Lock Haven falls on the road to East Stroudsburg 38-35
Tagged under: News, Pennsylvania Colleges
Ryan States | October 28, 2024
Photo Taken by Kyleigh Monahan for the Lock Haven Athletics Department
East Stroudsburg, Pa- Lock Haven traveled on the road Saturday to take on a (7-1) East Stroudsburg team coming off a 45-31 win over West Chester. Head coach Dan Mulrooney and his Lock Haven squad, coming off a 35-32 win versus Bloomsburg, got off to a fast start. But after going up 28-17 at the end of the first half, the Bald Eagles faltered down the stretch, the Warriors scoring 14 unanswered points to escape with a narrow 38-35 victory.
Saturday’s game could not have started any better for Lock Haven, as on the opening kickoff Kicker Tony NiCassio kicked a ball that looked like it was going to go out of bounds. Naturally the ESU returners backed off to allow it to roll out, but strong winds made sure the ball stayed in bounds. Lock Haven was quick to fall on it, stealing the first possession of the game.
And on the Bald Eagles first offensive play, running back KJ Howard ran in a 25-yard TD run to give his squad a 7-0 advantage. Then following the score, the Lock Haven defense forced a three and out, before a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Ostrowsky to Nino Cinti made it 14-0 with eight minutes still remaining in the quarter.
After going down 14–0 the Warriors needed to respond and they made sure they did. ESU quarterback Sean McTaggart hooked up with receiver Justin Cook for a 40-yard touchdown. Cook was in double coverage, but a beautiful throw and even better one handed catch brought the game back within seven. Then after the Warriors defense forced Howard to fumble, his second in the quarter, they hit a field goal to make the score 14-10 at the end of the first.
In the second quarter the game quickly turned into a shootout. On Lock Haven’s first drive Ostrowsky found tight end Chris Hicks underneath, Hicks made a sharp cut up-field and managed to get into the end-zone to make the score 21-10.
The Warriors still refused to go away, as on their first drive of the quarter McTaggart found an open Tahr Mills out of the backfield for a 9-yard TD. ESU’s defense forced a stop following the score, but Lock Haven managed to get it back thanks to an INT by Rocco Daugherty.
Daugherty has had nothing short of an incredible Sophomore season, leading the Bald Eagles in turnovers with four interceptions, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in which he scored a TD. After the game Lock Haven head coach Dan Mulrooney heaped praise on his star linebacker.
“He is a playmaker.” Mulrooney said, “ For an inside linebacker to have four interceptions, forced fumbles, touchdowns, I mean his stats are ridiculous. [ He has] All-American status in stats.”
After the pick the Bald Eagle offense got back to work, as Ostrowsky lobbed up a beautiful rainbow pass that hit wide out Corahn Alleyne in stride for a 24-yard score. After a good return, but unsuccessful Hail Mary, Lock Haven found themselves up 28-17 at the half. That 11 point difference was the biggest that the Bald Eagles have had going into the locker room since Glenville State (28).
For most of the season Lock Haven has been a second half team, but on Saturday it was the Warriors who won the last 30 minutes. Right out the gate ESU stood strong, forcing a three and out, then marched right downfield as Mills ran it in from 2-yards out to bring the score to 28-24.
As the lead got cut to four, you could feel some tenseness on the Lock Haven sideline. But that worry would be stifled when Ostrowsky found T’iar Young down the seam. Young has been the biggest weapon for the Lock Haven offense this season, coming off of a game versus Bloomsburg where he caught 10-passes for 141 yards and 2 TDs. And when The Haven needed him the most he stepped up, taking that Ostrowsky pass 69-yards to the house, leaving Warriors defenders in the dust as he put Lock Haven up 35-24 with 4:32 left in the third.
Then on the very next drive ESU again refused to relent, however this passing touchdown would end up being the most controversial play of the game. McTaggart found wide receiver John Siggins in the back of the end-zone after his defender slipped and left him open. However it had appeared that Siggins failed to get a foot in bounds, with his knee landing in the back of the end-zone, and the ref’s agreed as they called it incomplete. Then after some deliberation Warriors head coach Jimmy Terwilliger reached into his pocket and threw a challenge flag. ESU is one of three PSAC teams who are able to have challenges at home, thanks to the local TV crew that broadcasts all their games.
On the video board it had appeared that Siggins was indeed out of bounds, he did get a foot down before he went out, but it had appeared like he did not have the ball in his hands when he did. Coach Mulrooney seemed confident there was not enough to overturn the call, but his confidence quickly turned to anger, as the head ref announced the call was reversed. The Bald Eagle sideline almost erupted at the call, multiple players pleading with the officials to figure out what they saw.
Despite the controversy, there was football to be played, and Lock Haven still held a narrow 35-30 lead entering the final 15 minutes of play.
On their first drive of the game Lock Haven faced a 3rd and one from their 34 yard line, but running back Mister Houge got trapped in the backfield, losing a yard as the Bald Eagles were forced to punt.
ESU promptly responded by marching 67-yards to the end-zone, with Mills punching in his second score of the day. After a successful two point conversion Lock Haven found themselves trailing for the first time, going down 38-35 as it felt like all the life was drained from the Bald Eagle sideline.
Finding themselves down three points, the Bald Eagle offense that had been able to move the ball all game, fell deathly silent. A holding call and multiple drops forced a punt. Lock Haven’s defense managed to keep hope alive thanks to Daugherty forcing a fumble deep in LH territory, but a stop on 4th and 4 sealed the win for ESU.
Lock Haven falls to 3-5 as ESU moves to 7-1, still in the race for the PSAC East crown. After the game Mulrooney spoke to his players, delivering the message that their goals are still ahead of them, and saying how proud he was of how the team had fought.
Stepping up to higher competition has been the story of Lock Haven’s season so far. The Bald Eagle’s five losses are to teams with a combined 32-8 record, losing by a combined 20 points to (5-3) IUP, (7-1) Cal. PA, (5-3) Shepherd, and (7-1) ESU. The lone outlier being the 24-0 loss to undefeated Kutzotwn.
“I need to get the team to play a full 60 minutes,” Mulrooney said when asked about how his team can get the upset they have been searching for. “As a coaching staff I think we need to do better to get these kids to play 60 minutes. I thought the mindset was correct going into the game.”
Mulrooney also made it clear his goal for six wins has not changed, but at the very least he wants to match last year’s win total of five.
“We have three games left, so it’s exciting. The last three games [if] we can get some of these wins, it’s going to be fun. They will hopefully crack .500, [or] at least be the same record as we could last year. [We can] show some consistency, especially with the schedule change.”
Five wins this year would be more impressive than last year’s mark, as Lock Haven was handed a much harder schedule than in 2023. However if they want to meet their pre-season goal of six, they have no more room for error. The Bald Eagles need to win the last three games on their schedule to get win No. 6, two of those games being on the road (@ West Chester and @ Gannon).
Lock Haven will look ahead to next Saturday, as they get ready to square off against a (3-5) West Chester team that has won three out of their last four. That game will take place at Farrell Stadium, kickoff is scheduled for noon.
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