GAME NOTES

Ursinus (7-2, 6-2) at Dickinson (3-6, 3-5)  
When: Saturday, November 12th
Where: Collegeville, Pa.
Stadium: Patterson Field (1,700)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO
Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Dickinson leads 46-40-6
First Meeting: `1894 – Dickinson won 20-6
Last Meeting: Nov. 13, 2021 @ Dickinson – Dickinson won 27-20 (OT)
Streak: Dickinson +1
 
The Ursinus Bears Football Team will host Dickinson for Senior Day and their regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.
 
Last week, the Bears cruised to a 65-2 win over Juniata in their final road contest of the regular season. Ursinus set the tone by scoring on the opening kickoff while adding four more touchdowns on their next four possessions of the game. The Bears added three more second half touchdowns to complete the win and lock up a berth in the Centennial-MAC Bowl series. Ursinus did not allow an opposing touchdown for the first time since a 28-0 shutout against Franklin & Marshall in September 2021. It was the third time in the past four games that the Bears have recorded 50+ points in a contest.
 
 
Meanwhile, the Red Devils hung tough before eventually falling 35-13 to No. 18 Johns Hopkins last Saturday in their regular season home finale. Dickinson stunned the Blue Jays by racing out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 13-7 advantage at the half. However, Johns Hopkins out-scored the Red Devils 28-0 in the second half to pull away for the win. 
 
LAST MEETING: The Bears dropped a heartbreaking 27-20 contest in overtime to Dickinson last season in Carlisle. The Red Devils raced out to a 20-0 advantage late in the second quarter before Ursinus rallied to tie the game in the last minute of regulation behind a touchdown plus two-point conversion to force overtime. Dickinson scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 14 and stopped the Bears on 4th down near the goal line to seal the win.
 
 
SENIOR DAY: Prior to Saturday's contest, the Bears will honor their 34 seniors as a part of senior day ceremonies. Octavious Carter, Zachary Throne, Alex Goldsby, Morgan Shadle, Joshua Bowman, Harry Thomas, Dallas Evans, Nick Schnaars, William Chenoweth, Noah Coleman, Jack Psenicska, Dakota Wherrity, Anthony Trazzera, William Tatlonghari, Aidan Kreitz, Brett Gross, Billy Cook, Destyn Snyder, Jake Ahmad, Brian Tague, Brandon Derby, Matthew Bevan, Mike Maus, Robert Lamoreux, Sean Sharo, Kevin DePrince, Ryan Savage, Ethan Belville, Jack Ginley III, Ryan Bodolus, Joshua Payne, Sean Leyden, Joseph Kolonich, and Justin Wajda make up the Ursinus senior class that has played a big role in keeping the team as a consistent force in the Centennial. The class has currently combined to go 19-11 and will have played in a pair of Centennial-MAC Bowl series games.
 
 
WHO'S BACK OF THE WEEK: Sophomore running back Tony Holden returned to game action for the first time in five games against Juniata on Saturday. Holden picked up right where he left off against the Eagles as he led the Bears ground game with a game-high 49 yards on eight carries with one touchdown that all came in the first half. Holden emerged as one of the more dynamic backs in the Centennial before his injury as he now stands with 543 yards and five touchdowns.
 
 
FOR THREE: Sophomore Justin Collier had a career day against Juniata last Saturday in what has become a breakout season. Collier hauled in a career-high three touchdown passes in the Bears 65-2 triumph. He registered another career-high as well with 120 receiving yards on four catches and has now caught eight touchdowns in his last four games. Collier now ranks second in the Centennial Conference with 10 touchdown receptions which is the most by a Bear since Nick Giarratano had 11 in 2010. It was the first three touchdown reception game for a Bears receiver since Octavious Carter had three in the Bears 2021 season opener versus Alvernia.
 
 
KICKING THE BOOKS: Senior Dakota Wherrity came into his final season as the Bears kicker looking to potentially set some programs, and he has done just that and is potentially looking for more. He connected on a 44-yard field goal to end the first half against Juniata and made seven of his eight extra point attempts. His efforts earned him Centennial Conference player of the week honors for the second time this season and helped him set Ursinus single-season kicking records with extra points made and points scored by a kicker. Wherrity also took over the all-time lead in career points as well.
 
ALL-AROUND SHOWING: The Bears dominant performance against Juniata last Saturday set a few benchmarks on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The 63-point margin of victory was the largest in program history for the Bears, topping the 59-0 win over Swarthmore in 1999. It was the fifth-largest margin of victory in Centennial history. The defense was equally as dominant as the held the Eagles to just 119 total yards and six first downs. The 119 yards was the fewest allowed by a Bears defense since allowing just 117 to Gettysburg in a 42-7 win during the 2018 season.
 
 
RUN IT BACK: Senior wide receiver Nick Schnaars has come close multiple times this season to running a kick back for a touchdown and he finally broke through against Juniata last Saturday. He ran the opening kickoff back 87 yards for a touchdown to immediately put the Bears up 7-0. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown for the Bears since Jonathan Gerhartz ran one back against Dickinson in 2016.
 
SCOUTING THE RED DEVILS: The stout Bears run defense will get a major test today as Dickinson sophomore running back Diante Ball powers the Red Devil offense. He paces the Centennial Conference with 998 total rushing yards and is averaging a Centennial-best 110.9 yards per game. He also is tied for the Centennial lead with 11 rushing touchdowns. Ball has recorded at least 100 yards on the ground four times with his career-high coming against Gettysburg back in September with 277 yards. He scored three touchdowns on the ground against the Bears last season. Junior Princeton Douglass leads the Red Devils in receiving with 394 yards and a team-leading three touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Rocco DiRico has taken over the starting job this season and has recorded 698 passing yards along with four touchdown passes.
              
On defense, the Red Devils rank fifth in the Centennial Conference in total yards surrendered while holding the second-best pass defense by allowing just 174.3 yards per game. graduate student and Penn transfer Tanner Long leads the Centennial Conference in tackles with 97 (38 solo) and is averaging 10.8 tackles per game. He has recorded double-digit tackles in five games this season behind a pair of 17-tackle performances. Junior Alex Sulin maintains the Red Devils secondary by ranking second on the team with 50 tackles (two solo), one interception, and one sack. Sophomore defensive lineman Fabian Egger leads Dickinson with three sacks is second to Long in tackles for loss with 6.0. Sophomore safety Ellis Tompkins leads the Red Devils with two interceptions.