Lock Haven Football starts 2024 campaign with a big 31-9 win over Glenville State
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Ryan States | September 8, 2024
Photo Taken by Kyleigh Monahan for Lock Haven Athletics Department
Glenville, WV.- It’s been a long off-season for fans of Lock Haven Football, but the wait is finally over as the Bald Eagles kicked off their season on the road versus the Glenville State Pioneers on Saturday, September 7th. And after an overall dominant showing The Haven ended up beating the Pioneers 31-9.
Lock Haven’s offense came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, as Ohio transfer running back KJ Howard found the end zone for Lock Haven’s first touchdown of the season. But it would not be long before the Pioneers would respond as junior quarterback Anthony Garrett found receiver Tariq Miller on a broken coverage for a 75 yard touchdown to even the game at seven midway through the first quarter. However after that the Pioneers’ guns fell silent, as Lock Haven would go on to score 21 unanswered to go up 28-7 at the end of the first half.
It was Lock Haven’s dominant running game that gave them their big first half lead, as they ran for 179 yards in the first, 106 of them coming via Howard. But starting quarterback Jackson Ostrowsky also shined, throwing for two touchdowns, including a 40 yard dime off his back foot to Corahn Alleyne in the corner of the end zone.
For Glenville, other than the one deep touchdown, their offense looked completely helpless in the first half. And it was the turnover bug continuing to bite them, as Garrett had a costly fumble and interception in the first. And this is coming off of a game where Garret threw four interceptions in a 38-7 loss to Emory & Henry College. Garrett ended up throwing three INTs in this game before getting pulled in the middle of the 4th quarter.
Despite his numbers Garret did not play badly by any means, as he had multiple great looking throws on Saturday, but consistently Lock Haven’s defensive backs made impressive plays to keep the Pioneers at bay.
The third quarter was a relatively quiet one, at least on the scoreboard as both sides struggled to find points. But Lock Haven again fell victim to unnecessary penalties, a problem that plagued them last season. Chief of those penalties was a targeting call on star sophomore linebacker Izzy Ramos that he would be ejected for. And despite no scores in the third it was the Pioneers who won the quarter, shutting down the Bald Eagle offense and putting pressure on Lock Haven to earn their first win of the season.
The third quarter also saw a litany of penalties and turnovers on both sides as the game began to devolve into chaos. On the final three drives of the quarter there were three straight interceptions, two by Lock Haven and one by the Pioneers. Then on the INT returns we saw chippy play between the two teams, multiple illegal block in the back penalties on both sides made emotions bubble over as we saw multiple players chatting to their opponents.
After a wild 3rd quarter things seemed to calm down in the 4th, as Lock Haven started the quarter with kicker Tony Nicassio hitting a chip shot field goal for his first make of the season, as Lock Haven went up 31-7 early in the 4th. And from there it was smooth sailing for The Haven, as they ran down the rest of the clock after conceding a safety late and came out victorious.
“I get emotional talking about it,” Lock Haven head coach Dan Mulrooney said when asked about the win. “It was a lot of work, but we’re here and we are here to stay. We made a statement today and that’s what I wanted to do. We challenged our team, we scheduled a header (opening) game, we came down to get us ready for PSAC play and we dominated.”
Big contributors for Lock Haven were Howard and linebacker Rocco Daugherty. Howard finished the game with 161 yards and one TD on the ground. Meanwhile Daugherty had a career day, finishing with two INTs and 5 five tackles.
“I showed up today and just did my job,” Daugherty said when asked about his performance. “ Some plays came my way and I was fortunate to make them but at the end of the day we got the win and that’s what I’m excited about.
Then when Howard was asked about his Bald Eagle Debut he was very happy with his performance “ First of all I give big thanks to the O-line, the receivers, and the coaching staff. They gave me the opportunity to showcase my talents and its nice to be back home in the backfield.”
Next Up for Lock Haven they will take on the IUP Crimson Hawks in their home opener under the lights at Hubert Jack Stadium. And coach Mulrooney could not be more excited to see The Jack at night.
“We are trying to have a sellout crowd, we are trying to set the attendance record at Lock Haven this week. We need the Haven nation in full force. There is no sitting, that’s the goal, No Sit Saturday is what we need.”
Kickoff for the IUP game will be at 6 p.m. EST.
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