COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A second half rally came up just short as Ursinus was downed 28-20 by No. 17/23 Muhlenberg on Friday night at Patterson Field in Centennial Conference play.
 
 
Junior quarterback Jalen Bradford finished with 274 yards on 21-of-38 passing and tossed two touchdown passes to one interception. Bradford also added 21 yards rushing on nine carries. Junior Justin Collier returned from injury and posted five catches for 57 yards in his first game of 2023. Sophomore Markel Roberts-Jackson matched Collier with 57 yards but on two catches. Junior Cameron Dennis caught three passes for 48 yards and one touchdown while first-year Ryder Zulkowski caught one pass for 40 yards, his first collegiate touchdown reception.
 
 
Junior running back Tony Holden finished with just 39 yards on 19 carries while senior fullback Dawson Fresses rushed for 19 yards on five carries with one touchdown.
 
 
The Bears started with the ball and put together a methodical drive into Muhlenberg territory, but had it abruptly ended with a sack and missed 35-yard field goal. Muhlenberg's first drive also went into opposing territory before ending with a pooch punt from Mules quarterback Joe Repetti on fourth down. After each team's opening drives, the Mules took command of the game with 28 unanswered points between two quarters. The Bears were forced to punt on four-straight drives and Muhlenberg scored on all four drives after punts, two of which came from touchdown receptions of 69 and 70 yards. Ursinus showed signs of life near the end of the second quarter when Bradford found a wide open Zulkowski down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown that made it a 28-7 game at the half.
 
 
The Ursinus defense did a complete 360 in the second half as they locked down the Mules offense that racked up 28 points in the first half. Neither team scored in the third quarter as the highlight came when the Bears defense stuffed the Mules on two plays with one yard to go for a first down at the Ursinus 44-yard line. Ursinus cut the Mules lead in half to 28-14 on their first drive of the fourth quarter when Bradford found Dennis open in the endzone at the 11:29-mark. The Bears got great field position on its next drive following a three-and-out plus a solid punt return from sophomore Cody House, but Bradford had a deep pass picked off at the Muhlenberg 4-yard line. Ursinus continued to rally as they forced another Mule punt and Bradford completed a 52-yard pass to Roberts-Jackson at the Muhlenberg one-yard line. Fresses punched it in to the endzone one play later, but the Bears had the extra point blocked to keep the score at 28-20 with 5:10 left in regulation. The Bears got the stop they needed when they turned Muhlenberg over on downs in their own territory with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. Bradford got the ball to the Ursinus 48-yard line in the final seconds and saw a hail mary pass fall incomplete at the Bears 7-yard line to end the game.
 
 
Senior linebacker Brett Gross led a valiant second half defense that shut the Mules out with a game-high 10 tackles (two solo) and 1.0 TFL. Junior linebacker Marc Clayton added nine tackles (three solo) and senior defensive end Ryan Bodolus posted four tackles (three solo) and one sack to move 1.5 sacks from the Bears all-time career sacks record.
 
 
Repetti was brilliant under center for the Mules as he finished with 313 yards on 17-of-24 passing and three touchdown passes. He also added a game-high 114 yards on the ground on 14 carries while averaging 8.1 yards per carry.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 7th as they will travel to face Franklin & Marshall at 1:00 p.m.