MILTON – Bloomsburg has some big shoes to fill this year at the quarterback position after the dual threat, tough-as-nails Wyatt Brosious completed his high school career and matriculated across town to Bloomsburg University.
On Friday, Shane Frey showed that he could end up being the same type of player as proved to be a threat with both his legs and his arm, and some tough running by both Frey and others was the difference in the game as Bloomsburg pulled away in the second half by scoring on three of its four possessions in the second half, as the Panthers topped Milton 29-13.
“Shane Frey did a heck of a job. He’s a very fierce competitor,” said Bloomsburg coach Mike Kogut. “We didn’t necessarily want to run the ball with him but he called some stuff on his own. We really challenged them to run the ball in the second half. We thought they were a little tired so we went a little tempo on them – that’s why we condition. I thought everyone did what they had to in the second half and executed very well.”
Frey accounted for 218 yards of total offense for, throwing for 158 yards on 13-of-20 passing with two touchdowns, and running for 60 on 11 carries with an additional score.
Jharee Moore-Stewart had 128 all-purpose yards, with 72 receiving yards and 32 rushing yards. He caught both of Frey’s touchdown passes before coming down awkwardly on his second touchdown reception of the game at the 3:00 mark of the third quarter. He left the game but the injury appeared to not be too serious as he was seen walking fine after the game.
Julius Serrano had 153 all-purpose yards and also added a touchdown for the Panthers early in the third quarter that put Bloomsburg up for good.
“They are both big, strong and fast, and once you get them one-on-one, or even one-on-two, they’re really tough,” said Kogut. “The great thing about them is they’re so talented, I can use them to run, to catch. They’re multi-faceted. Even Shane, being able to throw and run with him. You’re really lucky as a coach to have kids like that and build your offense around them.”
While the Panthers put up 140 of their 207 rushing yards in the second half, which proved to be too much for the Black Panthers, it was a turnover that was taken advantage of that was the difference in an otherwise stalemate of a first half.
Bloomsburg notched the only score of the first half by taking advantage of Milton’s lone turnover of the half. After Ryan Traugh’s interception stopped the Black Panthers’ lone trip to the red zone of the half, the Panthers took over at their own 25. From there, Bloomsburg put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive that included a pair of third down conversions and was capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Frey to Moore-Stewart on a receiver screen following a quick snap. Bloomsburg committed two first half turnovers but Milton was unable to take advantage.
“We are young, but when you prepare and practice and get these guys focused for a game, you just hope that they execute but we had a few mental lapses and guys showing their age,” said Milton coach Matthew Wilson. “We have to go back to the drawing board, fix those things, and get ready for our next opponent.”
The Panthers looked poised to potentially take a two-score lead in the final seconds of the first half as they reached the red zone, but Frey was sacked and fumbled and Milton returned it all the way down to the Bloomsburg 14 with just :12 left in the half. After two straight incompletions, the Black Panthers attempted a 32-yard field goal but it missed to end the half.
A big 78-yard kickoff return to open the second half by Milton’s Luis Santos set the Black Panthers up at the Bloomsburg 11, and two plays later, Brady O’Rourke punched it in from 10 yards out to tie the game, 7-7.
But Bloomsburg answered back immediately, as Serrano capped a seven-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run to put the Panthers back on top, 14-7, with 7:17 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers would score on their next two drives and on three of their four second-half possessions. Moore-Stewart hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass with 3:00 left in the third quarter before coming down awkwardly and leaving the game. A two-point conversion made it 22-7.
That was answered by Milton as Kamryn Wilson found Jhemzuel Feliciano for a 29-yard touchdown pass up the seam at the 11:07 mark of the fourth quarter. An unsuccessful two-point conversion left it a two-score game.
“They’re both sophomores. Kamryn lost his freshman season last year due to an injury and Jhemzuel didn’t even play last year, so he’s still a little wet behind the ears when it comes to football” said Wilson. “But he works the hardest at practice and give it his all every rep and he’s going to be rewarded by more playing time. He really took a step forward.”
Bloomsburg would then put together a clock-chewing and ultimately game-clinching drive as the Panthers went 65 yards in 11 plays and took 5:32 off the clock, capped by a four-yard touchdown run by Frey with 5:35 remaining.
“I believe a couple of our guys got worn down. Our focus was we wanted to take their star out of the game, so we focused more on the pass but when you do that, you leave the middle of the field open, so they were able to gash us up the middle,” said Wilson. “But our guys were in position to make tackles, some for losses, and we didn’t make them, and then not scoring off their turnovers but them scoring off ours. Things like that, when you play a game like this that’s back and forth, simple mistakes and turnovers will bite you.”
Bloomsburg 29, Milton 13
Bloomsburg (1-0) 0 7 15 7 – 29
Milton (0-1) 0 0 7 6 – 13
Second quarter
7:51 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 7-yard pass from Shane Frey (Wodehouse kick), 10-75, 4:44
Third quarter
11:04 – (M) Brady O’Rourke 10-yard run (O’Grady kick), 2-11, :56
7:17 – (B) Julius Serrano 2-yard run (Wodehouse kick), 7-64, 3:47
3:00 – (B) Jharee Moore-Stewart 25-yard pass from Shane Frey (Holbert pass from Wodehouse), 6-65, 2:06
Fourth quarter
11:07 – (M) Jhemzuel Feliciano 29-yard pass from Kamryn Wilson (pass failed), 9-56, 3:53
5:35 – (B) Shane Frey 4-yard run (Wodehouse kick), 11-65, 5:32
Statistics
B M
First downs 20 8
Rushes-net yards 39-207 27-68
Passing yardage 158 74
Passing 13-20-2-0 5-14-1-1
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 10-100 9-63
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bloomsburg: Shane Frey (11-60-1), Wyatt Schrader (10-47), Julius Serrano (8-61-1), Jharee Moore-Stewart (5-32), Bilal Washington (3-3), Demir Wood (2-4); Milton: Luis Santos (10-27), Brody Locke (7-24), Kamryn Wilson (5-(-5)), Brady O’Rourke (3-16-1), Schuyler Humphrey (1-3), Gavin Whitenight (1-3)
PASSING: Bloomsburg: Shane Frey (13-20-158-2-0); Milton: Kamryn Wilson (5-14-74-1-1)
RECEIVING: Bloomsburg: Jharee Moore-Stewart (4-72-2), Julius Serrano (3-46), Brayden Holbert (3-23), Wyatt Schrader (1-6), Cole Hendricks (1-6), Bilal Washington (1-5); Milton: Jhemzuel Feliciano (2-33-1), Ja’Cori Brown (1-30), Luis Santos (1-13), Schuyler Humphrey (1-(-2))