Kutztown Cougars open with a win for first time since 2009

The Kutztown Cougars are on a winning streak.

Quarterback Jacob Lafferty and tailback Lennon Neiman each rushed for over 100 yards and scored touchdowns as the Cougars defeated Shenandoah Valley 27-14 in a non-league game Friday at Shenandoah.

The win is the first in a season-opener for Kutztown since 2009.

Neiman’s 10-yard run early in the fourth quarter gave the Cougars the lead for good, at 21-14; they followed by recovering an onside kick, and scored again when Lafferty broke off a 43-yard scoring run. David Ruhf recovered the onside kick for Kutztown.

Kutztown snapped a 35-game losing streak by beating Shenandoah Valley in last year’s season finale, 36-0.

Lafferty finished with 118 rushing yards on 20 carries; he also completed 3-of-6 passes. He scored on runs of 2 and 43 yards.

Neimam, a senior and one of the fastest players in the league, finished with 178 yards on 18 carries.

Isaac Schnieder rushed for 89 yards on 17 carries.

The Cougars ran 67 plays to 36 for the Blue Devils. They totaled 394 rushing yards and 443 total yards. They did not punt.

They limited the Blue Devils to 7 rushing yards. Dakota Thomas led the Kutztown defense with six tackles. Tyler Hallock had two sacks and Ryan Cardinale had one.

Blue Devils quarterback Owen Kosar completed 13-of-26 passes for 227 yards, with a pair of TD passes.

Shenandoah took a 6-0 lead on Kosar’s 37-yard TD pass to Nick Ryan.

The Cougars took the lead on Schnieder’s 4-yard run and a two-point conversion pass from Lafferty to Thomas.

The last time Kutztown was 1-0 was in 2012, when they earned a forfeit victory from Calvary Christian.

The Cougars play Nativity Friday at 7 at Kutztown.