SRU falls to Kutztown in bizarre 56-49 affair
SLIPPERY ROCK — Thirty first downs, 561 yards of offense and one of the most productive days by a quarterback in school history.
And a loss.
Slippery Rock University wound up with all of those things in a bizarre 56-49 defeat at the hands of Kutztown Saturday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
The Rock (2-3, 1-1) rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to take the lead early in the fourth quarter, only to cough it up late in the game.
Five turnovers — including two in the final five minutes — proved critical in the loss.
“This was a wild one, a crazy one,” Kutztown coach Raymond Monica said. “But we had a 5-1 edge in turnovers? That's the game right there.”
The final turnover was a questionable one. Facing fourth-and-7 from the Kutztown 26 in a last-ditch effort to tie the game with 1:21 remaining, Rock coach George Mihalik called a timeout as quarterback Nigel Barksdale was shaken up on the previous play.
“I called the timeout to save (Barksdale's) playing status, so he could stay in the game,” Mihalik said. “Then the official tells me that's not the rule, that an injured player has to come out for a play.”
Barksdale was playing for regular starter Jared Buck, who missed Saturday's game because of concussion symptoms. Third-string quarterback Caleb Vescovi entered the game and delivered a 12-yard strike over the middle to LaQuinn Stephens-Howling for an apparent first down.
With Stephens-Howling and two defenders on the ground, the ball squirted out of the pile and defensive back Jason Ulmer grabbed it. The officials ruled a fumble and Kutztown killed the clock from there.
“He (Stephens-Howling) was down before that ball came out,” Mihalik said. “The official standing along our sideline saw it, knew it ... he wasn't going to overrule his fellow official. It's a shame.
“But to allow the game to come down to that one play — that's on us. We never should have been in that situation.”Making his first collegiate start for The Rock, Barksdale accounted for 430 yards and five touchdowns. He threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 169 and two scores in rallying his team from behind.“Right down to that final play, I believed we were going to win the game,” Barksdale said. “We have so much talent on this team. I don't understand why we play the way we do.“We need to put together a 60-minute game.”SRU trailed 42-21 at halftime, largely due to special teams mistakes. Kutztown kickoff returns of 51 and 53 yards by Josh Mastromatto set up scores. A snap over the head of Rock punter James McCombie was recovered in the end zone for a Kutzstown touchdown. A punt that bounced off SRU return man Admire Carter's back was recovered by the Golden Bears at the Rock 17, setting up another score.“Our special teams were horrible. Our kick coverage was pathetic. There's no other way to say it,” Mihalik said.But Barksdale rallied the troops in the second half.He scored on a 15-yard run and found Jimmy Zubik for a 6-yard TD pass in the third quarter. After Dajour Morris intercepted a screen pass to give SRU possession at the Kutztown 9-yard line, Akeem Satterfield scored on a 3-yard run to tie the game with 13:34 to play.A 23-yard Carter punt return set up Barksdale's 19-yard touchdown pass to Stephens-Howling with 10:35 left and The Rock had the lead.“We needed to face some adversity. And I like the way we responded to it,” Monica said.Kutztown senior quarterback Kevin Morton — who missed a game due to injury — led the Golden Bears (2-3) on a 13-play, 68-yard drive to tie the game. He found Mastromatto for a 22-yard TD toss with 6:11 to play.Morton threw for 301 yards and five touchdowns on the night. He converted a pair of fourth downs on the game-tying drive, including a 4-yard pass to Mastromatto on fourth-and-3 and a 54-yard scramble on another fourth-and-3.Mastromatto had 303 all-purpose yards, including 176 on kickoff returns, after missing two games with an injury.“I've played with Josh for four years now and we're a different offense with him out there,” Morton said. “He caught that fourth-down pass 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage and moved the sticks. Not many players can do that kind of stuff.”Early in the game, Monica went for first downs on fourth down deep in SRU territory, rather than try field goals.“I had a feeling we'd need to score a lot of points today,” the coach said. “But if Kevin's not playing, we're kicking field goals.”Kutztown was able to grab the lead for good after an Akeem Satterfield fumble was recovered by junior linebacker Matt Connors at The Rock 21. Three plays later, Curtis Wortham scored on a 3-yard run with 3:54 left.Notes: The game lasted three hours and 39 minutes. The teams combined for eight touchdowns in the second quarter. ... Rock place-kicker Kurt Brackman hit the left goalpost on his first PAT attempt, snapping a string of 44 successful PATs. ... Satterfield rushed for 99 yards and two TDs. ... Stephens-Howling had six catches for 122 yards and two scores. ... SRU travels to Indiana (Pa.) for a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday.Kutztown 56, SRU 49Kutztown 7 35 0 14 — 56Slippery Rock 0 21 14 14 — 49K SRU24 First Downs 3025-49 Rushes-Yards 48-251301 Passing Yards 31029-54-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 17-34-0350 Total Yards 5610-0 Fumbles-Lost 6-59-91 Penalty Yards 9-159First QuarterK — Colby Tuell 12 pass from Kevin Morton (Jack Ruggieri kick), 12:04Second QuarterSRU — LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 25 pass from Nigel Barksdale (kick failed), 14:53K — Tuell 15 pass from Morton (Ruggieri kick), 12:51K — Kodi Reed 17 pass from Morton (Ruggieri kick), 9:12SRU — Akeem Satterfield 8 run (Brett Crenshaw run), 8:03K — Josh Mastromatto 5 run (Ruggieri kick), 4:21K — Mike Garneau recovered fumble in end zone (Ruggieri kick), 2:49SRU — Barksdale 11 run (Brackman kick), :59K — Brett Fox 2 pass from Morton (Ruggieri kick), :27Third QuarterSRU — Barksdale 15 run (Brackman kick), 12:05SRU — Jimmy Zubik 6 pass from Barksdale (Brackman kick), :30Fourth QuarterSRU — Satterfield 4 run (Brackman kick), 13:34SRU — Stephens-Howling 19 pass from Barksdale (Brackman kick), 10:35K — Mastromatto 22 pass from Morton (Ruggieri kick), 6:11K — Curtis Wortham 3 run (Ruggieri kick), 3:54Individual StatisticsRushing: Kutztown, Josh Mastromatto 5-36, Curtis Wortham 9-35, TEAM 3-(-10), Kevin Morton 8-(-12). SRU, Nigel Barksdale 23-169, Akeem Satterfield 17-99, Jimmy Zubik 4-15, Jaimire Dutrieuille 2-13, Caleb Vescovi 1-(-10).Passing: Kutztown, Kevin Morton 29-54-301-1. SRU, Nigel Barksdale 14-24-261-0, Caleb Vescovi 3-9-49-0.Receiving: Kutztown, Colby Tuell 10-70, Josh Mastromatto 8-91, Zack Snyder 4-47, Brett Fox 4-36, Shahaid Smith 1-26, Kodi Reed 1-17, Curtis Wortham 1-14. SRU, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 6-122, Ken Amos 3-91, Andrew Bridgeforth 3-48, Akeem Satterfield 3-29, Jaimire Dutrieuille 1-14, Jimmy Zubik 1-6.
