Kutztown defeats No. 9 Slippery Rock
Jerome Kapp caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Donny Blaine with 5:59 left to lift Kutztown to a 23-21 win over No. 9 Slippery Rock in a nonconference game Saturday at Slippery Rock.
The Golden Bears (83) kept their faint NCAA Division II playoff hopes alive with the win. KU entered the day 10th in the Super Region One rankings. The top seven teams qualify for the national playoffs.
The Rock (9-2) came in ranked fifth. Gannon, which was ranked seventh, lost 35-28 to Shippensburg in overtime.
No. 6 Notre Dame of Ohio and No. 9 New Haven each won. No. 8 Concord played later Saturday.
Kapp, a Boyertown grad, finished with eight catches for 155 yards. Blaine completed 14-of-30 passes for 256 yards with two TDs and one interception.
Kutztown had leads of 10-0 and 17-7 before Slippery Rock came back.
Brayden Long threw a 57-yard touchdown pass for Cohen Russell with 9:04 left to pull The Rock within 17-14.
The Golden Bears went three-and-out on their next possession, and Slippery Rock blocked the ensuing and returned it for a touchdown to take a 2117 lead.
The Rock forced another Kutztown threeand-out, but roughed punter Nate Millard, a Daniel Boone grad, giving KU a first down.
On third-and-11, Blaine hit Kapp for the go-ahead score.
Cody Scherer intercepted Gavyn Barnes’ pass on the first play of Slippery Rock’s drive.
Kutztown was able to run 3:25 off the clock and Millard’s 36-yard punt pinned The Rock at its 4 with 2:23 left.
Slippery Rock went three-and-out and Kutztown ran out the clock.
Blaine threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Tyreek Husser in the first quarter. Darryl Davis-McNeil had a 2-yard TD run in the second quarter for KU. LEBANON VALLEY 41, ALBRIGHT 24 >> At Annville, Reading High grad DeShawn Wilson scored his first collegiate touchdown to help the Flying Dutchmen (5-3, 5-5) defeat the Lions (0-8, 0-10) in a Middle Atlantic Conference game.
Albright lost its 17th straight and completed its first winless season since 2018.
Wilson, a first-year wide receiver, caught a 63-yard pass from Dion Bryant in the first quarter to give Lebanon Valley a 27-7 lead.
The Lions came back to get within 27-24 on a 1-yard run by Jahkem Allen with 9:43 left in the third quarter and got the ball back with a chance to take the lead.
But the Dutchmen recovered a fumble by Allen and took over at the Albright 1 following the return and a personal foul penalty.
Tim Ervey’s 1-yard run made it 34-24 with 3:24 left in the third. Ervey added a 7-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to make it 41-24.
Ervey finished with 120 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries. Daniel Boone grad Alex Vassallo, a first-year receiver for Lebanon Valley, had one catch for 26 yards.
Allen had 56 yards and three TDs on 18 carries.
Sam Viera had 10 tackles for Albright, becoming the school’s career leader with 385. Ryan Rapp had 1.5 sacks to set the school single-season record with 12.5.
FDU-FLORHAM 31, ALVERNIA 7 >> At Alvernia’s Turf Field, the Golden Wolves (2-6, 3-7) finished with just 12 rushing yards and 123 total yards in falling to the Devils (4-4, 6-4) in a Middle Atlantic Conference game.
Alvernia had 12 yards on 30 carries and completed 17-of-36 passes for 111 yards.
The Devils led 14-0 at the half and 21-0 in the third quarter before the Golden Wolves scored on a 2-yard run by Monte McMorris with 3:12 left.
Ryon Thomas completed 25-for-31 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns with one interception for the Devils. Connor Perez had nine catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
Alvernia, which had its first football season in 2018, set school single-season records for wins and conference wins this season; the Golden Wolves’ best season had been 2019, when they went 1-7, 2-8.