BLOOMSBURG - And then there was one.
With eight teams remaining in the NCAA Division II Football Championships, it is Bloomsburg University that will carry the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference banner into the Super Regional One final next Saturday, in West Virginia against Concord.
That matchup was set Saturday when the PSAC Eastern Division champion Huskies defeated Virginia State 35-14 on Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium, and Concord prevented an all-PSAC quarterfinal with a 51-36 victory over West Chester. This was the first NCAA victory for the Huskies (11-1) since 2010 and the victory over VSU (10-3) advanced them to their first quarterfinal since 2008.
Licking their wounds literally and figuratively during a bye week following their unsuccessful attempt to defend their overall PSAC championship with a 28-26 loss at Slippery Rock, the Huskies were determined to wear the Falcons down by running the ball. In the final analysis they were successful by rushing for 230 yards, including 21 carries for 129 yards by senior Edie Mateo, who became the school's fifth-leading career rusher with 3,432 yards. His 21-yard touchdown run to open the scoring moved him into fourth on the career rushing list with 42 touchdowns.
"It was good to get back on the field after the disappointment of the championship game," coach Paul Darragh said. "We got healed up and got back to doing what we do."
Quarterback Tim Kelly also rebounded with some of his best play calling and execution of the year. He ran eight times for 28 yards and completed 12 of 20 passes for 175 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown pass to D.J. McFadden early in the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. That play provided not only a spark for the offense, but the defense as well, as the lead grew to 35-7 on a six-yard TD run by Kelly with 52 seconds left in the half and TD runs from the 5 and 1 by the junior quarterback in the third quarter.
"We knew that play to McFadden was going to be there because their defense is so aggressive," Kelly said. "On the previous series we ran that play, but he wasn't able to catch the ball."
Senior linebacker/captain Justin Shirk had 12 tackles, including 2½ sacks for minus-10 yards. Senior defensive end Tony David made the most of his five tackles, getting 2½ sacks for minus-12 yards.
Getting a season-high eight sacks, the Huskies allowed just 113 yards rushing on 37 attempts and limited quarterback Tarian Ayres to 14 of 28 passing for 154 yards. Of those passing yards, 55 came on the first possession by the Falcons, including a 50-yard touchdown from Ayres to Jaivon Smallwood for a 7-7 tie.
"We made some adjustments after that first series, and when they came out for their second series we knew what we had to do," Shirk said. "This was such a huge win for us, and it really means a lot to get this playoff win here at home."
A week off to help heal the ankle injury that hampered Mateo against Slippery Rock did wonders for his performance, but he said an even bigger factor was the surge by the offensive line. Dai'Shon Munger had nine carries for 40 yards, adding to the team total of 230 yards on 47 carries.
"When we looked at them on film, we saw that no one had really gouged them, and that's what we wanted to do" Mateo said. "We knew that this was probably going to be our last game here at home, but we didn't want it to be our last game, and the way our offensive line came off the ball, we made sure of that."
In the process, the Huskies - who were picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish third in the East - made sure they are the last PSAC team still standing.