Turnover-plagued Cougars fall in overtime

By josh micsky Last updated Sep 7, 2024

2024 Berks football coverage

presented by UECU

By Josh Micsky — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Improvement.

That was the focus for Kutztown coach Larry Chester following a second straight bitterly disappointing loss for the Cougars, 20-14 in overtime Friday against visiting Octorara.

The Cougars (0-3) racked up 274 yards of offense but costly turnovers, including a fumble in overtime, helped the visiting Braves head home with a victory.

“Our guys grew from last week,” Chester said. “Defensively we were just the same as last week, clutch, but offensively we really picked it up and moved the ball.”

Kutztown’s fourth turnover, a fumble by Mason Sherry, ended its only possession in OT.

Octorara won it on Austin’s Kurtz’s second touchdown of the game, a 3-yard run.

The Braves (2-1) had no turnovers in the game but were penalized 10 times; the Cougars were hit with four penalties.

“We lost that game because we didn’t hold on to the football,” Chester said. “Our offensive line stepped it up, we are playing good football but you cannot win games when you average two to three turnovers a game, period.”

The positive improvement for Kutztown was on display early as the Cougars led or were tied for almost the entire game after taking the opening possession 60 yards in 16 plays, ending with a Brenden Ackley 5-yard touchdown run.

The Cougars took almost eight minutes off the first quarter clock on the drive and were fortunate that their efforts resulted in points as Ackley fumbled the ball as he was crossing the plane of the goal line.

That foreshadowed the remainder of the night for Kutztown.

“The difference on the first drive was that we held on to the ball,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the NFL or all the way down to PeeWees, if you don’t have the ball you can’t score.”

The Cougars looked to add a second score on their next possession but Octorara’s Brayden Remphrey intercepted a Wyatt Stoess pass at the 14. Following the pick, Octorara drove 86 yards in 10 plays, tying the game on a 2-yard run by Austin Kurtz.

Kutztown responded with another promising drive but Stoess’s second interception and a long return into Kutztown territory ended the threat.

The Cougars forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession and were gifted outstanding field position at the Octorara 24-yard line after a bad punt snap, one of the few major gaffes by Octorara, resulted in an 18-yard loss for the Braves.

Three plays later, Kutztown cashed in on a 1-yard Sherry plunge to grab a 14-7 lead on the last play of the second quarter.

The only scoring in the second half came when Octorara returned the opening kickoff 69 yards to the 20 and quickly tied the game on a 12-yard run by Brayden Mastripolito.

Kutztown forced an Octorara punt early in the fourth quarter but a botched exchange from center resulted in the third turnover.

Kutztown held strong defensively, forcing a turnover on downs on the ensuing Octorara series. The Cougars dodged a bullet when a holding penalty wiped out a 31-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2.

	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Octorara	0	7	7	0	6	20
Kutztown	7	7	0	0	0	14

Scoring summary

1	Kutztown	Ackley, 5 run (Undercuffler kick)	4:20
2	Octorara	Kurtz, 2 run (Kurtz kick)	4:47
2	Kutztown	Sherry, 1 run (Undercuffler kick)	0:00
3	Octorara	Mastrippolito, 12 run (Kurtz kick)	10:23
OT	Octorara	Kurtz, 3 run

Team statistics

	OCTORARA	KUTZTOWN
First downs	11	18
Rushes-yards	31-107	53-223
Passing yards	110	51
Total yards	217	274
Passes	6-15-0	4-10-2
Fumbles-lost	0-0	3-2
Punts-average	1-33	0-0
Penalties-yards	10-88	4-21

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Octorara: Stoltzfus 10-54, Mastrippolito 6-37, Kurtz 8-30, Teufert 2-4, Wood 4-0, Team 1-(-18).

Kutztown: Sherry 22-81, Bahr 9-59, Swoyer 5-41, Ackley 11-29, Walters 4-14, Team 1-0, Stoess 1-(-1).

PASSING

Octorara: Wood 6-15-0—110.

Kutztown: Stoess 4-10-2—51.

RECEIVING

Octorara: Mastrippolito 3-46, Stoltzfus 2-34, Prokay 1-30.

Kutztown: Ackley 3-32, C. Mathias 1-19.

INTERCEPTIONS

Octorara: Remphrey, Mastrippolito.