RELEASE DATE: 9/25/04

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MOUNTIES STUMBLE ON TURNOVERS IN 45-10 SETBACK AT KUTZTOWN – POOHBEAR McNEAL RUSHES FOR OVER 100 YARDS FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON

KUTZTOWN – The black cloud of bad luck that has been hanging over the head of the Mansfield University football program followed it to Kutztown Saturday as the Mountaineers dropped a 45-10 decision to the Kutztown University Golden Bears at University Field Saturday afternoon.

Mansfield turned the ball over five times with Kutztown capitalizing on four of them for scores, including three in the first half when they jumped out to a 28-0 lead.

The Mountaineers just couldn’t get a break early in the game, fumbling on the second play of the game that was recovered by Kutztown at the Mansfield six-yard line.

It look as if the MU defense would hold and force a field goal attempt when a third and goal pass went uncompleted in the end zone. But the Mountaineers were called for pass interference in the end zone giving Kutztown a first and goal at the two-yard line. The Mountaineer defense held again, but on a third and one, Mansfield was flagged for offside and Kutztown scored on the next play on a one-yard dive by quarterback Jeremy Copeland.

Mansfield would get the ball at the 12-yard line on the ensuing kick before being pushed back six more yards for an illegal use of hands penalty to start at its own six.

The Mountaineers mounted a drive all the way to the Kutztown before a personal foul pushed them back to the 49-yard line.

Kutztown responded with a five play, 80-yard drive capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Copeland to Trevor Smith to take a 14-0 lead.

Two plays into the second quarter, Kutztown picked off MU quarterback Matt Hildebrand at the Mansfield 45 and scored six plays later on a 14-yard run by Stephen Gammage.

Mansfield turned the ball over on their next possession on a fumble that was recovered by Kutztown at the MU-38. The Golden Bears increased their lead to 28-0 when Gammage scored on a fourth and goal from the one-yard line.

But Mansfield did not give up. The Mountaineers managed to hold on to the ball on a impressive 16-play, 79 yard drive capped off by a four yard touchdown reception by Joe Bennett from Matt Hildebrand on a fourth and goal from the four yard line.

That seemed to put new life in the Mountaineers as they came out in the second half and held Kutztown to just three yards in their first series. Mansfield , mostly behind the quick feet of Poohbear McNeal, put together a 12-pay, 57-yard drive that ended in a 21-yard field goal by Sean Hair to cut the lead to 28-10.

It looked as if Mansfield would again get the ball in good field position after stopping Kutztown on three plays, but the Mountaineers were called for  pass interference on a third-and-six from the Kutztown 32 that extended the drive and led to a 15-yard scoring run by Maurice Adams.

Kutztown would score again in the fourth quarter when they got the ball on the MU seven yard line after blocking a punt. The defense held and Kutztown scored on an 18-yard field goal.

Mansfield got a break later in the quarter recovering a Kutztown fumble at the KU-14, but David Fetzer’s first pass of the game was picked off in the end zone for a touchback.

Kutztown drove 80-yards on the ensuring possession and scored the game’s final points on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Maiocco to Jeremy Wesley.

Poohbear McNeal rushed for 102-yards on 21 carries to lead the offense. It marked the 10^th time in his 15 game career he has surpassed the 100 yard mark in a game.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Hildebrand continued to show improvement in his second career start completing 15-of-30 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Tyrone Robinson had six catches for 51 yards while Joe Bennett pulled down five passes for 31 yards including his 27^th career touchdown in 31 games.

Andre Turner led the defense with a game high 12 tackles including two for a loss. Senior Joe Frick had eight stops, all solo, and a sack while Jason Twedt and Keith Slezak each were credited with five tackles.

The Mountaineers fall to 0-4 and will host Lock Haven for Homecoming next Saturday.

                               Box Score (Final)

              Mansfield vs Kutztown (Sep 25, 2004 at Kutztown, PA)

  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----

  Mansfield...........  0  7  3  0  - 10       Record: (0-4,0-1)

  Kutztown............ 14 14  7 10  - 45       Record: (3-1,1-0)

  Scoring Summary:

  1st 11:16 KUTZ - Jeremy Copeland 1 yd run (Matt Scartozzi kick), 5-6 2:36, MANS 0 - KUTZ 7

      04:08 KUTZ - Trevor Smith 25 yd pass from Jeremy Copeland (Matt Scartozzi kick), 5-80 1:02, MANS 0 - KUTZ 14

  2nd 12:28 KUTZ - Stephen Gammage 14 yd run (Matt Scartozzi kick), 6-45 2:23, MANS 0 - KUTZ 21

      07:13 KUTZ - Stephen Gammage 1 yd run (Matt Scartozzi kick), 11-38 3:50, MANS 0 - KUTZ 28

      00:25 MANS - Joe Bennett 4 yd pass from Matt Hildebrand (Sean Hair kick), 16-79 6:48, MANS 7 - KUTZ 28

  3rd 07:09 MANS - Sean Hair 21 yd field goal, 12-57 5:51, MANS 10 - KUTZ 28

      02:59 KUTZ - Maurice Adams 15 yd run (Matt Scartozzi kick), 9-72 4:10, MANS 10 - KUTZ 35

  4th 12:02 KUTZ - Matt Scartozzi 18 yd field goal, 4-6 1:56, MANS 10 - KUTZ 38

      02:28 KUTZ - Jeremy Wesley 11 yd pass from Gabe Maiocco (Matt Scartozzi kick), 7-80 2:37, MANS 10 - KUTZ 45

                                     MANS     KUTZ

  FIRST DOWNS...................       17       18

  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   40-117   44-181

  PASSING YDS (NET).............      108      131

  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  32-15-3   18-9-0

  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   72-225   62-312

  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0

  Punt Returns-Yards............      1-4     3-21

  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     7-74     3-59

  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0     3-10

  Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-25.4   3-32.7

  Fumbles-Lost..................      2-2      1-1

  Penalties-Yards...............     7-55     5-32

  Possession Time...............    33:53    26:07

  Third-Down Conversions........  3 of 14  5 of 13

  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   4 of 4   3 of 4

  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      6-6

  Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-8     3-22

  RUSHING: Mansfield-Poohbear McNeal 21-102; Paul Garofalo 7-11; Matt

  Hildebrand 9-9; Greg Lawrence 1-1; David Fetzer 1-minus 1; TEAM 1-minus 5.

  Kutztown-Stephen Gammage 24-113; Maurice Adams 13-89; Tony Bria 1-2; Jeremy

  Copeland 3-minus 7; TEAM 3-minus 16.

  PASSING: Mansfield-Matt Hildebrand 15-30-2-108; David Fetzer 0-2-1-0.

  Kutztown-Jeremy Copeland 8-16-0-120; Gabe Maiocco 1-2-0-11.

  RECEIVING: Mansfield-Tyrone Robinson 6-51; Joe Bennett 5-31; Paul Garofalo

  1-9; Eddie Van Buren 1-7; Poohbear McNeal 1-6; Kody Crispell 1-4.

  Kutztown-Trevor Smith 5-89; James Brooks 2-28; Jeremy Wesley 2-14.

  INTERCEPTIONS: Mansfield-None. Kutztown-Barren Grier 2-10; Justin Gibbs 1-0.

  FUMBLES: Mansfield-Paul Garofalo 1-1; TEAM 1-1. Kutztown-TEAM 1-1.

  Stadium: University Field      Attendance: 3951

  Kickoff time: 1:05 PM   End of Game: 3:48      Total elapsed time: 2:43

  Officials: Referee: Martin Maurer; Umpire: John Shigo; Linesman: Chris Burgess;

  Line judge: John Wilson; Back judge: Robert Mulhern; Field judge: Frank Burbridge;

  Side judge: Timothy O'Hara;

  Temperature: 74        Wind: W5        Weather: Sunny