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Bloomsburg Downs IUP in Football Saturday

BLOOMSBURG—Quarterback Jack Lydic passed for 223 yards and two touchdowns to lead 25th ranked Bloomsburg University to a 34-24 win over 18th ranked Indiana (PA) Saturday afternoon.

Jack Lydic

It was the first win for Bloomsburg over IUP since the 2000 season.

The Indians (2-2) took the early lead on the game taking advantage of a Bloomsburg (3-1) turnover on the opening kickoff. After recovering the fumble at the Bloomsburg 41-yard line, IUP marched to the Huskies'11-yard line where the drive stalled. Brad Whitacre then connected on a 28-yard field goal to put IUP in front 3-0 with 11:01 left in the first period.

On the ensuing drive the Huskies drove 69-yards in 13 plays capped by a four-yard scoring pass from Lydic to fullback Tyson Hale. The score for Hale, a senior, was the first of his career. The extra point though was wide and the Huskies held a 6-3 lead at that point.

Later after an IUP punt pinned the Huskies deep in their own territory, Lydic led the Huskies on a 94-yard, 13 play scoring drive capped by Jamar Brittingham going in from two yards out to make it 13-3 with 13:51 to go in the half. A key play on the drive was a50-yard completion to tight end Brad Bowman.

IUP came right back and scored on its next drive. After starting at its own 41-yard line, the Indians drove 59-yards with Chris Morgan scoring from seven yards to make it 13-10 with 10:48 to go.

After the teams traded punts, the Huskies went up by 10 points when Julius Brown broke free on a 38-yard scoring run to make it a 20-10 game. The score came one play after the Huskies converted a fourth and two from the IUP 42 yard line.

The Indians, though, came back once more and cut into the Bloomsburg lead. Starting from the Bloomsburg 48-yard line, the Indians capped the drive with a 13-yard scoring pass from Kevin Weidl to Joe Slappy with 1:25 to play before halftime to leave Bloomsburg in front 20-17 at the break.

The Indians regained the lead at 24-20 after taking the opening kickoff of the second half and moving 71 yards in seven plays with Weidl hitting LeRon McCoy with a 37-yard scoring pass with 11:39 to play in the third period.

Bloomsburg wasted little time getting back in front for good when on the ensuing drive the Huskies went 54-yards with Lydic hitting Greg Masters with a 29-yard scoring pass with 9:09 left in the third.

The Huskies put on the final score of the game on the board in the fourth period when Brittingham scored his second touchdown of the day, this one from eight yards with 6:26 to play in the game to give Bloomsburg a 34-24 lead.

Lydic finished 16 of 25 with one interception for 22 yards and two scores with the offense racking up 416 yards of total offense. Paul Linn led the defense for Bloomsburg with 10 tackles, five solo, a sack and pass deflection.

IUP was led by Weidl who was 17 of 26 with one interception for 224 yards and two scores, while tailbacvk Mike Jemison gained 85 yards on 16 carries.

Bloomsburg will host East Stroudsburg on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a PSAC East division game, while IUP hosts Shippensburg in a PSAC game at 2 p.m.