GAME NOTES
 
Ursinus (9-1) at King's (9-1) 
When: Saturday, November 23rd
Where: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Stadium: McCarthy Stadium (3,000)
Kickoff: 12:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO (ESPN+)
Live Stats: STATS
 

Tickets: Tickets will be sold at the gate and will be CASH ONLY. Prices are as follows:
Adults - $10
Students and Senior Citizens - $5
Children Under 2 - Free
 

Parking: Parking is available at the Betzler Athletic Complex, and all must follow the guidelines as stated in the King's Tailgate Policy as linked below. King's is also offering a satellite parking location at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza for additional parking needs.
 

SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Series Tied
First Meeting: `2000 – King's won 45-20
Last Meeting: Nov. 19, 2022 @ King's – Ursinus won 24-13
Streak: Ursinus +1
 
 
The Ursinus Bears Football Team will travel to face King's in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bears earned one of the 12 At-Large Bids to the NCAA Tournament while the Monarchs earned the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) AQ bid after winning the Conference.


Last Saturday, the Bears earned a 24-13 win on the road against Dickinson in their regular season finale that locked up their NCAA Tournament bid. After a scoreless first quarter, the Bears got onto the scoreboard with a field goal in the second quarter. Dickinson scored a touchdown late in the second quarter before having its extra point blocked that made it 6-3. Ursinus surged ahead for good with a touchdown in the third quarter. The Bears added two fourth quarter touchdowns to ultimately put the game away and ran out the final three minutes to preserve the win. Ursinus is 9-1 for the first time since the 1999 season.
 
 
Meanwhile, the Monarchs capped a historic regular season by rallying against Stevenson in the fourth quarter this past Saturday to win 30-21. After a back and forth three quarters, King's scored two touchdowns in a span of four minutes after trailing 21-20 early in the fourth quarter to complete an unbeaten MAC Conference play run.
 
 
LAST MEETING: Ursinus last faced King's in 2022 during the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series and won 24-13. In a highly competitive contest, the Bears pulled away in the fourth quarter with 10 points after leading just 14-13 after three. Former Bear quarterback Jack Psenicska delivered a 20-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kevin DePrince with 1:48 left in regulation that ultimately put the game away. The previous two meetings in this series have been postseason contests.
 
 

BEARS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Ursinus is making its third overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since the 1999 season. The Bears garnered its first berth in 1997 where they lost to Lycoming in the first round and advanced to the second round in 1999. Ursinus defeated Bridgewater State 43-38 before eventually being eliminated by eventual national runner-up Rowan in the second round. This is the ninth overall postseason appearance for the Bears between NCAA Tournament contests, Centennial-MAC Bowl Series Games, and ECAC Bowl Games.
 
 

ALL-CENTENNIAL: A school record 16 Bears were named to the 2024 All-Centennial Conference team that was announced on Wednesday morning. A program record eight players were first team honorees while the other eight earned second team honors. Seniors Tony Holden and Trey Williams earned first-team honors for the second-straight season while classmate Ryan DiVergilis became the fifth Bear in program history to become a three-time First Team Selection. Holden was named Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year, the first Bear to do so since Bill Sedgwick in 1993. Seniors Devin Cope, Marc Clayton, Connor Carter, and Justin Collier along with junior Jordan Carr rounded out the first team selections. Seniors Jalen Bradford, Julian Jones, Cameron Dennis, Aaron Anderson, and Pat McManus along with juniors Deane Leader, Aaron Rios, and Sean Spinosa garnered second team nods. Head Coach Pete Gallagher's staff was named the Centennial Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for the first time since the award was introduced in 2008.
 
 

DUAL THREAT: Jalen Bradford delivered the decisive play in the Bears win over Dickinson this past Saturday. With the Bears clinging to a 17-6 lead late in the fourth quarter, Bradford raced 54 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to give Ursinus a 24-6 lead. He ran for a season-high 96 yards against the Red Devils on 10 carries and has rushed for 181 yards in the past two Ursinus contests. Bradford has also scored a touchdown on the ground in two of the past three Bears contests and has rushed for a career-high 347 yards this season while scoring a career best four rushing touchdowns.
 
 

RUN, RUN, RUN: The Bears and the Monarchs both feature rushing attacks that paced their respective conferences in the regular season. Ursinus is currently averaging 225.4 yards per game on the ground that was 38 yards clear of second place Gettysburg, while the Monarchs are averaging 224.7 yards on the ground that was 49 yards clear of second place Lebanon Valley. Holden has been a major factor in that number for the Bears by taking the Centennial rushing title and sits just 260 yards from the Bears all-time rushing yards record. In addition to Robinson's big year for King's, junior running back Jayon Hailey has provided a strong 1-2 punch with 706 yards and seven touchdowns.
 

HEATING UP: Junior wide receiver Markel Roberts-Jackson has put together a strong month of November entering postseason play. Roberts-Jackson has caught seven passes for 136 yards and one touchdown this month for Ursinus after having 44 yards entering the month. He recorded a season-high 59 yards against McDaniel before leading the Bears with four catches and 48 yards against Gettysburg. He had one catch against Dickinson, but it loomed large as a 28-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter that put the Bears up for good. He had one touchdown reception back in October against William Paterson.
 
 

WHAT'S NEXT?: The winner of this contest will travel to face Salisbury in the second round on Saturday, November 30th. The Sea Gulls completed an unbeaten regular season and cruised to a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title.
 
 

SCOUTING THE MONARCHS: King's, making its second all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, cleaned up in the MAC Postseason awards by taking Offensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and a school record 20 All-MAC Selections. That offensive honor was won by the catalyst to the King's offense in senior quarterback Russell Minor-Shaw. Minor-Shaw, now a two-time OPOY recipient, threw for 1,767 yards on 130 completions for a 66.7% completion percentage and conference-bests of 26 touchdowns and 181.7 efficiency. The senior also ranked eighth in the MAC in rushing yards, totaling 616 yards and 11 touchdowns on 115 carries. He is joined in the backfield by junior running back Brennan Robinson who also earned All-MAC honors. Robinson led the MAC in rushing yards per game with 101.4 while rushing for three touchdowns and adding 72 passing yards on eight catches for two touchdowns. Robinson ran for over 100 yards in all but three out of the eight games he played in this season. The Monarchs also have key weapons such as senior Ryan McCombs, also a MAC First Team Selection and senior wide receiver Mike DiGregorio who earned MAC Second Team honors.
              

On defense, the Monarchs are equally as strong as they ranked second in the MAC allowing just 19.6 points per game. Sophomore defensive lineman Osman Kamara had a breakout season by taking All-MAC First Team honors behind 58 total tackles, 11.0 tackles for a loss of 65 yards which ranked seventh in the MAC, and 9.5 sacks for a loss of 63 yards that ranked third in the MAC. A pair of stout linebackers anchor the Monarch defense in Jared Reto and Jake Ruppert who also earned All-MAC honors. Reto ranked fifth in the MAC with 85 total stops while adding 6.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions and Ruppert led the team and ranked fourth in the MAC with 91 tackles while adding 3.5 tackles for loss. Defensive backs Amir Gibson and Zach Barber round out the Monarchs defense in the secondary as they both earned All-MAC First Team honors as well.