INDIANA, Pa. – Redshirt junior quarterback
Lenny Williams, Jr. (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) threw three touchdown passes to lead fourth-ranked IUP football to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division title with a 42-26 win over Gannon Saturday.
The PSAC West regular season title is the 21st in the IUP football program's illustrious history, and the first since sharing it with Slippery Rock in 2015.
The Crimson Hawks clinched the division crown with one game left to play in the regular season, as they improved to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the division. They will play the yet-to-be determined PSAC East champion on Nov. 11 on the road. It will be IUP's seventh PSAC Championship game appearance, and first since defeating Shippensburg 41-10 at home in 2012.
Williams turned in a typically efficient outing, finishing the day by completing 20-of-25 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. He added 20 yards on the ground. Williams now has 21 passing touchdowns on the year, the most for an IUP quarterback since Andrew Krewatch tossed 22 in 2008.
Williams' favorite target on Saturday was graduate receiver
Chris Wuestner (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle), who caught seven passes for 75 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Two of those scores came in the second quarter as the Crimson Hawks built a 28-0 halftime lead.
IUP widened its lead to 35-0 with a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore
Malik Anderson (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) in the third quarter. Gannon finally got on the board with a touchdown run by Marc Jones, scoring in just three plays following a 49-yard kickoff return.
Jones, who entered the game leading Division II with 213 yards per game and a 9.5 yards per carry average, was limited to just 91 yards with a 4.6 average against the vaunted IUP defense.
Gannon (3-6, 2-4 PSAC) used a passing attack to make the score respectable, scoring once more in the third quarter and two more times in the fourth, including its final touchdown with just over a minute remaining. Golden Knights' signal caller Jimmy O'Keefe passed for 227 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Those interceptions came from senior lineman
Jordan Diven (Coraopolis, Pa./West Allegheny) and redshirt sophomore cornerback
JR Stevens (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), the latter of which also broke up four additional passes on the afternoon.
Senior safety
Max Redfield (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) and sophomore linebacker
Damon Lloyd (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) each had a team-high 10 tackles, while junior defensive end
Deandre Easterling (Washington, D.C./Gonzaga) sacked O'Keefe twice.
Notes
IUP came into today ranked fourth in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches' poll and second in the D2Football.com Media top 25 … IUP is also ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Super Region One rankings, which determine the Division II playoff field … West Chester has the best chance of winning the PSAC East, holding the tiebreaker over Shippensburg with a head-to-head win as both teams are 5-1 in the division … Saturday's game was littered with penalties, as both teams combined for 15 penalties for 199 yards, with six flags resulting in first downs … Four different IUP running backs combined for 41 carries, 182 yards and three touchdowns, led by Anderson's 77 yards on 11 carries … IUP gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the first points surrendered by the Crimson Hawks in the final quarter all season long.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks wrap up their regular season next weekend on the road, traveling to Erie to square off against pesky Mercyhurst (4-5, 3-3). Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP football on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPfootball.
