Bloomsburg Football Rallies for Big Win Over Ashland

ASHLAND, OH--Kenny Domzalski's (Milford/Delaware Valley) 23-yard scoring run with 54 seconds left in the game lifted the 25-th ranked Bloomsburg University Huskies to a 49-42, come-from-behind win over 15th ranked Ashland University on Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.

Domzalski's touchdown capped a furious second half comeback for Bloomsburg which trailed 35-14 at the break. The comeback was the biggest for the Huskies since trailing by 17 points (24-7) to East Stroudsburg in 2003 but rallied for a 40-37 win.

Trailing by 21 at the break, Bloomsburg started the second half with a nine-play, 73-yard drive capped off by Stefan Adams (West Chester/Henderson) five yard scoring run to make it 35-21. After the Huskies defense forced the first Ashland punt of the game on the Eagles first drive of the second half, Bloomsburg marched 54 yards in just six plays with quarterback Dan Latorre (Elysburg/Southern Columbia) hitting Kyle Ream (Elliotsburg/West Perry) with 32-yard scoring pass to make it 35-28 with 6:13 left in the third period.

Ashland went three and out on its next series with the Huskies quickly marching 68 yards in just three plays capped by Latorre hitting Ben Weaber (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) with a 17-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 35-all with 2:11 left in the third. A key play in the drive was a 48-yard run by Domzalski.

Bloomsburg's defense made forced a big turnover early in the fourth period when Thomas McFarland (Pottsville/Pottsville) intercepted a Billy Cundiff pass giving the Huskies the ball at the Ashland 42-yard line. Two plays later Adams ran 31-yards for a score to give Bloomsburg its first lead of the game at 42-35.

Ashland tied the score with just 3:05 to play in the game when Cundiff hit Joe Horn with a 39-yard scoring pass, but leaving plenty of time for the Huskies.

Taking over on its own 35-yard line, Bloomsburg moved out to its own 47 on consecutive runs by Domzalski. Then following an incomplete pass, Ashland was flagged for a personal foul putting the ball at the Eagles 39-yard line. Fullback Ryan Maggs (Beech Creek/Central Mountain) then gained 16 yards on his first-ever carry, then Domzalski capped the comeback with his 23-yard run.

Ashland, though, still had time, but the Bloomsburg defense forced a fumble by the Eagles, but could only run the clock down to the 15 seconds giving the home team one more shot. The Eagles got a 26-yard completion to the BU 40, but a pass as time expired fell short and the Huskies got the win.

The first half, though was all Ashland as the Eagles scored five times, including its first score which came just 16 seconds into the game after an 84-yard opening season kickoff return by Horn.

Bloomsburg hung close with scores from Price and a 30-yard scoring pass from Latorre to Ream, but still trailed by 21 points at the break.

Domzalski, in his first game for the Huskies, gained 172 yards on 16 carries and scored once. Fellow freshman Derrick Price also topped 100-yards gaining 132 on 24 carries with one score. Adams finished with 40 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Latorre finished 11 of 22 for 158 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Defensively, Oscar Rivera (Bethlehem/Liberty) led the Huskies with eight tackles.

In all, the two teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of offense, but Ashland was held to just 180 in the second half after gaining 319 in the opening 30 minutes.

Bloomsburg comes home next week for its home opener with fifth-ranked California (PA) at the newly renovated Redman Stadium with kickoff set for noon.