COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – For the second straight week, the Ursinus College football team got a stop in the final minute as they held off Franklin & Marshall 23-17 in Centennial Conference action on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Patterson Field.
With the win, the Bears improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2014 season and 2-0 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Diplomats fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in conference action.
Senior quarterback Jalen Bradford went 15-of-30 for 202 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Junior wide receiver Cody House led the Bears with five catches for 73 yards and scored the lone Bears offensive touchdown of the game. Senior wide receiver Justin Collier added six catches for 54 yards as well. Senior running back Tony Holden rushed for 52 yards on 22 carries and was limited under 100 yards for the first time this season.
The Bears started with the ball and drove right down the field and took a 7-0 lead when Bradford found House over the middle for 9-yard touchdown pass at the 12:14-mark. Franklin & Marshall marched quickly down the field on its first drive as well before senior defensive end Connor Carter sacked quarterback Ty Tremba and forced a fumble to end the threat at the Ursinus 33-yard line. The Bears were in position to extend its lead before Bradford was intercepted at the Diplomats 4-yard line. Franklin & Marshall hit a 65-yard pass to get into Ursinus territory once more before a sack and missed field goal kept them off the board.
Bradford went back to work and led the Bears inside the red zone before junior kicker Jordan Carr extended the lead to 10-3 with a 30-yard field goal with 11:35 left in the second quarter. Franklin & Marshall got on the board on its next drive with a 29-yard field goal to make it 10-3. Ursinus caught a break when Bradford was intercepted deep in its own territory, but Holden stripped linebacker Jacob Hille of the ball and Ursinus got back possession inside the 10-yard line to preserve the halftime lead.
Ursinus forced a Diplomats punt to open the second half but missed on a potential opportunity to extend its lead when Carr missed a 34-yard field goal wide left. Franklin & Marshall took advantage by tying the game at 10 on a 10-yard touchdown pass at the 4:41-mark of the third quarter. The Diplomats converted on a trio of third downs on the drive, two of which were over 10 yards. Franklin & Marshall seemed to have all the momentum following the score and three-and-out forced on the next Bears drive but tried a fake punt pass at their own 30-yard line that fell incomplete and gave Ursinus good field position.
Carr put the Bears back in front at 13-10 to start the fourth quarter after banking in a 31-yard field goal off the left upright. Senior Ryan DiVergilis delivered the biggest play of the game on the ensuing Diplomats drive when he ran back a 48-yard interception back for a touchdown to make it a 20-10 Ursinus lead. Franklin & Marshall had a potential scoring drive halted by a chop block after completing a pass down to the Bears 26-yard line. The miscues continued for the Diplomats when they muffed a Bears punt that was recovered by junior Taylor Megee at the F&M 33-yard line. Carr made his third field goal of the game, this time from 35 yards, to put Ursinus up 23-10 with 5:29 left in regulation. However, the Diplomats raced down the field in less than two minutes and scored a touchdown to cut the deficit down to 23-17.
Ursinus recovered an onside kick attempt before being unable to get a first down on its next drive which gave the Diplomats one last chance to possibly lead a game-winning drive. The Diplomats advanced to the Bears 20-yard line following two long completions with just over a minute left. As they did last week against Muhlenberg, however, the Bears defense came up big when they were needed the most by forcing two incompletions before Carter sacked Tremba to bring up a 4th-and-15. Tremba attempted to scramble on 4th down before being brought down and had a lateral pass shut down to preserve the win for the Bears.
Carter dominated the Diplomats front with a career-high four sacks and 5.0 TFL while leading the team with ninetackles (four solo) and forcing a fumble. Junior Sean Spinosa added a sack and posted four tackles (two solo) with 1.5 TFL and blocked field goal. Sophomore cornerback Ronnie Woods made five tackles (four solo) and broke up four passes.
Tremba went 22-of-41 for 417 yards and tossed two touchdown passes with one interception. Gary Lewis led the Diplomats with seven catches for 132 yards while Jack O'Hearen hauled in six passed for 129 yards and a touchdown.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 19th as they will travel to face William Paterson in their third and final Centennial-NJAC crossover game of the season at 1:00 p.m.
Football Holds off Franklin & Marshall, 23-17
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20241012_wlmq.xml
2024
Franklin and Marshall
17
Ursinus
23
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin and Marshall (3-2) | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| Ursinus (5-0) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 23 |
Oct 12, 2024