WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The IUP football team scored 28 fourth quarter points, including a game-winning touchdown run by
Dayjure Stewart with under a minute to play, to cap a 31-24 comeback win at West Chester in Saturday's season finale.
The winning score was set up by a strip sack by freshmen defensive end
Tyrone Fowler Jr. with just over a minute to play. It was one of eight sacks on the day for the IUP defense and put the offense in position at the Golden Rams' 14 yard line.
Three plays later Stewart plunged in from two yards out to put IUP in front.
The victory gave the Crimson Hawks a 7-3 overall record on the season. It's the sixth straight season - and ninth time in the last 10 years - that IUP has finished with at least seven wins.
The wild comeback started at the start of the fourth as quarterback
Harry Woodbery found receiver
Irvin Charles for a 74-yard touchdown pass to cut WCU's lead to 17-10. The Golden Rams came back with their own touchdown to go back up by two scores at 24-10 with 8:35 left to play.
IUP responded with a quick 75-yard drive, aided by two West Chester penalties, that ended in a 9-yard scoring toss from Woodbery to receiver
Qashah Carter.
Sacks by
Raunya Mitchell and
Gregory Moore II on WCU's ensuing drive forced a punt and on IUP's fifth offensive play Woodbery connected with receiver
Duane Brown on a 15-yard pass to tie the game at 24-24 with 1:41 left to play. That touchdown was set up by a 44-yard hookup between Woodbery and Carter.
The Fowler strip sack on the next possession was the second of two straight sacks on that Rams' drive, with
Connor Kelly also getting to WCU QB Shane Dooley.
The eight sacks was the most since the Crimson Hawks put up nine during an 18-8 win over Edinboro back in 2014. Fowler finished with 2.5 sacks while Moore had 1.5. Mitchell, Kelly, and
Devin Castro each had one, with
Maurice Feazell and
Ayyub Dail sharing another.
West Chester outgained IUP 426-374, with the Crimson Hawks gaining 278 of those yards in the second half alone.
Woodbery finished 13-of-26 for 237 yards and three touchdowns. Charles caught three passes for 98 yards, Brown had five for 63, and Carter finished with two for 53 to go along with their touchdown grabs. West Chester entered the game as the PSAC leaders with 42 sacks in 10 previous games, but the staunch IUP offensive line kept Woodbery clean with no sacks on the day.
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