HISTORY MADE! Kutztown advances to national quarterfinals with 10-7 win over New Haven - Kutztown University Athletics (2024)

Desiree DeHaven

• Box Score

Game Recap: Football | 11.27.21 | Matt Heffelfinger, Sports Information Director

The 12th-ranked Golden Bears limited 18th-ranked New Haven to 156 yards of total offense and took advantage of favorable field position in the second half to advance to the Super Region One Championship game and NCAA Division II national quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- As Kutztown prepared for its NCAA Division II Championship second round game with New Haven, it had to feel as if the Golden Bears were watching film of themselves in many ways. Two teams from the same mold, enjoying season-long successes built by smash mouth football on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

That's exactly what the fans were treated to at Andre Reed Stadium, Saturday, where the 12th-ranked Golden Bears mustered just enough offense to hold off the 18th-ranked Chargers, 10-7, and advance to the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

"I'm really proud of all these guys," Kutztown head coach Jim Clements said. "It's awesome to be able to play for the Super Region One title after we didn't make it out of this game back in 2019. The guys worked extremely hard preparing these last two weeks and they played really well today."

Heralded all season long, the Kutztown defense refused to give an inch, holding the Chargers scoreless for nearly 57 minutes, and cutting off everything the Northeast-10 Conference champions wanted to do with the ball.

Jordan Davis (Franklin, N.J./Saint Joseph Metuchen) took the opening play from scrimmage 15 yards out to midfield and the Golden Bears (11-1) drove all the way down to the Charger 16-yard line before Khalim Cisse sacked KU quarterback Eric Nickel (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) on 4th and 3 to stop the threat.

It would be the only time either team sniffed the red zone in the first half as the next eight drives ended in punts, the two teams vying for field position like a chess match.

The Golden Bears got a late first-half takeaway when Paul Cooper muffed Dean Krcic's (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) punt at his own 36-yard line and Chris Thomas (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) fell on it at the 31. Kutztown couldn't turn it into points, though, with Jason Dooling's third-down sack knocking KU back to the UNH 40 as time expired.

There were just 162 yards of total offense between the teams (Kutztown 100, New Haven 62) in a scoreless first half, marking the first time both KU and its opponent failed to put any points on the board in the first 30 minutes of play since Oct. 7, 2017, at Bloomsburg, a span of 42 games.

New Haven (10-2) found the going tough again offensively with a three-and-out on its opening possession of the second half. In fact, the first three drives of the half ended in punts, signaling that a departure from defensive dominance was unlikely.

A few ill-fated punts from the Chargers' Luke Silvia would ultimately give Kutztown the field possession it coveted. Silvia was averaging better than 40 yards per punt over his first five, but midway through the third a high snap forced a rushed kick that traveled just 24 yards and set the Golden Bears up at the UNH 47.

Kutztown quickly got something going as Nickel found Derek Anderson (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) on a wide receiver screen on 2nd-and-7. Anderson turned up field, tight-roped the KU sideline and hurdled Devonte Myles for a 23-yard gain to the Charger 21.

The Bears continued to push forward, getting a crucial 7-yard run from Darryl Davis-McNeil (Roslyn, Pa./Abington) to the UNH 11 on 3rd-and-7. Though they were unable to put it in the end zone, Nick Coppolino (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) was successful on a 22-yard field goal attempt that broke the scoreless tie with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter.

FB | 1:38 3Q | @KUBearsFootball 3, New Haven 0.

Nick Coppolino (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) connects on a 22-yard field goal to break the scoreless tie. Both defenses still playing tough. #D2FB #HereYouRoar pic.twitter.com/ojFhtTfrtM

— Kutztown University Athletics (@KUGoldenBears) November 27, 2021

A 17-yard punt off the side of Silvia's right foot helped the Maroon and Gold control the field position game into the fourth and Krcic, a three-time All-PSAC East punter, responded by pinning the Chargers inside their own 10 on his next attempt.

Another three-and-out from the New Haven offense gave the Golden Bears the ball at the Charger 44 with 12:23 to play. Davis performed his wizardry on second down with a spin move and deft balance to rip off 10 yards, but the visitors stymied him on his next two carries.

Nickel and Anderson, whose 23-yard connection in the third quarter marked the biggest play of the game to that point, did one better when Kutztown needed it most. On 3rd-and-10 from the UNH 34, Nickel led his fellow graduate student to the front right pylon. Anderson made a spectacular diving catch at the 1-yard line for a gain of 33 and the PSAC Championship MVP, Jeremiah Nelson (Jamaica, N.Y./Holy Cross), punched it in from there as the Golden Bears extended their lead to 10-0 with less than 10 minutes to go.

FB | 9:34 4Q | @KUBearsFootball 10, New Haven 0.

Huge 33-yard connection from Nickel to Anderson on 3rd and 10 and Jeremiah Nelson (Jamaica, N.Y./Holy Cross) punches it in from 1-yard out! #HereYouRoar #D2FB pic.twitter.com/fwI7ESMPXi

— Kutztown University Athletics (@KUGoldenBears) November 27, 2021

"We knew we were running the ball a lot, so the defensive backs naturally had their eyes in the backfield," Anderson said of his game-changing catch. "I had a good release off the line, and we work on that every week in practice, Coach [Steve] Heck does a great job preparing us, line did a great job, perfect ball from Eric, I just had to come down with it."

Its season on the line, New Haven marched 75 yards in 15 plays. Jake Conlan took a handoff the final eight yards for a touchdown, answering Kutztown's score and keeping the pressure on.

With all his timeouts remaining, Chargers' coach Chris Pincince elected to kick deep and put it on his defense to get the ball back.

Kutztown foiled that plan, using a 13-yard burst from Davis on 3rd-and-5 to keep its drive going. The Bears fed the junior back from Franklin, N.J., twice more for five and six yards, the last picking up another first down and securing KU's spot as one of Division II's "Elite Eight."

Davis ran 18 times for 97 yards (5.4 yards per carry) in a game that featured just 386 combined yards. Kutztown's 156 yards of total offense and 59 rushing yards allowed were new program NCAA postseason bests.

New Haven came into Saturday's game averaging 180.7 yards per game on the ground but were held under 100 for the first time in nine games and just the third time this season. Kutztown also flipped the script in time of possession, allowing the nation's second-leading TOP team (35:04 per game) to hold the ball for a season-low 25:30.

Amani Justice (Salem, N.J./Salem) led the Golden Bear defense with 10 tackles, his fifth game in double digits this season. He's just three tackles shy of becoming the 17th player in program history with 100 in a season. Shawn Turber-Ortiz (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) added seven, boosting his career total to 293, tied for eighth all-time at KU with Tajier Jefferson. Nigel Wilson (Bound Brook, N.J./Bound Brook) had three tackles for loss and a sack, and Kyle Sapp (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional) also recorded a sack.

"Our defensive front is good, a good group overall," Clements explained. "They do their jobs, don't try to go above and beyond and they trust the guys next to them. We're rarely out of position, we're fast and we tackled well."

Linebackers Justice and Tyler Whary (Hereford, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) echoed those sentiments. "We play as a unit and try to make sure we're all fulfilling our roles," Whary said. Justice added, "Saint [defensive coordinator Mike Saint Germain] and Coach Clements put us in great position for any possible situation and everyone was on the same page."

New Haven had a strong day defensively in its own right. Cisse was a disturber with 10 tackles, including two of his team's five sacks. Ryan Hodgins had eight tackles and Dooling, a Lehigh transfer, posted a pair of sacks.

It was a relatively quiet day for both offenses. KU's Anderson finished with three receptions for 59 yards and Nickel was 9-of-16 for 114 yards passing. Connor Degenhardt completed 13-of-22 passes for 97 yards for the Chargers.

Kutztown earned its first victory over New Haven in four all-time meetings and avenged 2011's 44-37 second round loss to the Chargers in the teams' only other NCAA matchup. Zach Mauro paced UNH with 14 carries for 52 yards, but KU, which boasts the sixth-ranked rush defense (76.6 yards allowed per game) and ninth-best scoring defense (13.9 points per game) in D2, lowered both of those numbers with another in a long line of outstanding performances this fall.

The Golden Bears equaled a program single-season record with their 11th win, joining the 2011 and 2019 teams, which both finished 11-2. Kutztown also improved to 3-4 in NCAA playoff games all-time (fifth appearance) and will host PSAC East foe No. 8 Shepherd next Saturday (Dec. 4) in the Super Region One Championship game. It will be Kutztown's first-ever game in the month of December.

KU defeated the Rams, 37-29, in Shepherdstown, W.Va., back on Sept. 25, handing Shepherd its only loss of the season. The two programs have met once previously in the NCAA playoffs, back in 2010, when the Rams held off the Bears, 41-34, in the second round.

For game details and ticket information, check KUBears.com throughout the week.

Gallery: (11-27-2021) Football vs. New Haven (NCAA 2nd Round)