroli run 61 yards for score and the Huskies converted a two-point attempt.

After the Huskies got the ball back after an IUP punt, Lydic was intercepted on his first down pass by Jerrell Jackson at the IUP 38-yard line with 1:38 to play in the half. IUP then marched 62-yards for a score with quarterback Kevin Weidl hitting Derrick Smith with a 31-yard touchdown pass to make it a 27-21 game at halftime.

IUP took its first lead of the game, 28-27, on the third play of the second half, when Weidl hit Joe Slappy with a 78-yard scoring pass.

Then, late in the third period, the Indians forced two Bloomsburg turnovers and turned them into 14 points to stretch a one-point to 15 at the end of three periods. First, Joe Shubik returned an interception 51-yards for a score. Then on the ensuing drive, IUP's Trent Jones picked up a fumble and returned it 50 yards for a score to make it 42-27.

Bloomsburg did make a comeback with an opportunity to forced overtime. Lydic hit Steve Burke with an 11-yard scoring pass to cap a 91-yard drive with Garrett Bloom hitting the extra point to make it 42-34 with 3:36 to play. After the Huskies forced IUP to punt, Lydic led the Huskies on a 73-yard drive and hit Brad Bowman with a four-yard scoring pass with just 21 seconds left. The two-point conversion pass to tie the game was incomplete giving IUP the win.

Bloomsburg was led by Lydic who finished 23-44 for 302 yards with the five touchdown passes and three interceptions. Ceroli finished with 176 yards rushing on 17 attempts and one score. Ceroli finished the year with 1,034 yards rushing, just the eighth time in school history a back has gained more than a 1,000 yards in a season. Defensively, Shawn Butler had nine tackles, while Eric Steffen chipped in with two for Bloomsburg.

The Bloomsburg offense held the statistical edge in several categories, including total offense (550 to 383); possession time (33:19 to 26:41) and in first downs (32 to 19).