ALLENTOWN, Pa. – 103 combined points and 1,004 combined yards later, it was a defensive stand that defined the Ursinus College football team's 53-50 win over Muhlenberg on Friday night in their Centennial Conference opener.
The Bears turned the Mules away on downs in the final minute to preserve their first 4-0 start to a season since 2017 and a 1-0 mark in Centennial Conference play. The win also cemented this 2025 football senior class as the winningest in a four-year span in program history. Meanwhile, the Mules fell to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Senior quarterback Jalen Bradford shined under the Scotty Wood Stadium lights with an Ursinus single-game program record seven touchdown passes behind going 22-of-30 for 303 yards. He bested Jack Psenicska's record of six touchdown passes against Gettysburg in 2022. Three of his seven touchdowns went to junior wide receiver Cody House who matched his career high previously set against Alvernia in 2023. House caught six passes for 88 yards while senior Cameron Dennis led the team with seven catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Five different Bears caught touchdown passes as senior Justin Collier snatched one along with four catches for 66 yards.
Senior running back Tony Holden continued his historic tear to start the 2024 season with his fourth straight game of 100-plus yards, with 166 yards on 22 carries while delivering the decisive fourth quarter touchdown. Holden also caught a touchdown pass from Bradford and three catches for 22 yards. The combined 103 points was just two shy of the 105 combined points in the Bears 55-50 win over Gettysburg in 2009 and the first 1,000 combined yard game since their contest against Gettysburg last November.
Ursinus got the ball first and went right to work as they needed seven plays to go up 7-0 when Bradford found sophomore Ryder Zulkowski for a 14-yard touchdown on third down at the 11:44-mark. The opening touchdown set the back and forth theme as the Mules responded six minutes later to tie the game at seven. The Bears countered with Holden catching a 7-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead at 14-7 with 1:47 left in the first quarter, but it took the Mules just 1:25 later to tie the game back up at 14.
The Bears crossed into Muhlenberg territory, but a sack forced the first punt of the game. Junior Jordan Carr pinned the Mules inside their own 10-yard line before Matthew Manning scored on a 92-yard touchdown pass to give Muhlenberg their first lead at 21-14. Dennis returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards before fumbling and sophomore Nazir Jenkins recovered the fumble to preserve the Bears drive. Faced with a 4th-and-12, Bradford hit House for a 38-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 21 with 10:19 left in the second quarter. Ursinus forced a punt for the first time in the contest and seemingly was getting the ball back until a fumble on the return set the Mules up at the Bears 35-yard line. However, senior defensive back Aaron Anderson intercepted Mules quarterback Joe Repetti in the end zone in shades of his breakout 2021 game at Muhlenberg where he had two interceptions. The Bears took advantage of the turnover and House caught his second touchdown from 14 yards out to put Ursinus up 27-20 at the half following a missed extra point.
Muhlenberg opened the second half with a big-play 56-yard touchdown to take the lead at 28-27 just at the 13:17-mark. For the first time in the contest, the teams traded punts but on the Bears second attempt, Carr dropped the snap and the Mules took him down to set themselves up in a goal-to-go situation at the 5-yard line. Repetti rushed it in two plays later to give Muhlenberg a 35-27 lead with 4:59 left in the third quarter. Dennis redeemed himself by nearly breaking the ensuing kickoff with a 63-yard return to the Mules 25-yard line. Bradford found House for a third time and the deficit was now at 35-33 following a failed two-point conversion.
The Mules responded with a touchdown to take their largest lead of the game at 42-33 with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter. Ursinus took advantage of a pair of Mule penalties and Dennis caught a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it a 42-39 game after another failed two-point conversion. The Ursinus defense got a stop and Bradford methodically guided the Bears down the field, ending it with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Collier to put the Bears in front at 46-42 with 5:49 left in regulation. The Bears forced another punt and Holden gave Ursinus much-needed breathing room with a 79-yard touchdown run down the left sideline to put the Bears up 53-42. Muhlenberg was not done as they needed just 1:23 to score a touchdown and get a two-point conversion that cut the Bears lead to 53-50 with 1:50 remaining. The Bears could not pick up a first down but forced the Mules to burn their final two timeouts. Ursinus got the stop they needed with a 4-and-out to seal the win.
Senior linebacker Marc Clayton led the Bears with a game-high 10 tackles (nine solo) and classmate Julian Jones added nine stops (six solo). Junior defensive end Aaron Rios added another sack and 2.0 TFL while finishing with five stops (four solo) and senior Pat McManus picked up a sack along with five tackles (four solo).
Repetti finished with 328 passing yards on 21-of-38 passing with four touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 121 yards on 14 carries with another two scores.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 12th as they will host Franklin & Marshall at 1:00 p.m.