COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - A pair of untimely turnovers helped to relegate the Ursinus College football team to a 62-23 Centennial Conference defeat at the hands of No. 25 Susquehanna on Saturday.
The Bears (3-2, 2-2), coming off a 28-0 shutout of Franklin & Marshall, muffed two kickoffs and were unable to slow down a rampaging River Hawk offense that put up 45 points in the first half. Michael Ruisch threw five touchdown passes in the first half alone for Susquehanna, which remained unbeaten heading into the league-wide bye week.
The River Hawks (5-0, 4-0) stormed out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter before Samuel Ragland capped a 9-play, 77-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown scamper that cut the deficit in half in the final minute of the frame.
Frankie Negrini rumbled in from 16 yards out to make it 21-7 Susquehanna, and the wheels fell off from there. The ensuing kickoff bounced off an up-back's foot and was recovered by the Riverhawks, who made it 14 points in 7 seconds on a 21-yard strike from Ruisch to Eddie Nugent.
The Bears made a quick push, grabbing a touchdown on Jack Psenicska's 56-yard pass to Dash Dulgerian, who spun a defender out of his shoes and rumbled down the left sideline to slice the margin to 28-14 with 9:35 remaining in the first half.
Susquehanna was far from done. Ruisch hit Michael Lefever on a 50-yard touchdown toss and, after a second fumbled kickoff return, extended the lead to 42-14 on Ruisch's 6-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Good. Elijah Hoffman made it 45-14 with a 44-yard field goal in the closing seconds.
The River Hawks led as much as 59-14 before the Bears stopped the run on a safety from a snap out of the back of the end zone, then scored on Psenicska's touchdown connection to Zach Throne. Susquehanna added another field goal for the final margin.
Psenicska finished 15-of-28 for 186 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Ragland rushed for 55 yards and a score and added 53 yards on six receptions, while Dulgerian compiled 104 yards on three grabs.
Ryan Bodolus tallied eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss, while Brett Gross and Julian Jones grabbed interceptions.
After the bye, the Bears look to get back on track when they head to McDaniel.