EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – 10th-ranked IUP football set a program record with 789 yards of total offense in a 73-42 win at East Stroudsburg on Saturday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
 
The game was the season-opener for the Crimson Hawks, who scored 45 points in the opening half, en route to the program's third-highest scoring output. The 789 yards are the second-most in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) history, behind East Stroudsburg's 828 against LIU Post in 2012.
 
The Crimson Hawks tied a program record with 35 first downs, finishing with 395 rushing yards and 394 yards through the air.
 
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Lenny Williams, Jr. (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) threw for a career-high 380 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-24 passing, while also rushing for 85 yards and three scores on 13 carries. His six touchdowns responsible for tied an IUP record while his 465 yards of total offense are second most – to his own record of 504 yards – in single game program history. Williams' 380 passing yards are fifth most in the history of the program.
 
Williams was responsible for three touchdowns in each half, including 11-yard and two-yard rushing scores in the opening quarter as the Crimson Hawks took a 21-14 lead. IUP scored three more touchdowns in the second quarter – a Samir Bullock (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) 63-yard run, Jemal Averette (Upper Marlboro, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) eight-yard interception return, and a Williams 72-yard pass to Allen Wright (McKeesport, Pa. /McKeesport Area) – to help give IUP a 45-21 halftime lead.
 
Williams put the Crimson Hawks on the plus side of 50 points with a three-yard touchdown run on thier opening drive of the third quarter, and IUP answered two of East Stroudsburg's second half touchdowns for the 31-point victory. Williams was responsible for both of those scores, throwing touchdowns to Walt Pegues (Philadelphia, Pa. /Central) (56 yards) and JoJo Gause (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) (19 yards), as he put together his finest throwing performance.
 
Pegues, a junior, had one of the best performances of his career, catching 12 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. He added a 21-yard rush and an 11-yard punt return for 227 all-purpose yards on the night.
 
Senior placekicker Ryan Stewart (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) set a new program record by going 10-of-10 on his extra point attempts, adding a 24-yard field goal for 13 points on the evening.
 
Bullock, a freshman, had possibly the best IUP debut by a rookie, totaling 239 all-purpose yards. Bullock came off the bench to gain 104 rushing yards on 10 carries, catch one pass for five yards, and return five kickoffs for 130 yards. His big play came in the second quarter on a 63-yard run on the opening play of the drive.
 
Also scoring for the Crimson Hawks were freshman Malik Anderson (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) on a 10-yard run in the first quarter; interior defensive lineman Jemal Averette (Upper Marlboro, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) on an eight-yard interception return and wide receiver Allen Wright (McKeesport, Pa. /McKeesport Area) on a 72-yard pass in the second; and versatile Mike Pietropola (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro) on three-yard run in the fourth.
 
Wright caught two passes for 86 yards in his debut as a receiver after moving over from the defensive side of the ball. Gause caught three passes for 80 yards and Pietropola finished with 56 rushing yards on seven carries from the quarterback position.
 
Defensively, Ackeno Robertson (Philadelphia, Pa. /Parkway Northwest) had a team-high eight tackles while picking off a pass and breaking up another. Steve Franco (Tyrone, Pa. /Tyrone ) and Mikale Makle (Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglas) each had seven tackles and Jordan Diven (Coraopolis, Pa./West Allegheny) tallied two tackles-for-loss, including IUP's only sack of the night.
 
After the strong debut for the Crimson Hawks, they'll head back out east to face Cheyney (1-1, 0-0 PSAC East) next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. 

For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP football on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPfootball.