Williams ran for 79 of his 93 yards and all three scores to give the Warriors a 31-6 halftime lead and redshirt senior quarterback Matt Marshall (12-for-22, 215 yards, 2 TDs) moved into fourth in school history in career total offense as part of a 487-yard output for the ESU offense.
Redshirt senior wide receiver Ed Kiser caught four passes for 133 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown in the first quarter, to turn in his second straight 100-yard receiving game. Williams finished just shy his second consecutive 100-yard game on the ground and sophomore tailback Eric Deery (11 carries, 70 yards) helped the Warriors compile 216 rushing yards to set a season-best for the third straight week.
Immediately following the game, the playing field was christened as Gregory-Douds Field at Eiler-Martin Stadium in honor of former coach Jack Gregory, who led his teams to a 49-11-2 record (.806 winning percentage) and PSAC championships in 1964 and 1965, and Douds, the PSAC’s all-time leader in wins and coach of nine PSAC championship and four NCAA playoff squads in his 37 seasons.
At halftime, the Dr. Jake Piatt ’61 President’s Box was dedicated posthumously in recognition of Dr. Cummings A. “Jake” Piatt, a four-year starter on the line from 1957-60, the former chair of ESU’s Professional and Secondary Education Department and a 2007 inductee to the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame.
ESU (3-6, 2-4) was two points away from posting consecutive 60-point games for the first time in school history and jumped on Cheyney (1-8, 1-5) early, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions to go ahead 21-0 less than 11 minutes into the game.
The Warriors forced a three-and-out on their first defensive series and Williams (six carries, 36 yards) and Deery (three carries, 33 yards) gained every yard on a nine play, 69-yard drive that resulted in Williams’ seven-yard TD run. Williams ran for 127 yards and four touchdowns to tie a school record in last week’s 65-14 win at Millersville.
Kiser hauled in his touchdown catch on the second play of the Warriors’ next possession and Williams scored on a 13-yard run less than three minutes later to make it 21-0. Williams capped his first half with a 22-yard TD run in the second quarter, while Travis Taltoan got the Wolves on the board with a seven-yard TD pass from Chris Anderson with 37 seconds left in the first half.
Freshman kicker Taylor Groff closed the half with a 28-yard field goal, set up by a long kick return by freshman fullback Darius Jackson, a pass interference penalty and passes from Marshall to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Wade Williams and freshman tailback Dusty Reed.
Groff was 3-for-4 on field goals, hitting from 28, 21 and 38 yards, and 7-for-7 on extra points in the game. The freshman is 14-for-19 on field goals on the season, tied for second with Mark Brubaker (2005) with 14 field goals and one behind the school record of 15 set by Ed Detwiler (1991) and Matt Seagreaves (1994).
In the second half, the Warriors used a 43-yard pass from Marshall to Kiser and a 13-yard scramble by Marshall to set up a four-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman tailback Joe Klebon. Marshall hit Jackson for a six-yard TD about three minutes later following a 21-yard pass from redshirt junior quarterback Ray Wagner to sophomore wide receiver Bryan Ogden on a gadget play.
Groff made two second half field goals and Wagner finished a six play, 47-yard drive with a nine-yard TD pass to Klebon for the game’s final points with 5:03 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Taltoan scored Cheyney’s only second-half points midway through the third quarter on a 15-yard end around and Anderson ran for the two-point conversion. Anderson was 8-for-18 for 100 yards passing and ran for 15 yards, while Marcus Jones (15 carries, 78 yards) led a ground game that gained 139 yards on 45 carries. Thomas Stewart was the top tackler with 11 stops and had a sack and a forced fumble.
Marshall had 245 yards of total offense and finished the game with 6,799 total yards in his career, passing Bret Comp (6,774 yards, 1989-92) for fourth in school history. He went over the 6,000-yard mark in passing yardage in the first quarter and is closing on Jeremy Palm (1998-02) for third in career passing TDs and fourth in passing yards by ESU quarterbacks.
Redshirt senior outside linebacker Matt Freed and redshirt junior linebacker Taylor Cave led the Warriors with nine tackles apiece and junior safety Herschel Thornton had eight stops. The defense also came up with four sacks, including 1.5 by senior defensive end Alex Figueroa.
Cave and senior cornerback David Castillo both had interceptions – the ninth pick of Castillo’s career – and Freed forced a fumble for the second straight week as the Warriors forced three turnovers and held Cheyney to 246 yards.
The Warriors host Shippensburg on Senior Day next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Gregory-Douds Field at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
Game Notes
* Denny Douds has coached in 216 of the 318 games played at Eiler-Martin Stadium since it was opened in 1938. Douds joined the Warriors coaching staff as an assistant in 1966 and became the eighth head coach in school history in 1974. He has coached in more than 60 percent (452-of-752) of the games played in school history and has a 229-152-3 record in 384 games as head coach.
* ESU is 54-1 in the all-time series with Cheyney and holds the Division II record for consecutive wins over one opponent in an uninterrupted series, winning 31 straight against the Wolves since a 7-3 loss in 1979.
* ESU has outscored its last two opponents, 123-28, and is averaging 34.3 points per game this season.
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