GAME NOTES

(RV) Ursinus (2-1, 1-1) at Franklin & Marshall (2-1, 1-1)
When: Saturday, September 24th
Where: Lancaster, Pa.
Stadium: Shadek Stadium (2,500)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO
Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Franklin & Marshall leads 67-31-4
First Meeting: `1894 – F&M won 76-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2021 @ Ursinus – Ursinus won 28-0
Streak: Ursinus +1
 
The Ursinus Bears football team will travel to face Franklin & Marshall in their first Centennial away contest of the season.
 
 
Last Saturday, the Bears upset a nationally-ranked Muhlenberg for the second-straight season, 35-28. Following a scoreless first quarter, the Bears scored back-to-back touchdowns through the air in the second quarter. Ursinus added one last score before the half following a Mules touchdown to make it 21-7. Muhlenberg cut the deficit to 21-14, but the Bears had an answer all day for all Mules touchdowns as they never trailed in the contest. Muhlenberg scored with just over a minute left in regulation and the Bears closed out the game by gaining a first down after a failed onside kick attempt.
 
 
Meanwhile, the Diplomats rolled over McDaniel last week by a score of 35-3 to improve to 2-1 overall. Franklin & Marshall powered their way to the win on the ground as they churned out 221 yards on the ground compared to the Green Terror at 72. The Diplomats jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and did not look back from there.
 
CAUSING DISRUPTION: Junior defensive lineman Ryan Bodolus made two game-changing stops against Muhlenberg last Saturday. Bodolus tallied two sacks and forced two fumbles that the Bears recovered on each sack. He stopped a Muhlenberg drive that made it all the way down to the Bears four-yard line in the first quarter by stripping the Mules quarterback. Bodolus came up big again in the third quarter when the Mules seemed to be gaining momentum down 21-14 as he forced his second fumble off another sack to set the Bears up in good field position following the recovery. He was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the D3foootball.com team of the week.
 
 
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: Sophomore Tony Holden continued his blazing start to the 2022 season after recording his third-straight 100-yard rushing game against Muhlenberg. Holden registered a career-high 156 yards on 33 carries and recorded his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. He is the first running back to record three-straight 100-yard outings on the ground since Jason Golderer rushed for at least 100 yards in five-straight games to open the 2013 season.
 
 
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: Sophomore wide receiver Justin Collier caught his first collegiate touchdown pass against Muhlenberg last Saturday. Collier got the Bears on the board in the second quarter with a 24-yard reception over the middle. After not seeing any varsity action in 2021, Collier has made an unsung impact on the Bears passing attack by catching six passes for 99 yards. He set a career-best yard mark with 40 against Muhlenberg and caught three passes in the season opener against Alvernia for 35 yards.
 
DEUCES WILD: Senior wide receiver Dallas Evans continued his career year last Saturday against Muhlenberg. He caught just two passes against the Mules, but both were touchdown receptions. It was the first multi-touchdown game of his career which came one week after catching his first touchdown since 2019. Evans is tied with teammate Nick Schnaars for second in the Centennial Conference with three touchdown receptions and has already topped his career best season numbers.
 
 
RECORDS IN SIGHT: Senior quarterback Jack Psenicska drew closer to taking aim at the Ursinus passing record books following another four-touchdown performance against Muhlenberg. He moved into 7th all-time in passing yards behind throwing for 200 yards last Saturday. Psenicska is also now six touchdown passes away from setting the career program touchdown pass record. He moved to seventh as well in program history for completions with 332.
 
 
TOUGH RUNNING: Junior fullback Dawson Fresses provided key yards to close out Muhlenberg one week ago. Fresses tallied a career-high 64 yards on nine carries, averaging a whopping 7.1 yards per carry. He posted 54 of his yards in the fourth quarter and tallied the final first down for the Bears to seal the win. Fresses added 30 yards on five carries in the season opener against Alvernia.
 
 
SCOUTING THE DIPLOMATS: Junior running back Aaron Rascoe has been the workhorse running back for the Diplomats as he rushed for 112 yards on just 13 carries along with two touchdowns. Rascoe ranks fourth in the Centennial with 87.7 rushing yards per game and is tied for second with four rushing touchdowns. Three quarterbacks have seen playing time for the Diplomats with sophomore Logan Clouse getting the start against McDaniel. Clouse has thrown for 191 yards and a team-leading three touchdown passes while adding 78 yards on the ground. Freshman Jake Fant leads the team with 214 passing yards and has tossed a pair of touchdowns.
              
 
Franklin & Marshall's strength so far this season has been on the defensive side of the ball as they rank second in the Centennial in fewest points allowed at 16.3 points per game and have yielded the second-fewest passing yards (171.3) and rushing yards (81.7). The secondary has been extremely opportunistic through three games as they are in a three-way tie for the most interceptions as a team in Division III with nine. Junior cornerback Justin Gerhart is tied for the Division III lead with five interceptions after a dazzling three-interception performance against Susquehanna two weeks ago. Sophomore linebacker Jacob Hille leads the team with 22 tackles (seven solo) and senior defensive lineman Brian Lafty has been a key stopper up front with 19 tackles (four solo) and one sack. Lafty was named Centennial Defensive Player of the Week following a standout performance against Lebanon Valley in week one.