FULL GAME NOTES
 
Ursinus (2-0) at Moravian (0-2)
When: Saturday, September 20th
Where: Bethlehem, Pa.
Stadium: Rocco Calvo Field (2,000)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO
Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Ursinus leads, 13-10-1
First Meeting: 1901 – Ursinus won 16-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 22, 2022 @ Ursinus – Ursinus won 44-17
Streak: Ursinus +5
 
 
The Ursinus Bears Football Team will travel to face Moravian in its final of three non-conference games to open the season.
 

LAST MEETING: The Bears earned a 44-17 win over Moravian on October 22^nd, 2022, in the final season of the Greyhounds being an associate football member of the Centennial Conference. A fast start propelled Ursinus as they raced out to a 21-3 lead in the first quarter over the Greyhounds. Moravian pulled within 21-10 in the second quarter, but the Bears answered with 10 points to close out the first half. Ursinus used a 98-yard scoring drive to go up 38-10 before adding one more touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Bears held a 411-172 total yard edge over the Greyhounds and held Moravian to just 71 rushing yards.
 

HAT TRICK: Junior running back Jason Bernard found the endzone three times in the Bears win over Kean on Saturday. Bernard scored from a yard out on all three occasions that was a career high. After having just two touchdowns last season, Bernard has five rushing touchdowns in two games for the Bears after having two in the season opener against Alvernia. He leads the team with 136 yards and was the first Bears running back since Tony Holden last season against Rowan. Bernard leads the Centennial Conference as well in rushing touchdowns after the first two games.
 
 

MAKING A STATEMENT: Junior quarterback Tristan Machado continued his strong start to his time as Ursinus starting quarterback against Kean on Saturday. He threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his Ursinus career with 323 on 22-of-36 passing and a pair of touchdowns. Machado now has five touchdown passes to no interceptions in his first two games of his collegiate career and is up to 516 passing yards which ranks second in the Centennial Conference by just two yards. His touchdown pass total also sits second in the Centennial Conference along with his 36 completions.
 
 

IN THE NICK OF TIME: Sophomore safety Nick Strusowski had the defining defensive play of the game last Saturday against Kean as he had a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Bears now have two pick-sixes in three games after Marc Clayton's interception return for a touchdown against King's in the NCAA Tournament. Strusowski has given the Bears secondary a jolt in the first two games of the season after taking over a starting safety role as he leads the team with three pass break-ups as well as adding 0.5 tackles for loss.
 
 
 
PLAYMAKER: Senior wide receiver Markel Roberts-Jackson made it two for two with touchdown receptions to open up the season on Saturday against Kean. Roberts-Jackson showcased his former Centennial Conference high jump skills by grabbing a 31-yard touchdown pass with just over a minute left in the second quarter. He leads the team early with his two touchdown receptions that already matched his total from last season. Roberts-Jackson had his career best three touchdown receptions in 2023 and has four catches for 59 yards in two games so far this season.
 
 

TOE TAP: Junior wide receiver Aidan Donahue caught Machado's other touchdown pass of the game on Saturday against Kean and did it in style. Donahue caught a 2-yard touchdown on 4th and Goal early in the second quarter in the front corner of the end zone. Donahue was able to get a foot down with a defender on him and his touchdown was upheld after video review. He has eight catches for 76 yards and that touchdown to start the season and caught two touchdown passes last season.
 


FOOTLOOSE: Senior kicker/punter Jordan Carr added another strong day to his collegiate career against Kean. He went a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points and averaged a solid 39.8 yards per punt on five attempts. Carr is slowly closing in on the Ursinus program record for extra points in a career as he now as 107 which is 13 away from topping the program record of 119 set by Dakota Wherrity. He is also now up to 150 career points which is third all-time in program history.
 
 

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS: The Greyhounds suffered a 56-0 setback to Rowan last Saturday. Moravian ultimately could not overcome an early offensive onslaught by the Profs that saw them down 21-0 after the first quarter and were held to just 96 total offensive yards. Sophomore quarterback Declan McCarthy took over the starting quarterback duties after graduate student Jared Jenkins suffered an injury in their opener against Muhlenberg. McCarthy threw for 39 yards on 4-of-15 attempts last week. Junior wide receiver Avery Koser leads the team with seven catches for 108 yards and had two touchdowns against Muhlenberg in the season opener. Sophomore wide receiver Josh Ludlow has seven catches for 84 yards as well and sophomore running back Jed Bendekovits leads the backs with 46 yards on 18 carries in two games.
             
On defense, junior defensive back Aidan Lane leads the team with 16 tackles (seven solo) with 1.0 tackles for loss. Sophomore Kaelyb Barahona leads the defensive lineman with nine tackles including a half a tackle for loss while senior Nathan Carr has added seven tackles with one and a half stops for loss and a fumble recovery. Senior Jashon Teller has made five tackles while senior EJ Harvey has four tackles with one and a half for loss. Senior Clay Basile and senior Chris Cacace both have ten tackles to lead the linebackers while senior Ethan O'Neill has recorded seven stops.