GAME NOTES
 
Ursinus (4-2, 0-2) at No. 7/10 Johns Hopkins (6-0, 2-0)
When: Saturday, October 21st
Where: Baltimore, Md.
Stadium: Homewood Field (8,500)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO
Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Johns Hopkins leads 39-21-4
First Meeting: `1958 – Johns Hopkins won 12-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 10, 2022 @ Ursinus – Johns Hopkins won 36-29
Streak: Johns Hopkins +4
 
The Ursinus Bears Football Team travels to face No. 7/10 Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon.
 
Last Saturday, the Bears pulled away from William Paterson this past rainy Saturday. Ursinus started fast and took a 16-0 lead in the first quarter. A blocked punt brought the Pioneers within 16-7 but the Bears had an answer to go back up 23-7 at the half. William Paterson quickly drove down the field and made it an eight-point game at 23-15 which stayed the same into the fourth quarter. A Pioneers fumble opened the floodgates for the Bears to finally pull away in the fourth quarter with two more touchdowns. Ursinus held the Pioneers to just 58 yards of total offense behind a staggering low -35 rushing yards.
 
 
Meanwhile, The Blue Jays earned a hard-fought 34-27 victory on the road against Franklin & Marshall this past Saturday. Johns Hopkins trailed 7-6 at the half and once again at 20-13 midway through the third quarter. However, a 98-yard kick return touchdown from junior EJ Talarico turned the tide of the game and started a run of 21-unanswered points for Johns Hopkins.
 

LAST MEETING: Last year the Bears suffered a tough 36-29 loss to the Blue Jays in their home opener. Johns Hopkins led 21-7 at the half but the Bears rallied to get within one point at 21-20 following a fumble return TD. The Blue Jays ran the ensuing kick back for a touchdown and later broke a 29-29 with a touchdown. Ursinus had a chance to potentially tie or take the lead in the final minute but was stuffed on 4th and Goal from the 1 yard line.
 
 

MAJOR DISRUPTION: Senior defensive end Ryan Bodolus dominated the William Paterson offensive line this past Saturday. He co-led the Bears with nine tackles with five of them being for loss. Bodolus also tallied 2.5 sacks, while forcing and recovering a fumble in the contest. His efforts earned him Centennial Conference defensive player of the week and a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week. He added to his career program record sacks record that he set against Franklin & Marshall two weeks ago and now leads the Centennial Conference with nine sacks which is three clear of second. Bodolus also leads the conference with 15.5 tackles for loss. He has recorded at least one sack in 10 straight contests dating back to last season.
 
 

IT TAKES TWO: Junior running back Tony Holden tallied his first multi-touchdown game of the season against William Paterson. He scored twice in the Bears win over the Pioneers for his third multi-touchdown game of his career. Holden finished the day with a game-high 93 yards on 27 carries to help the Bears hold the ball for more than 30 minutes in the contest. Holden is up to 408 yards on the ground which ranks second in the Centennial Conference.
 
 
RUFF RYDER: First-year wide receiver Ryder Zulkowski hit on another big play touchdown against William Paterson. Zulkowski caught a pass over the middle and raced 43 yards for his second touchdown of the season, both of which have been over 40+ yards. Zulkowski is now in a four-way tie for second with two touchdown receptions and has five catches for 143 yards on the year. His 28.6 yards per catch leads the team.
 
 

HELLO MY FRIEND WE MEET AGAIN: The Bears will be facing an old teammate on Saturday as former wide receiver Nick Schnaars will suit up for Johns Hopkins. Schnaars is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins and has caught four passes for 39 yards this season while appearing in all six games. Schnaars was a dynamic force for the Bears as he earned All-Centennial honors in 2022 behind setting a career-high with six touchdowns in addition to posting 321 receiving yards. Schnaars finished his time in Collegeville with 739 receiving yards on 49 catches and scored seven touchdowns.
 

OVERWHELMING SHOWING: The Bears defense had an all-time dominant defensive performance against William Paterson on Saturday. They limited the Pioneers to just 58 yards of total offense behind allowing a staggering low -35 rushing yards. The rushing yard allowed total came just shy of the school record low set against Wooster in 2001 when they yielded -40 rushing yards. The low rushing yard total came behind seven sacks as a team which was the most since having eight against Alvernia in the season opener. The Bears rank second in the Centennial Conference in fewest rushing yards allowed at 85.5 yards per game.
 
 

D-LINE STRENGTH: A pair of Ursinus defensive tackles aided in the overpowering showing against William Paterson on Saturday. Senior Michael McCuen and sophomore Sean Spinosa each set career-highs in different categories on Saturday afternoon. McCuen tied Bodolus for the team lead with a career-high nine tackles (four solo) and posted one sack. Spinosa registered two sacks for his first multi-sack contest of his career while tallying a career-high seven tackles as well. Spinosa is tied for second on the team with three sacks while McCuen has a pair.
 
 

SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS: Junior quarterback Bay Harvey is having a strong first season as QB1 for the Blue Jays as he paces the Centennial Conference with 1,563 yards. Harvey ranks second with 20 touchdown passes to just five interceptions and averages a conference best 260.5 yards per game. Harvey has a pair of strong weapons to throw to in first-year Cole Crotty and grad student Josh Polce. Crotty is having a breakout first-year campaign with a Centennial leading 505 receiving yards to six touchdowns. Polce ranks third in the Centennial with seven touchdown receptions and has 489 receiving yards.
               On defense, the Blue Jays once again are powered on the defensive line by junior All-American Luke Schuermann. Schuermann ranks second in the Centennial Conference with six sacks and 10.0 TFL. Four players have at least 2.5 sacks for the Blue Jays as graduate student defensive lineman Mo Azeem ranks second on the team with three sacks. Junior linebacker Oliver Craddock leads the team and is tied for second in the conference with 41 tackles (18 solo). Classmate and fellow linebacker, Cole Peters, sits just behind Craddock with 39 stops and leads the team with two interceptions.