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| Tyler Adkins came off the bench with a strong performance for Aurora. d3photography.com file photo by Doug Sasse |
No. 10 Randolph-Macon shook off a halftime deficit to blow the doors off of Dickinson in the second half, while No. 15 Aurora rode its QB2 to W1. Utica won going away, while Hobart came back after a long delay. And 1,084 days later, Albright was back in the win column.
Ian Luyando was ineffective in his return from injury, but Tyler Adkins came off the bench to throw for 294 yards and two touchdowns as well as run for another as No. 15 Aurora pulled away to a 33-21 win at Dubuque. In its first game under new head coach Ryan Maiuri, the home team jumped out to a 14-3 lead as Ben Gultig hit Za'Cameron Brice for two touchdown passes in the first nine minutes of the game. But Aurora settled down and picked Gultig off three times, the last one coming on a 20-yard pick-six by Quintarius Davis to seal the game with 3:41 left. Brice finished with game-highs of 13 catches, 173 yards and three touchdowns, while Ty Pruett had two TD catches for Aurora.
After a big run last year propelled Randolph-Macon to the national semifinals, the Yellowjackets started slow in their 2024 debut, trailing 14-7 at halftime. But Randolph-Macon came out and scored the next 33 points, rolling to a 47-21 win at Dickinson. On the third play of the third quarter, Jason Moore ran a sweep to the right side for a 50-yard touchdown sprint as the Yellow Jackets tied the game at 14-14 just 1:19 after halftime. The Red Devils fumbled on their next play from scrimmage and senior linebacker Tony Skinner recovered at the Dickinson 12. That led to a 22-yard field goal by senior Kyle Ihle with 11:31 remaining as RMC took its first lead at 17-14. Senior Coleton Payne snared an interception and returned it 31 yards for a TD to extend the lead to 23-14, and Owen Arruza followed with an interception that led to another Ihle field goal.
Presley Egbers, a former Randolph-Macon starting quarterback himself, went 22-for-38 for 283 yards and two scores to go with the two interceptions. Dante Casciola got the call for R-MC and was a tidy 12-for-17 passing for 162 yards, while the team rolled up 209 yards on the ground.
Springfield, Masschusetts area rivals Springfield and Western New England battle it out annually for the Pynchon SAW, and Springfield scored 10 in the fourth quarter to retain the trophy which is named after city founder William Pynchon and the acronym of "SAW" is for the first initial of both schools. Springfield holds a 6-5 edge in games played for the trophy. The option is alive and well as Springfield racked up 362 of its 389 yards on the ground. The Golden Bears of WNEU took the lead late in the third on a TD run by Jason Black, but the Pride regained the lead after going 67 yards on eight plays, as Camerson Hart turned the corner and sliced through the Golden Bears defense for a 7-yard score with 13:53 left in regulation. Billy Carr came up with his second sack of the day to force the visitors off the field, and a 5-yard punt on the next play gave Springfield the ball from the visitors 32 yard line. After the Pride had a touchdown called back, Ian Wernick stepped up a drilled a 28 yard field goal push the hosts lead to 38-32. WNE had one final drive with under five minutes to play, but the Pride defense turned the Golden Bears over on downs.
Jalen Bradford had an efficient night of going 10-of-17 for 159 yards and tossed two touchdown passes in two and a half quarters as Ursinus blew past Alvernia 45-14 in its opener. Tony Holden had his third consecutive 100-yard game against the Golden Wolves by rushing for 118 yards on 16 carries and two scores while averaging 7.4 yards per carry. The win marked the fourth straight win over Alvernia in a season opener for the Bears with three coming at Patterson Field. It's the sixth season of Alvernia football, not counting the COVID year.
Albright finally found itself in the win column, as the Lions snapped a 27-game losing streak by defeating Gallaudet 17-6. The Bison got their only score on an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Andrae Green, and while Albright managed just 228 yards of total offense, it consolidated more than half of those yards into two scoring drives, one which ended the first quarter with Albright up 7-0, and one that melted away 4:14 of the fourth quarter before John Boston ran it in from 9 yards out to make it a two possession game. Gallaudet got as far as midfield in the final minutes before Terrell Bartee reached the Bison for two consecutive sacks, turning the ball over on downs. Albright's last win had come on Sept. 18, 2021, against Alvernia.
Hobart rallied for 10 points in the fourth quarter to escape the season opener with a 10-7 home victory against Alfred. The Statesmen got 159 yards rushing from sophomore running back E.J. Taylor and key fourth quarter takeaways from its defense to post its 14th consecutive victory over the Saxons. The first three quarters featured two weather delays — one before the game even started and one in the middle of the third quarter — as well as choppy offense from both Hobart and Alfred and just one touchdown.