TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Lock Haven football coach speaks with running back Tucker Teats (24) during a game against Glenville State on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Hubert Jack Stadium. Teats led the team in rushing on Saturday.

LOCK HAVEN — Last week Lock Haven put together their best game of the season in a dominant road win, and their reward for such a victory was to face off against the No. 4 ranked (6-0) Kutztown Golden Bears on Saturday.

Kutztown got off to a fast start, going up 27-0 in the first half, and held on to beat the (2-4) Bald Eagles by a final score of 34-7. Despite the loss, there are many positive things to look at from the Lock Haven perspective.

Here are my five takeaways from the game.

Pair of local freshmen make an impact

Some may remember that a week ago, Lock Haven was without their two starting tailbacks in Damir Green and Ezequiel Johnson, and in that game, they also saw third string running back Cureem Hathcock go down. Due to all the injuries that the Haven sustained, they have been forced to test their depth at that position.

While Green did return to the lineup against Kutztown, he did so on a snap reduction. Because of the thinned out Haven tail backs it gave former Selinsgrove Seal Tucker Teats his time to shine.

Teats was the lone bright spot on the ground for the Bald Eagles, turning nine carries into 47 yards. His 5.2 yards per carry was the most by any Lock Haven player. Pair that with multiple runs of ten-plus yards and Teats has certainly turned some heads with his play against tough competition.

Another local star who stood out was former Central Mountain wideout Connor Foltz. Foltz had the first touchdown of his career a few weeks ago against Cal. Pa, but had not recorded a catch since. Foltz was able to get back into the stat column against the Golden Bears, catching two passes for 28 yards and finishing as Lock Haven’s second leading receiver.

Mekhi Watson shines

Another receiver who had himself a good day was redshirt sophomore Mekhi Watson.

Coming into the season there were many questions on who the WR1 would be for Lock Haven, and as of midway through the season, it has been Watson who has pulled himself to the front of the pack.

Coming into the game having 16 catches for 195 yards on the season, Watson saved what might have been his best game for Kutztown. Watson caught a game-high five passes for 65 yards, consistently finding ways to get open and create separation.

Even dating back to last season, in the limited action he had, Watson seemed to be a receiver that quarterback Jackson Ostrowsky was very comfortable throwing to, and that relationship has only grown as the season has gone on. What may be Watson’s biggest trait however is his ability to make plays on third down, as when his team needed him on multiple third and longs, it was No. 19 who could be found making a big play.

Time will tell how Watson will continue to develop throughout this season, and his Bald Eagle career, but as of right now it looks like they may have found a budding star in the making.

Feel good loss

It is very rare that you can say you feel better about a team coming out of a 34-7 defeat than you did going in, but this is certainly one of those rare cases. Kutztown has been nothing short of golden so far this season, as the Golden Bears have completely torn through their opening games of the 2025 season.

There is a reason why they are ranked as the No. 4 team in the country, as Kutztown ranks inside the top ten nationally in every major team statistical category, and was averaging over 45 points per game coming into Saturday’s game. Their 27-point margin of victory against Lock Haven is their smallest this season so far.

I say all that to highlight just how great this Kutztown team truly is, yet despite all of that pedigree and firepower on the opposite sideline, the Bald Eagles put up a very impressive effort. Lock Haven held the Golden Bears under their season average in rushing yards per game, points per game, 3rd down conversion rate, and over their season average in points allowed per game.

The second half is where Lock Haven looked their best, with the offense getting multiple drives deep into Kutztown territory and only allowing seven points defensively. It felt like one week ago Lock Haven finally put all the pieces together, and while they would have certainly much rather gotten the win at home, there are still more positives than negatives to take away from their performance against one of, if not the best team in all of Div. 2.

“All credit to Kutztown, that’s a good football team, a ton of talent and they are very well coached.” Lock Haven head coach Joe Battaglia said after the game, “It was very similar to the game against Cal where we came out, and kind of got punched in the mouth a little bit and it took us a full half to settle down. In reality you have to become a team that settles down after that first or second series. But if we can play like [we did] in that second half we can play against anybody.”

Key injuries played a role

As previously mentioned, Lock Haven was without two of their top rushers in Johnson and Hathcock, but those were not the only injuries the Bald Eagles were dealing with. Also, out of Saturday’s contest were defensive backs Troy Miller and AJ Anderson, as well as starting tight end Jaden Huntingdon and starting tackle Kenneth Hampe III.

In regards to Green, he was confirmed to be “close to 100 percent” by coach Battaglia after the game, but was placed on a snap count in hopes of having him return fully healthy for next week’s matchup against West Chester.

Goals still in front of them

When looking at the Bald Eagles schedule preseason, it was hard not to notice how difficult of a first half it was set to be. Being forced to travel on the road against back-to-back PSAC West powers in IUP and Cal, before returning home to take on two of the best the East has to offer in ESU and Kutztown was a brutal first six weeks of the season.

Now, after matching up against the best the PSAC could throw at them, on paper things may begin to lighten up in the back half of the year. Currently, Lock Haven’s opponents in their first six games have a combined record of 23-12. Meanwhile, their upcoming competition in their last five games of the year sit at an 8-22 combined record.

That being said, just because things get easier doesn’t mean it will be easy. This has been a very chaotic year for the PSAC as a whole, with multiple upsets and crazy results across the past few weeks.

Take for example a team like Gannon, picked preseason to finish last in the West, yet pulling off a win over perennial powerhouse Slippery Rock a week ago. Notably, it is the Golden Knights who will travel to Lock Haven for the final game of the season.

Nothing is guaranteed when playing in a conference as tough as the PSAC, a fact that coach Battaglia made note of after the game, as well as what you can learn from playing some of the best in the early season.

“This is PSAC football, everything is going to be hard. But the word that I like to use is battle tested. IUP, Cal, now Kutztown [our] guys have seen the best of the best in the PSAC. At the end of the day with that type of speed, physicality and violence that you saw from the top teams in the conference,” said Battaglia. “Just because those records aren’t as good as some of those earlier teams we have played, we still have to go into it like we’re playing those [top] teams for the next five weeks. We got a good West Chester team coming to town next week so we have got to get to work immediately.”

When Lock Haven takes the field next, it will be to host their annual Homecoming game at Hubert Jack Stadium, with the (3-3) West Chester Golden Rams set to be their opponent. Kickoff is currently slated for 1 p.m.