GAME NOTES
 
Ursinus (6-3, 2-3) at Dickinson (6-3, 3-2) 
When: Saturday, November 11th
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 46-41-6
First Meeting: `1894 – Dickinson won 20-6
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2022 @ Ursinus – Ursinus won 38-14
Streak: Ursinus +1
 

The Ursinus Bears Football Team will host Dickinson for Senior Day and their regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.
 

The Bears used a 28-point second quarter to win a high-scoring contest with Gettysburg this past Saturday. Ursinus fended off two early turnovers to take the early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Gettysburg tied the game on a long touchdown pass to start the second quarter but the Bears surged ahead with 28-straight points to go up 35-7 in the half. The Bullets scored 21-straight points of their own to make things interesting at 35-28 before Ursinus slammed the door on the rally with two more touchdowns. The teams combined for 1,045 yards of total offense which was the most in an Ursinus game since Dickinson in 2014.  
 

Meanwhile, The Red Devils dropped a tough 34-23 contest at home to No. 8 Johns Hopkins. Dickinson scored first and held a slight 9-6 edge at the half after a late second quarter field goal. After the Blue Jays connected on a long pass to start the third quarter, the Red Devils stunned Johns Hopkins two-straight touchdowns on a kick return and fumble return early in the third quarter to go up 23-13. However, the Blue Jays closed the game out with 21-straight points to avoid the upset.  


LAST MEETING: Last year, the Bears defeated Dickinson in their regular season home finale, 38-14. Ursinus marched down the field to take the early 7-0 lead and bounced back after Dickinson knotted the game at seven with back-to-back touchdowns and went up 21-7 in the second quarter. No play loomed larger, however, then a Bears blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown to end the first half by Harry Thomas. Ursinus added one last touchdown off a long touchdown run in the final minutes of regulation to cap off the win, exacting revenge from an overtime loss in 2021.
 
 

SENIOR DAY: Prior to today's contest, the Ursinus football team will honor its 22 seniors in part of senior day ceremonies. Riley DeShetler, Julian Jones, Gavin Croissette, Eric Amponsah, Dom Tomaselli, Dawson Fresses, Christopher Loughery, Tristan Hulme, Joshua Odebode, Brett Gross, Billy Cook, Ryan DiVergilis, Joshua Payne, Christian Richards, Matthew McGlinchey, Sean Folcher, John Muller, Timothy McNally, Michael Evangelista, Brendan McPeake, Michael McCuen, and Ryan Bodolus make up the class that has won 22 games, nine wins in 2022 which was the most single-season wins since 1999, and qualified for two Centennial-MAC Bowl Series games with the possibility of earning a third this season.
 
 

BEDEVILED: Senior defensive end Ryan Bodolus has caused major problems to Dickinson's offense in each of the past two meetings. Bodolus, who originally played for the Red Devils in 2019, recorded six sacks in 2021 to set the Ursinus single-game record before tallying two sacks last season and recovered a fumble as well. Bodolus is up to a career-high 12 sacks this season and has recorded one in all but one game this season. His total still leads the Centennial Conference and ranks in the top-five in all of Division III.
 
 

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Junior defensive back Anthony Esposito had a strong game on defense and special teams in the Bears win over Gettysburg this past Saturday. Esposito blocked a Bullets field goal in the first quarter which was the second in his career and third overall blocked kick after knocking an extra point down in 2022. His efforts earned him a spot on the D3football.com team of the week. Esposito also grabbed an interception in the second quarter for his second-straight game with an interception. He now leads the team in interceptions and remains tied for the team lead with 12 pass break-ups.
 
 
 

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: Junior Tony Holden had a career day against Gettysburg last Saturday. Holden rushed for a career-high 184 yards on the ground and scored a pair of touchdowns, one being a 77-yard scamper in the second quarter. Holden has now rushed for 338 yards in the past two games and five touchdowns to surge into the second in the conference with 779 yards that is also a career-high.
 
 

DYNAMIC DUO: A pair of Bear wide receivers hauled in a pair of touchdown passes against Gettysburg on Saturday. Juniors Justin Collier and Cameron Dennis became the first duo to catch two touchdown passes since Collier and former Bear Dallas Evans each caught a pair in 2022 which also came against Gettysburg. Collier paced the Bears with seven catches for 108 yards to continue his tear since returning from injury. Collier leads the team with 40 catches for 497 yards and five touchdowns. Dennis caught multi-touchdowns for the first time in his career and is now up to four on the season.
 
 

BOWL SITUATION: The Bears have a chance to guarantee themselves a spot in a Centennial-MAC Bowl Series game with a win over Dickinson on Saturday. This season, the top remaining non-NCAA qualifying team from the Centennial will host the second-highest non-NCAA qualifying team from the MAC once again while the top seed from the MAC will host the Centennial Conference second seed. The third-seeded Centennial Conference team will host the third-seeded MAC team in the one change from last year. Ursinus is 2-1 all-time in Centennial-MAC Bowl Series games after defeating King's 24-13 last season. The bowl series matchups will be announced on Sunday evening following the NCAA selection show at 5:00 p.m.
 


SCOUTING THE RED DEVILS: Dickinson features the top rusher in the Centennial Conference in junior running back Diante Ball. Ball leads the conference with 962 rushing yards and is second to in the Centennial with seven touchdowns. Ball has rushed for over 100 yards in four games this season. Redshirt junior quarterback Presley Egbers has taken over the reins as QB1 for Dickinson in 2023. Egbers has proven to be a dual threat by passing for 1,546 yards and 14 touchdown passes while rushing for 391 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Egbers is tied with Holden for the Centennial lead in rushing touchdowns. Junior Bobby Markey leads the Red Devil receivers with 436 yards on 20 catches plus five touchdowns.
              
On defense, sophomore linebacker Bram Leys leads the team with 64 tackles that is tied for second in the Centennial Conference that sits behind Bear senior linebacker Brett Gross. Leys ranks third in the Centennial Conference with six sacks and is seventh in the 9.0 TFL. Senior defensive back James Basilii ranks second on the team with 59 tackles (32 solo) and leads the team with a pair of interceptions. Senior defensive back Alex Sulin ranks second on the team with 6.5 TFL while leading the team with five pass break-ups.