Huskies hope for golden performance

 Bloomsburg will play its second opponent from Erie this season, when the Gannon Golden Knights travel to Columbia County on Saturday.  The Huskies are coming off their second consecutive loss after being defeated by West Chester last week, 30-14.  BU is now 8-2 (5-2) and is out of the running for any conference title, but still eyeing a playoff spot.  They have fallen to number five in the Super Regional One of the NCAA Division II Regional Football Poll.  After being third and tenth in previous weeks in the D2Football.com Media Poll, the Huskies have dropped to 22.

            The Golden Knights enter the matchup with a record of 5-5 (3-4) and have won three straight games.  They are coming off of a 29-3 win over IUP last weekend.  Teams on Gannon’s schedule that Bloom also has played this season include ESU, Cheyney, Cal, and Mercyhurst.  They were 1-3 in those four games, beating Cheyney.

            When the Huskies and Golden Knights meet on the gridiron Saturday afternoon, it will only be their second meeting ever.  The first meeting between these two schools came last November and BU won 38-10.  The Maroon and Gold compiled just 283 yards offensively, 75 of them on the ground.  Derrick Price was the leading rusher for Bloom with 41 yards, but Dan Latorre was able to guide the Huskies to a victory with 208 yards passing and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).  Ben Weaber and Jordan Weisman combined for 68 receiving yards.  Mike Varanavage led the Husky defense with 12 tackles with Jesse Cooper and Alex Landis each picking off a pass.  Cooper’s interception was a pick six, taking it back 46 yards for the score.

            In their loss last Saturday, the Huskies rushed for only 47 yards, but made it up thanks to Latorre’s 350 passing yards.  He completed 50 percent of his passes and also threw for two touchdown.  On the receiving end of those two touchdown passes was Cory Stiger.  Stiger snagged four passes for 122 yards.  Defensively, BU did a good job of stopping the run, but allowed two touchdowns on the ground.  Varanavage was the leading tackler with 12 and Anthony Smith was second with 11.  Defensive end Justin Presley recorded seven tackles, two of them being sacks.

            The Huskies have not forced a turnover in either of their losses this season, which tells us something: defense will be a key versus Gannon.  The Huskies have forced 19 turnovers this season, 10 of them being interceptions.  They have forced 14 fumbles on the season and have recovered nine of them.  The BU defense has three members that recorded multiple interceptions: Anthony Smith, Domenique Price, and Vince Browning.  Browning also has a fumble recovery, giving him three turnovers.

            Coach Hale reported two new injuries for this week following the game against WCU.  Tight end Ben Weaber and defensive lineman Dave Huot are both doubtful for the game against Gannon.  Weaber leads the Huskies in receptions with 25.  He is also second on the team in receiving yards with 328 and he averages 32.8 yards per game.  Huot has only started two games this season, but has seen action in all ten games.  He has contributed 12 stops, including a sack, and has also forced and recovered a fumble.

            Gannon’s offense averages 26 points per game and tends to gain around 330 yards per game.  The Golden Knights tend to rely more heavily on the run than pass, but are successful with both.  They have a quarterback in Joe Boedicker that likes to leave the pocket and take off running.  He has compiled 1,147 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns this year, while also being the team’s second leading rusher with 499 yards and three rushing touchdowns.  Jon Richardson is a stout running back at 5’11”, 205 pounds that has gained 866 yards on the ground and 16 rushing touchdowns.  Leading the receiving corps are Levar Goff and Jonathon Jones.  They have recorded 270 receiving yards and two touchdowns and 223 receiving yards and two touchdowns, respectively.