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Lock Haven's first snap on defense set the tone. IUP quarterback Mason Maggs lost the ball, the Bald Eagles fell on it, and Rob Footman Jr. ran in from 2 yards out less than four minutes into the game.
Lock Haven never trailed after that. Footman threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Bald Eagles forced five turnovers in a 35-20 win over No. 10 IUP, ranked in the AFCA Division II coaches poll, on Saturday in Indiana, Pa. It was Lock Haven's first win over the Crimson Hawks since 1981, and it spoiled IUP's homecoming in front of 5,271 at George P. Miller Stadium.
Lock Haven is 4-2 and 3-0 in the PSAC West. IUP had opened 5-0 for the first time since 2022 and is now 5-1 and 2-1.
Maggs answered the early score with a 13-yard touchdown pass to D'Avay Johnson late in the first quarter. The second quarter turned into a shootout. Footman hit Cureem Hathcock for 10 yards, Preston Rathway made a 51-yard field goal, and Footman found Jake Roberts for a 38-yard score. Rathway's 21-yarder with 36 seconds left made it 21-13 at the half.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, and Lock Haven let chances slip. Footman fumbled on a 9-yard loss. IUP's Shane Strayhorn blocked a 41-yard field goal by Caden Bauer, and Bauer later missed from 28.
The defense kept handing the ball back. David Montgomery picked off Maggs and returned it to the IUP 30. Early in the fourth quarter, facing second-and-23, Footman found Mekhi Watson for a 33-yard touchdown and a 28-13 lead with 8:51 left.
IUP pulled within 28-20 on Maggs' 2-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Harrold with 6:21 to go. Then the game went sideways. Connor Foltz recovered a muffed punt at the IUP 35, and Noah Johnston intercepted Footman at the 8. On the next snap, Rocco Daugherty picked off Maggs at the same spot. Footman hit Jaiden Huntington for a 4-yard touchdown on the next play, with 2:06 left, to make it 35-20. Rasu Wearing-Poindexter added one more interception at the Lock Haven 6.
Footman completed 20 of 27 passes for more than 230 yards. Watson caught 12 of them for 146 yards, and Lock Haven held the ball for 33:02.
"I give credit to the coaching staff for putting together the gameplan," Footman told Ryan States of The Express. "It takes 11 guys. I couldn't have done what I did today without them."
Footman and Daugherty swept the PSAC West Athlete of the Week awards this week.
Maggs threw a season-high 42 passes and completed 29 for 252 yards, but three were intercepted. Harrold had a career-best nine catches for 95 yards, and Leon Parson ran for 59. Johnston made 13 tackles to go with his pick, and Zach Boyd returned three kickoffs for 89 yards. Five turnovers were too many, though, and IUP never led.
Lock Haven coach Joe Battaglia said his team was tired of hearing how strong the rest of the division was.
"All we heard about was the West," Battaglia said. "'The West, the West, the West.' We wanted to come out and make a statement. We made a statement."
The Bald Eagles hadn't won in Indiana since 1961, The Express noted, so this one carried more than one kind of history.
It's the first time Lock Haven has beaten a ranked team, and it snapped a 37-game losing streak against IUP that dated to 1982. The Bald Eagles and Slippery Rock are the only unbeaten teams left in West play. IUP fell to No. 19 in the AFCA poll and is a game back with Clarion.
Lock Haven hosts Edinboro on Saturday. IUP hosts Slippery Rock, then travels to California (Pa.) for the Coal Bowl.
Lock Haven takes down #10 IUP, 35-20, for its first victory over the Crimson Hawks since 1981! @LHU_Football ✅ UPSET #10 IUP ON THE ROAD ✅ 3-0 IN THE PSAC WEST 🔒 Rasu Wearing-Poindexter seals the historic win with this interception! @SportsCenter @ESPNAssignDesk
