FULL GAME NOTES
 
Ursinus (3-0, 0-0) at Muhlenberg (2-1, 0-0)
When: Friday, October 4th
Where: Allentown, Pa.
Stadium: Scotty Wood Stadium (3,000)
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO
Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Muhlenberg leads 53-26-7
First Meeting: 1900 – Ursinus won 41-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 29, 2023 @ Ursinus – Muhlenberg won 28-20
Streak: Muhlenberg +1
 
 
The Ursinus Bears Football Team will travel to face Muhlenberg in their Centennial Conference opener on Friday night.  
 
The matchup has become one of the premier games of the season in the Centennial as both teams have been battling it out for the conference title over the past few seasons.
 
 
LAST GAME: Nearly two weeks ago, Ursinus earned an impressive 58-14 win over Rowan to move to 3-0. The Bears opened the scoring late in the first quarter to go up 7-0 before the Profs tied the score at 7 early in the second quarter after taking advantage of an Ursinus interception. The Bears hit the gas after that Profs touchdown by scoring three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Ursinus continued to pull away by scoring three more touchdowns and a safety to push their unanswered score run to 44. Ursinus overwhelmed the Profs with 438 rushing yards as a team while limiting Rowan to just 105 yards of total offense.
 
 
LAST MEETING: The Bears were defeated by Muhlenberg 28-20 last season. Ursinus fell behind 28-0 to the Mules in the first half before staging a furious rally with 20 straight points to make it a 28-20 game with 5:10 left in regulation. Ursinus got the ball back with just over a minute left deep in their own territory but ran out of time that ended the game.
 
 
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Senior running back Tony Holden has put together many memorable performances in his three seasons as the Bears starter in the backfield, but his performance against Rowan became his most memorable. Holden torched the Prof defense for a career-high 226 rushing yards on 18 carries, averaging a whopping 11.3 yards per carry, and scored three touchdowns. His 226 rushing yards were the most in a game by a Bears player since Aaron Harper in 2006 and the most for a Centennial running back this season. He was named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week while earning a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week. Holden has rushed for at least 100 yards in all three Bears games this season.
 
 
HERE COMES THE BOOM: Senior defensive end Connor Carter helped lead an overpowering defensive effort against Rowan two weeks ago. Carter led the Bears with 10 tackles (seven solo), 3.0 tackles for a loss, and 2.5 sacks in the Bears 59-14 win over Rowan on Saturday night. His final sack of the night in the third quarter also caused a safety. He broke up a pass as well and led an Ursinus defensive effort that limited Rowan to 105 total yards as a team. Carter was named the Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week and joined Holden on the D3football.com Team of the Week.
 
 
 
TAKING NOTICE: In the two weeks following the Bears resounding win over Rowan, they have been receiving votes in both the AFCA Coaches and D3football.com polls. Ursinus is now up to 17 votes in the AFCA poll while the total in the D3football.com poll has risen to seven. The Bears have received votes in each of the last four seasons now at some point during their respective campaigns. Johns Hopkins is the lone Centennial Conference team ranked in each poll. The Bears have been nationally ranked twice in program history, most recently in October of 2010, when they were slotted No. 21 by the AFCA and No. 24 by D3football.com.
 
 
HISTORIC GROUND PERFORMANCE: The Bears racked up 438 rushing yards as a team against the Profs which was the most by an Ursinus team since well past the 2001 season. Three different running backs scored touchdowns against Rowan along with senior quarterback Jalen Bradford scoring two of his own on the ground. It was the most in a game for a Bears team since they totaled 338 rushing yards as a team against Misericordia in a 70-14 Centennial-MAC Bowl Series win. Ursinus leads the Centennial and currently ranks 10th in Division III by averaging 263 yards on the ground as a team.
 
 
INTO THE WOODS: Sophomore cornerback Ronnie Woods has stepped into a starting defensive back role this season and has made the most of it so far. Woods tallied three total stops against Rowan and picked up his first career sack in the first quarter. Filling in for the injured Anthony Esposito, Woods has nine total tackles in three games (eight solo) with a career high of four coming against Kean. Woods also has pass break ups in each of the last two games.
 
 
 
CAN I GET AN ENCORE: Junior defensive end Aaron Rios picked up right where he left off against Rowan two weeks ago. After his dominating outing against Kean where he recorded five sacks, Rios added another 3.0 TFL and 0.5 sack against the Profs. Rios totaled six tackles (two solo) in the contest and maintains his lengthy Centennial Conference lead with 11.5 TFL which is 6.5 ahead of the new second place in teammate, Connor Carter. He is tied for the NCAA Division III lead with Washington & Jefferson's Dawson Dietz.
 
 
 
SCOUTING THE MULES: The Mules held off a wild comeback from TCNJ two weeks ago to win 55-52 in their home opener. Muhlenberg led 41-17 with 5:35 left in the third quarter before the Lions stormed back and had a potential game-tying field goal blocked by senior Matt Papa that preserved the win. Muhlenberg had 679 total yards and were just 12 yards off from setting a program record in total yards that was initially done in 1946. Senior quarterback Joe Repetti remains one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the Centennial Conference. He leads the conference with 1,058 passing yards and nine touchdown passes while ranking fifth in the league with 200 rushing yards. Junior running back Amari Dunn sits just ahead of Repetti with 215 rushing yards that is fourth in the conference. Senior tight end Matt McKenna and wide receiver Christopher Ardito are two of the main targets for Repetti as both have over 200+ receiving yards this season.          
                On defense, junior linebacker Peyton Elliott is tied for the team lead with 19 tackles (nine solo) and has one of the two interceptions this season. Senior safety Owen Kovacs matches Elliott with 19 tackles (11 solo) while Matt Papa leads the team with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFL. Senior linebacker Ray Vender has 10 tackles on the season and is tied for second with 1.5 TFL alongside seniors Keshon Davila and Andrew Franklin.