EAST STROUDSBURG — Ty Quintois saved the day for East Stroudsburg University football as the junior kicker nailed a 21-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Warriors over Bloomsburg 38-35 for the team’s fifth-consecutive win this year.
Kicking with the game on the line is already a high-pressure situation, but Bloomsburg had a lot of momentum after tying the game with two late scores and a 2-point conversion. If it went into overtime, the Huskies would’ve had a real chance to steal one on the road.
Fortunately for the homecoming crowd, Quintois sent everyone home happy.
“It was special having my brothers around me to get me ready to go and execute what I’ve been practicing for the last 4-5 years,” Quintois said. “From the moment I walked onto the field, I was confident. I trusted my guys – my holder, my snapper, the blockers up front, in whom I have so much faith. I knew it was going through.”
It was a wet and rainy Saturday in East Stroudsburg, making it challenging for both Quintois and Bloomsburg’s Aaron Johnson, who both missed field goals in the second quarter.
But ESU Jimmy Terwilliger had faith in Quintois to seal the deal late, and it was clear the head coach was going to put the game in his kicker’s hands, or more accurately, on his leg, when it mattered most.
“I’ve seen Ty do it 1,000 times in practice,” Terwilliger said. “What it comes down to is you put your trust in the people that can deliver, and Ty has ice in his veins. We were playing to get the field goal, and he stepped up in a big moment. The best players make plays in the biggest moments, and that was a great job by Ty.”
While Quintois is a veteran on the roster, East Stroudsburg turned to its freshmen and sophomores to handle most of the workload against Bloomsburg, and they responded nicely.
First, it was true freshman wide receiver Jalen Cook catching a 56-yard pass from Sean McTaggart for his first-career collegiate receiving touchdown. Then it was redshirt freshman receiver Cade Sawyer who took the handoff and scored his first collegiate touchdown after that.
Terwilliger also employed other young players, like true freshman Will Day and redshirt sophomore Cam Burti, to line up on offense. There was also redshirt freshman Armonie Torres, who caught his first-career interception as the secondary had to perform without veteran Everette Dingle.
“That’s why we recruited them. They’re great players,” Terwilliger said. “They stepped up in a moment’s notice when they needed to. The standard doesn’t rise or fall to you; the standard is the standard, and the guys have to be able to hold the line.
“You saw a ton of freshmen play today, and that’s an exciting time. We’re a young football team with a lot of talent, and when we start putting it together, this will be a lot of fun. When you start having freshmen make those types of impacts, the future is very bright. So I’m really excited to see their growth.”
Of all the young players, however, Cook shined the brightest, finishing with two catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, an explosive performance for the York, Pa. native. Positional depth is why Cook has had limited snaps, but Terwilliger believes “the sky is the limit” for Cook, and the staff will continue to push him towards his potential.
“It was crazy. My blood was pumping hard out there,” Cook said. “But the receivers and coaches couldn’t have prepared me any better. The DBs give us work, and our work in practice translates to the game.
“It’s also amazing to see the freshmen and sophomores rise up and do what we do. But the culture is built by the older guys whom we lean on. We’re all a team at the end of the day.”
At first, it seemed like Sawyer’s and Cook’s touchdowns would signal the end as the lead grew to 28-7 with 5:29 left in the third quarter. It still felt that way after the teams exchanged touchdowns and the score was 35-14 with 10:57 left in the fourth.
Then the sweat started to come in after Bloomsburg scored a touchdown to make it 35-20, and the Huskies went for an onside kick, which they recovered twice (the first time was flagged for offsides, then they recovered the second kick). Three plays later, KJ Riley found Gabe Brower for a 53-yard touchdown pass.
With the score now 35-27 and less than five minutes to go, ESU got the ball back, but the drive went nowhere. But a bad snap to the punter resulted in the ball traveling only one yard, and Bloomsburg got the ball on the ESU 28-yard line, where they scored four plays later and made a 2-point conversion.
Now the Warriors, tied 35-35 with 1:40 left, had one more chance to win it in regulation. The crucial play on the final drive was a 17-yard pass to Jaylen Andrews that was ruled a catch. The Bloomsburg sideline disagreed with that ruling and let the officials have it, which led to a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that was added, putting ESU in favorable field position.
ESU was able to drive down the field and use its final two timeouts to set up Quintois with two seconds left on the clock and the ball on the 3-yard line. And the rest is history.
“Momentum is a fickle thing,” Terwilliger said about Bloomsburg’s late surge. “They found the secret sauce, and they started being able to move the football and keep us off the ball. You play four quarters, and ugly wins are better than pretty losses.
“Competitors find a way to win. Very proud of this team for finding a way to win a very tight football game against a very stout opponent and, historically, a very good rival.”
With Shippensburg (2-4, 2-1 PSAC) up next week before going on the road to Shepherd, Terwilliger doesn’t believe his team has “peaked” yet. It will be interesting to see how the Warriors progress down the home stretch of the regular season.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: ESU football wins on game-winning field goal
