COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind an overpowering rushing attack, the Ursinus College football team earned an impressive 58-14 win over Rowan on Saturday night in Centennial Conference-NJAC crossover action.
With the win, the Bears improved to 3-0 overall for the second straight season. Meanwhile, the Profs suffered their first loss of the season and dropped to 2-1 overall.
Senior running back Tony Holden had a career night with 226 rushing yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns. His 2226 rushing yards were the most in a game by a Bears player since Aaron Harper had 219 in 2006 against Franklin & Marshall and he averaged a whopping 11.3 yards per carry. Holden led a vaunted Bears rushing attack that totaled 438 yards as a team which also saw sophomores Jason Bernard add 66 yards on eight carries and Brooklyn Jones get 49 yards off ffive carries plus his first collegiate touchdown.
Senior quarterback Jalen Bradford threw for 144 yards behind going 11-of-17 passing with a touchdown and interception. Bradford also accounted for the Bears rushing total with 50 of his own on six carries and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Justin Collier led the Bears with 76 receiving yards on five catches and a touchdown. Collier has scored a touchdown in each of the first three Ursinus games.
After a pair of punts to open the game, the Bears made their first march into Prof territory before sophomore Ryder Zulkowski was stripped of the ball and Rowan recovered at their own 20-yard line. However, the Bears defense stood tall and forced a three-and-out and got great field position off a short punt. Bradford hit Collier for a 41-yard reception to the 1-yard line and Holden punched in his first touchdown of the game to put Ursinus up 7-0 with 3:26 left in the first quarter.
The Profs intercepted Bradford deep in their own territory on the Bears first drive of the second quarter and took advantage by tying the game at seven with 9:03 left in the first half. Ursinus responded with a good-looking drive of their own and took the lead back for good when Holden scored from six yards out at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter. The Bears defense forced another punt and Bradford shot up the middle for a 33-yard rushing touchdown that put Ursinus up 21-7 with 3:01 until halftime. The Bears got the ball back with 1:23 left in the first half and Holden gave Ursinus a chance with a pair of 20+ runs. Bradford capped a big second quarter with his second rushing touchdown, this time from 10 yards out, to extend the Ursinus lead to 28-7 at halftime.
Ursinus picked up right where they left off to start the third quarter by forcing a three-and-out and Holden scored his third touchdown of the night on the ground that pushed the Bears lead to 35-7 with 10:38 left in the third quarter. Senior defensive end Connor Carter continued to blow the game open for Ursinus by sacking Rowan quarterback Matt Welsey for an 11-yard sack in the end zone to make it a 37-7 game. Holden set Ursinus up for another touchdown following the free kick with a 39-yard run and Collier snatched Bradford's lone passing touchdown to make it 44-7 with 7:52 left in the third quarter.
The Bears crossed 50 points with a touchdown from senior fullback Michael D'Amico to open the fourth quarter before Brooklyn Jones capped the Ursinus big night with a 41-yard touchdown with 8:23 left in regulation.
The Bears defense racked up five sacks with 2.5 of them coming from Carter, who led the team with 10 tackles (seven solo). Junior Aaron Rios continued his dominant season with six tackles (three solo), 3.0 TFL, and 1.5 sacks while sophomore cornerback Ronnie Woods added his first sack of his collegiate career. The Bears held a decisive 598-105 yards of total offense advantage and limited the Profs to both 49 rushing and 56 passing yards.
Ursinus has a week off before returning to action on Friday, October 4th as they will travel to face Muhlenberg for another prime time game at 7:00 p.m.
Football Rushing Attack Dominates Rowan, 58-14
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20240921_cxsv.xml
2024
Rowan
14
Ursinus
58
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowan (2-1) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Ursinus (3-0) | 7 | 21 | 16 | 14 | 58 |
Sep 21, 2024