READING, Pa. – The Ursinus football team used a strong first half to cruise to a 41-17 season-opening win over Alvernia on the road Friday night in non-conference action.
 
 
The Bears have now won all five season opening meetings over the Golden Wolves since their opening day series started in 2021.
 
 
Junior quarterback Tristan Machado went 14-of-25 for 193 yards and tossed three touchdown passes with no interceptions in his first collegiate start. Classmate Ryder Zulkowski led all Bears receivers with 41 yards on two catches with one touchdown. Junior Aidan Roselle caught two passes for 41 yards as well while Aidan Donahue added three catches for 40 yards. Seniors Markel Roberts-Jackson and Cody House caught Machado's two other touchdowns.
 

Junior running back Jason Bernard was a yard short of the century mark with 99 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns while averaging 6.6 yards a carry. Junior Brooklyn Jones added 61 yards on seven carries with a touchdown while averaging 8.7 yards per carry, and also caught three passes for 37 yards.
 
 
The Bears got the ball to start, and Machado swiftly worked the Bears 75 yards down the field in eight plays and gave Ursinus a 6-0 lead on a 5-yard touchdown pass to House on 3rd-and-Goal. Junior Kendall Robinson intercepted Golden Wolves quarterback Jaden Randall and returned the ball 34 yards to the Alvernia 21-yard line on their first possession of the game. Machado once again converted a 3rd-and-goal situation by finding Roberts-Jackson for a 5-yard score at the 6:08-mark to make it 13-0. The Bears forced a three-and-out and quickly extended their lead to 20-0 when Jones ran 25 yards up the middle for a touchdown at the 2:52-mark.
 
 
Following an Alvernia field goal, the Bears first half offensive onslaught continued as Machado hit Zulkowski for a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it a 27-3 game at the 9:46-mark of the second quarter. Machado initially connected with Zulkowski for 14 yards on a 3rd-and-9 situation one play before finding him for the touchdown. Junior linebacker Matt Agar intercepted Randall on the ensuing Golden Wolves possession and set Ursinus up 1st-and-Goal from the Golden Wolves 5-yard line. Ursinus gained just one yard and initially settled for a field goal but got a second chance after an illegal substitution penalty was called following the miss on the attempt. Bernard made Alvernia pay with a 2-yard touchdown to make it a 34-3 game with 7:05 left in the first half. Alvernia scored its first touchdown of the game in the final minute of the second quarter and sent the game to 34-10 at the half.
 
The Bears extended their lead to 41-10 on their first drive of the second half when Bernard scored his second touchdown of the game at the 8:59-mark of the third quarter. Alvernia added one last touchdown with just over a minute left in the third quarter that made it 41-17 and ultimately capped the scoring for the game.
 
 
Senior Anthony Esposito and sophomore Jake Ziegler led the Bears with seven total tackles apiece while Esposito had 1.0 TFL and Ziegler with 0.5. Senior Aaron Rios had a huge first half with six stops (four solo) 2.0 TFL and one sack and sophomore defensive tackle Manny Saenz added five tackles (two solo) and one sack. Agar made six tackles (two solo) and grabbed a second interception in the fourth quarter.
 
 
Ursinus returns to action on Saturday, September 13th as they will host Kean for their home opener starting at 1:00 p.m.