Lock Haven Survives a Nail Biting Home Opener Versus Glenville State
Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Pennsylvania Colleges
Ryan States | September 7, 2025
Cover Photo Taken from LockHavenAthletics.com
Lock Haven, PA. – College football fever is in full swing in Lock Haven Pennsylvania, as the Bald Eagles set to kickoff their 2025 campaign at home against the Glenville State Pioneers. After a back and forth affair that saw Lock Haven jump out to a 16-0 lead before allowing 13 unanswered, the Bald Eagles found a way to walk out with a win.
It was an incredible atmosphere at Hubert Jack Stadium, as they hosted their annual “Community Night” game under the lights. Bald Eagle fans filled the stands in what ended up being a sold out crowd.
The first quarter started off slow, with both teams trading failed drives, but on their third drive of the game the Haven offence found some life. As a 44-yard touchdown run from senior running back Damir Green gave Lock Haven a 6-0 lead after a failed extra point.
Green, and the run game as a whole, looked great in the opening game of the season as the team combined to run for over 200 total yards. Running backs Kareem Hathcock and Ezequiel Johnson each ran the ball 11 times, averaging 3.0 and 8.2 yards respectfully. Meanwhile Green got 10 carries, but made the most of them, finding the end-zone twice.
The second of Green’s scores was one for the highlight reel. As with a little over four minutes left in the first half he got the ball in the backfield, hurdled two Pioneer defenders, and trucked through another on his way to one of the best 13-yard scores you’ll ever see.
“I said I was gonna hurdle.” Green said when asked about his miraculous 13-yard score, “They [Glenville] didn’t wanna tackle me, so I said I was going to go up and over.”
It looked like Lock Haven would go into the half leading 16-0. But after a fumble set up the Pioneers on their 40-yard line with 12 seconds remaining, Pioneers quarterback Anthony Garrett set them up in hail mary range.
Garrett’s initial throw to the end-zone fell a few yards short, and ended up being picked off by Bald Eagles safety Troy Miller, but an offsides call gave Glenville State another chance with an untimed down. Then on their second attempt it again fell just short of the end-zone, but another offsides penalty gave them a third chance at a miracle. And attempt three turned out to be the lucky one, as Garrett fired a pass to receiver Naseem Pacheco, who made a spectacular catch between three defenders for a 39-yard score. A missed extra point meant that Lock Haven went into the half with a 16-6 lead, but the execution to end the half felt like it may have taken some of the wind out of their sails.
“That’s exactly who we don’t want to be.” Battaglia said when asked about the two offsides to end the half, “We need to be able to learn from those mistakes. We got to clean those things up or we are not going to be as successful as we want to be.”
The second half was a struggle for Lock Haven, as it felt like Glenville State controlled much of the final 30 minutes of play. The Pioneers offense had little trouble driving down the field, but when it came to actually scoring points they could not seem to catch a break. A fumble on the Lock Haven two yard line, and a missed 31-yard field goal attempt left points on the board for Glenville that they could not afford. The Pioneers did manage to punch in a touchdown thanks to a pass from Garrett to Kordell Lewis to cut the lead to 16-13.
The Bald Eagle defense bent a lot at times in the second half, but they rarely broke, making key plays when they needed to hold onto their narrow three point lead and really keep them in the game. Afterwards coach Battaglia noted how well his defense played.
“We talk all the time about being physically and mentally tougher than everybody we play. At the end of the game when we needed to stand strong and we needed a stop, that’s exactly what they did. Those guys really hunkered down and made stops when they counted.
Also of note was the play of the Bald Eagles offensive line, a unit which was under heavy speculation on how they would perform. There was only one player on the line that had any experience playing Div. 2 football, but that unit really impressed with their play. There were many wide open lanes in the run game thanks to the blocking up front. Both Green and Battaglia noted after the game how well that unit played, with coach saying he was “Thrilled”.
All in all it was a stressful game for the Haven fateful, but a huge win at home is a great confidence builder for this new look Lock Haven roster. And Saturday’s win also marked the first win in the head coaching career of coach Battaglia, who did not shy away from the emotions post game.
“It’s kinda that monkey off the back mentality. Nothing really ever felt different throughout the first six months of this job. This week, it felt different, tonight it felt different.”
Next up for Lock Haven they have a tough test on the road, traveling to Indiana, Pennsylvania to take on the (0-1) IUP Crimson Hawks. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 4 p.m on Saturday Sept. 13th.
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