Craig Roumes won game MVP after forcing a fumble as well as recovering two fumbles while four different players each recorded a sack and the Susquehanna University Football team won a highly defensive game against Stevenson 17-7 to win a Centennial-MAC Bowl game Saturday afternoon at Doug Arthur Stadium in Selinsgrove.
The River Hawks (8-3) had a solid opening drive to begin the game, storming 44 yards and carrying the ball all the way to the Stevenson (8-3) 19-yard line before a pass was intercepted in the end zone to give the ball back over to the Mustangs.
Jason Brougham highlighted a defensive stand that followed for the River Hawks, making two tackles that resulted in a Stevenson three-and-out.
The remainder of the first quarter went on without a point scored by either side, as David Simpson made a crucial interception to keep the Mustangs at bay.
The River Hawks did have a field goal opportunity, but the kick was blocked and the score remained tied at zero.
L'Trell Bradley highlighted the beginning of the second quarter for Susquehanna with an interception, but Stevenson was able to get on the board first with an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
After another interception was thrown by the River Hawks and a three-and-out by the Mustangs, Nicholas Brotzman led a 17 play, 96 yard touchdown drive to knot the score up at seven.
Aaron Speight rushed for 47 yards over the course of the drive, and Brotzman capped it off with a touchdown pass to Mitch Carsley on fourth down in the final seconds of the half.
Similar to the first quarter, the third quarter did not see scoring from either side as Salvatore Gurnari, David Simpson, Cole Dixon and Connor Thompson highlighted the defensive effort.
The defense continued to steal the show in the final quarter, as it caused turnovers by the Mustangs and gave the offense great field position to put the game away.
After a 54-yard punt by Jake Wiles, Stevenson attempted to field the ball at its own six-yard line, but were immediately met by Roumes who knocked the ball loose and recovered it at the three-yard line.
It took four plays and a meeting of the minds by the officials, but a quarterback sneak by Brotzman crossed the plane of the end zone and the River Hawks took a 14-7 lead.
The advantage was more than enough for the River Hawks as the defense stifled Stevenson for the remainder of the game.
Brougham had an interception on the following Mustang drive, Jhemir Stanley made several tackles, and Roumes recovered another fumble to put the River Hawks in field goal range late in the game.
After an Elijah Hoffman field goal made the contest a two-possession game and another defensive stop was made, Susquehanna used a nearly three minute drive to cement a 17-7 victory.
Carsley had seven receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown and Speight rushed for 59 yards on the afternoon.
Roumes led the defense with his MVP performace while Dixon, Kashief Hyatt, Brougham and Thompson each had a sack.
The River Hawks were the third (of three) Centennial Conference teams to win a Centennial-MAC Bowl series game Saturday, and finished a successful season with an 8-3 record.
DALLAS, Pa. – If Saturday was any indication, the Ursinus College football team could certainly get used to this postseason thing.
Thomas Garlick accounted for four touchdowns and added a package of new records to his historic junior season, Samuel Ragland put up 340 all-purpose yards and five scores of his own, and the Bears offense went buck-wild in a 70-14 rout of Misericordia in the Centennial/MAC Bowl Series. A frigid field flanked by snow did nothing to slow Ursinus, which established new program records for points and yards (703) in a game.
Garlick finished 17-of-25 for a career-high 365 yards to break the all-time mark held by Frank Vecchio '00 with 2,772 and earn MVP honors. Garlick set a Centennial Conference record with 341 yards in the first half, eventually edging past Vecchio's standard on a 29-yard strike to senior Alec Vera late in the second quarter.
Ragland, meanwhile, racked up a career-best 203 yards and four touchdowns on the ground to match his own school record for rushing touchdowns in a game and became the sixth player in school history to rush for over 200 yards. The sophomore sensation added five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown and a 42-yard kick return to finish the season with 1801 all-purpose yards (954 rushing, 645 receiving, 202 returning). His 18 rushing touchdowns are one short of the record set by Shearrod Duncan in 2001, and give Ragland 26 for his career to rank tied for second in Ursinus history.
Ursinus (8-3) made a run at the all-time conference record for yards in a game before falling just shy of the 733 logged by Gettysburg in 1999. The offense averaged 10.7 yards per play, and the Bears' 70 points are tied for the third-highest single-game total in CC history. Senior Kirk Cherneskie took advantage of the fireworks, making all 10 of his extra points to set a new record of his own with 41 on the year.
Garlick completed passes to seven different receivers. Junior Zach Gravelle had three catches for a career-high 90 yards, and seniors Jacob Clifford (75 yards) and Vera each hauled in a touchdown in their final game as a Bear.
Garlick opened the scoring by keeping it himself on a triple-option to the right, bulling his way in for a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 at the 9:30 mark of the first quarter.
The Cougars answered right back on the next play as David Cromwell found a seam off the left side and sprinted 65 yards to pay dirt. But Garlick made it three touchdowns in as many plays (and just 28 seconds), capping an incredible see-saw of scoring with a 75-yard strike to wide open senior Jacob Clifford, who had gotten well behind the secondary as Garlick faked a toss to Ragland.
The Bears cooked up a third straight scoring drive thanks in large part to some quick-hitting passing plays, the first a shallow cross to Gravelle for a gain of 20 on 3rd-and-9. Garlick sniffed out a blitz and fired a dart to Ragland, who took the slant and knifed his way into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown and a 21-7 advantage with 3:40 still left on the first-quarter clock.
After forcing a Misericordia punt, the Bears traversed 91 yards in just six plays to seize a 28-7 lead on Ragland's 1-yard touchdown run. Garlick connected with Gravelle for 27 yards before finding Loughlin wide open across the middle for a 36-yard gain down to the Cougars' 1, and Ragland punched it in on the next play.
Pressure up the middle led to a big turnover on the next possession, with freshman Shane Jones recording his first career interception on a pass through the hands of the receiver. That set up Garlick and the offense at the Cougars' 28, but a busted double reverse resulted in a loss of 23 yards seemed to kill any scoring opportunity. Garlick somehow pulled a Houdini, picking up 22 yards on 3rd-and-33 on a dump-off to Ragland and then dropping his record-breaking pass right into the breadbasket of Vera on 4th-and-11.
The Cougars picked off Garlick for the second time on a tipped ball and scored three plays later on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Barry to Sam Gillison. A pair of penalties backed the ensuing kickoff back to the 15, and sophomore Kyle Wiggins' return gave Ursinus the ball at the plus-41. Ragland took a screen pass to the Cougars' 3 and scored his second touchdown of the game on the next play to make it 42-14 just before half.
The Bears were unstoppable in the first half, piling up 405 yards of total offense. Garlick had 347 through the air, a conference record for a half, and the 42 points were already the team's most in a single game since a 47-31 victory over Dickinson in the 2014 season finale.
Ragland added another electrifying play to his ledger early in the third, breaking through the left side and dashing down the sideline for a 92-yard touchdown run. The sophomore matched his own program record for touchdowns in a game on a 13-yard option pitch from Garlick that made it 56-14 with 6:12 left in the third.
Freshmen Aidan Klassan and Quaran Davis each registered their first career touchdowns to close out the scoring.
Junior Noah Thomas had a sack and two tackles for loss to lead the defense. Junior Jacob McCain posted four tackles to finish with 112 for the year, good for sixth in program history. Ursinus held Misericordia to 283 yards on the day.
LANCASTER, Pa. – Brendan Kilkenny blocked a 32-yard field goal attempt with 13 ticks on the clock to secure a 21-20 victory for Franklin & Marshall over Lycoming in the Centennial-MAC Bowl at Shadek Stadium. The Bowl win is the second consecutive for F&M and brought the Diplomats' mark to 8-3 this season, while the Warriors dropped to 5-6.
To watch the video of Kilkenny's game-preserving play, click here.
K.J. Pretty was named Most Valuable Player at the conclusion of the game.
Lycoming was in the driver's seat early in the first, taking a 13-0 lead with a little less than three minutes to play. The Diplomats answered on their ensuing possession with a 5-play, 61-yard drive capped off with a 31-yard touchdown run from Keshon Farmer with 46 seconds on the clock. Drew Thomlinson's point after brought the Diplomats within six, 13-7, heading into the second quarter.
The Warriors went up 20-7 early in the second with a 64-yard drive. The teams traded possessions over the next six minutes before F&M took over with a little under two minutes to play in the half. F&M drove 55 yards on six plays and Joe Hartley-Vittoria hit pay dirt from five yards out to make it a six-point, 20-14, game at the break.
F&M forced a three-and-out on the Warriors opening possession of the third quarter and took over on the Lycoming 32-yard line after a 22-yard punt return from Kevin Lammers. Three rushes from Hartley-Vittoria and an incomplete pass made it 3rd-and-8 on the Lycoming 20. On the next play, Tanner Erisman found K.J. Pretty for a 20-yard score and Tomlinson's point after put F&M up for good 21-20, with 11:18 left in the third.
The Diplomats withstood a 14-play, 51-yard drive by Warriors that resulted in a blocked field goal attempt by Matt Hamby on Lycoming's next possession. F&M went into ball control mode with two, five-minute drives that went into the fourth quarter with Lycoming taking over with a little more than three minutes play.
Lycoming connected on a 39-yard play and a 17-yard play and was set up on the F&M five-yard line with 18 ticks on the on the clock. Bobby McDevitt came away with a sack on the next play and the Warriors had to settle for a 32-yard field goal, which was blocked by Kilkenny.
Keshon Farmer picked up 94 yards on 15 carries with one score and Joe Hartley-Vittoria ended with 64 yards on 15 carries with one touchdown. Tanner Erisman completed 17-of-32 passes for 207 yards with one touchdown while K.J. Pretty ended with 95 yards on seven receptions and a score.
Stephon Smith ended with eight tackles (6 solo), while Matt Hamby had seven stops, including 3.5 for a loss and 2.5 sacks, a pass break up and a field goal block. Joe Granahan was in on seven stops with 1.5 sacks. Bobby McDevitt had 3.5 sacks and ended with six tackles and Sebastian Silva-Muniz also had six stops.