BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For the third straight week, the Ursinus football team used an overpowering first half to cruise to a victory as they downed Moravian 35-7 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 3-0 for the third straight season as they played their first game against Moravian since after they left the Centennial Conference as an associate football member following the 2022 season. Meanwhile, the Greyhounds fell to 0-3.
 
 
Junior quarterback Tristan Machado went 11-of-19 passing for 159 yards and two touchdown passes to no interceptions, continuing his pristine start to his time as the Bears starting quarterback. Senior wide receiver Markel Roberts-Jackson caught two passes for 60 yards to lead the Ursinus receivers and one touchdown to make it three scores in three games. Senior wide receiver Cody House caught four passes for 39 yards and senior tight end Jack Halloran caught the first touchdown of his collegiate career.
 
 
The Bears ground game was the story as they racked up 258 yards as a team while averaging 7.8 yards per carry. Junior running back Jason Bernard led the way with 120 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown. Sophomore running back Keigan Barnes added 57 yards on four carries while scoring the first touchdown of his collegiate career.
 
 
After each team traded punts to start the game, the Bears struck first at the 6:57-mark of the first quarter when Halloran snatched a 5-yard touchdown pass to complete an 8-play 70-yard drive. The Bears staved off a muffed punt by turning the Greyhounds over on downs at the Ursinus 35-yard line after not allowing a single yard on the drive. The Bears needed its defense to come up big again after Barnes fumbled on the first play of the ensuing drive and sophomore safety Nick Strusowksi did just that with an interception in the red zone.
 
 
Senior running back Jaden Louis scored his first touchdown since the 2022 season when he scored on a 14-yard run on third-and-3 to make it a 14-0 Ursinus lead at the 12:16-mark of the second quarter. The Bears were pinned at their own 1-yard line on their next drive and drove the length of the field in 5:20, capped by a 29-yard Bernard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 to extend the Ursinus lead to 21-0. Strusowski snatched his second interception on the following drive and Barnes scored a 44-yard rushing touchdown two plays later to quickly make it a 28-0 game with 2:09 left in the first half.
 
 
Moravian started with the ball in the third quarter and nearly used up the full 15 minutes as they drove to the Ursinus 7-yard line. However, behind an unnecessary roughness penalty, the Greyhounds came up empty-handed as they were turned over on fourth-and-goal from the 21-yard line to end the 11:41 drive. The Bears added one last touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Machado found Roberts-Jackson for a 47-yard touchdown to make it 35-0. Moravian scored their one and only touchdown of the game with 2:53 left in regulation.
 
 
Three Bears led the way with seven tackles apiece in junior linebacker Matt Agar, junior defensive back Kendall Robinson, and Strusowski. Robinson added a tackle for loss and senior Jonathan Small made the Bears only sack of the game.
 
 
Ursinus has a week off before returning to action on Saturday, October 4^th as they will open Centennial Conference play at Muhlenberg for a 1:00 p.m. start.