INDIANA, Pa. – The Crimson Hawks scored 22 fourth quarter points, including a key interception return for a touchdown, as the No. 15 ranked IUP football team defeated No. 18 Kutztown 29-26 on Saturday afternoon at George P. Miller Stadium.
The biggest play in the game came from a pair of IUP defensive linemen with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter and with the Crimson Hawks holding onto a 22-19 lead. As Kutztown faced a third-and-long, end
Vaughn Wallace tipped a Donny Blaine pass that would be grabbed out of the air by tackle
Raunya Mitchell and returned 26 yards for a touchdown.
The interception return acted as an important insurance score as the Golden Bears (1-1) scored a touchdown with under four minutes to play to cut IUP's lead to 29-26.
After an ensuing IUP punt, Kutztown advanced to its 45-yard line on the arm of backup quarterback Eric Nickel, but a strip sack by freshman end
Maurice Feazell and a sack by Wallace and Feazell on back-to-back plays ended the KU threat and secured the victory.
The Crimson Hawks (1-0) started the afternoon slow, falling behind by scores of 7-0 in the first half and 13-7 midway through the third quarter. IUP's lone first half touchdown came when quarterback
Javon Davis found receiver
Irvin Charles in the back right corner of the endzone for a 3-yard scoring toss.
Davis, starting his first career game, finished 20-of-30 for 204 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers.
IUP's first touchdown of the fourth quarter came from freshman running back
Dayjure Stewart, who capped an 11-play, 73-yard drive with a 3-yard run to give the Hawks a 14-13 lead.
After giving up that lead to start the fourth, Davis found junior receiver
Duane Brown for a 3-yard touchdown on a goal line screen play to put IUP on top 22-19 with 8:09 to go.
Brown, a preseason All-American, finished with a career-high 10 catches for 131 yards and that score.
Defensively, Youngstown State grad transfer linebacker
Malachi Newell had a team-best nine tackles with one pass breakup. In addition to Mitchell's pick-six, freshman safety
Jaheim Howard picked off a Kutztown pass in the end zone and junior linebacker
Connor Kelly also had an interception.
Feazell's two tackles were big ones, with a strip sack and half-sack at the end of the game, to go along with a pass breakup.
Up next
Miller Stadium will host another top-25 matchup next Saturday as the Crimson Hawks welcome No. 13 Shepherd (2-0) next Saturday.
Notes
This was the fourth straight season-opening win for fourth-year head coach
Paul Tortorella … Tortorella is now 6-2 all-time against top-25 teams … The Crimson Hawks are 36-9 against teams from the PSAC East since 2006 … IUP dealt with COVID-19 protocols limited four assistant coaches from participating in Saturday's win … Kutztown outgained IUP 479-298 but won the turnover battle 3-0 … IUP held a 31:35-28:25 advantage in time of possession … IUP's defense has now scored eight touchdowns since 2017, all coming in victories.
Follow
For coverage of the IUP football program, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPfootball and online at IUPAthletics.com.
