By The Keystone Newspaper Defense leads the way in first two victories of the year
By Mitchell Smedley
The Kutztown University Golden Bears Football Team shut out the Edinboro Fighting Scots on Saturday, Sept. 14, pushing their record to 2 and 0 on the young season.
Brandon Hile led the way with an interception, a sack, and several other key plays to keep Edinboro off the scoreboard for the duration of the contest. On the other side of the ball, KU’s offense looked out of sync before half time, only putting up 9 points, headlined by a 2 yard touchdown run from Steven Burkhardt.
A mistake ridden second quarter for both teams left the game hanging in the balance at the end of the half. KU came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter though, putting up 17 points in the frame and pushing the game out of reach for the Fighting Scots.
Freddie Retter, coming off his dominating performance in week 1, continued to terrorize opposing running backs and quarterbacks. He also blocked a punt, setting up the Golden Bears with great field position to put the game away.
Through the first two games, the KU defense has allowed just as many points as they’ve scored themselves. Against the Assumption Greyhounds in week 1, Freddie Retter scored on a sack fumble, matching the 6 points KU surrendered in that contest.
The Golden Bears looked hungry in their first two games following their loss at Colorado School of Mines which ended their historic run to the national semifinals last year. While their offense hasn’t looked as clean as it did last season, quarterback Judd Novak has shown that he is always a threat through the air or on the ground, highlighted by his 70 yard touchdown run against Assumption.
While the offense may still be finding its rhythm, the defense showed the first couple weeks that they are ready and able to pick up the slack, allowing an average of 3 points per game. Kutztown’s next stop on its Super Region 1 Title defense tour will be on Saturday, Sept. 21, at Gannon University.