WAYNESBURG, Pa. – The Ursinus football team rolled past Waynesburg 46-10 in their first road contest of the 2026 season on Saturday afternoon in non-conference play.
With the win, the Bears improved to 2-0 overall in their first meeting with the Yellow Jackets since the 2001 season. The win was the 140
th for Ursinus head coach Pete Gallagher, who earned his first career win of his head coaching career in that very same matchup against Waynesburg in 2001. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets fell to 0-2 overall.
Senior quarterback
Tristan Machado threw for 267 yards on 16-of-34 attempts and tallied three touchdown passes. Senior wide receiver
Ryder Zulkowski led the Bears with 77 yards on four catches with a touchdown and sophomore
Danny Gies hauled in his first collegiate touchdown while finishing with two catches for 55 yards. Junior wide receiver
Jake Van Orden snagged the other touchdown pass from Machado for his first collegiate touchdown as well.
Senior running back
Jason Bernard powered a dominant Bears rushing attack that amassed 241 as a team with 105 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Sophomore running back
Sam Moore added a career best 50 yards on six carries with his first collegiate touchdown and junior
Devon Green scored his first collegiate touchdown as well and finished with 56 yards on 11 carries.
The Bears made quick work of their first drive as Machado hit three 20+ pass plays with the final being a 25-yard touchdown pass to Van Orden to put Ursinus up 6-0 at the 13:44-mark. Waynesburg advanced into Ursinus territory before turning it over on downs at the Bears 34-yard line. Ursinus struck quick again as Bernard scored a five-yard touchdown run at the 6:52-mark that made it 13-0 three plays after Zulkowski hauled in a 49-yard reception to the Yellow Jackets 14-yard line.
Waynesburg added a field goal late in the first quarter to make it 13-3 and sophomore
Chris Sholtis blocked a punt early in the second quarter to set the Bears up with great field position. Zulkowski extended the Bears lead to 20-3 at the 12:01-mark with a 3-yard touchdown reception. Ursinus turned it over on downs on their next possession after Waynesburg initially fumbled but got a free two points on an errant snap on a punt attempt that went into the end zone for a safety. Machado added his third touchdown pass following the free kick when he hit Gies for a 33-yard touchdown on 3
rd-and-19 to make it 29-3. Junior defensive back
Andy Zigbuo intercepted Waynesburg on the first play of its next drive only to see the Yellow Jackets score their lone touchdown of the game two plays later on an 84-yard pick-6 that made it 29-10.
The teams traded interceptions once again to start the third quarter before the Bears added another touchdown at the 5:23-mark when Green scored a 23-yard touchdown run to make it 36-10. Sophomore defensive back
Ky'iere Rankins hauled in the Bears third interception of the game and set up junior
Ben Kiedrowski for a 46-yard field goal that made it a 39-10. It was the longest field goal by a Bears kicker since 1987 when Dave Lockhart made the school record 47-yarder against Dickinson. Ursinus lead late in the third quarter. Moore capped the Bears scoring with 1:52 left in regulation with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Junior linebacker
PJ Blessington led the Bears in tackles for the second straight game with seven (three solo) and Zigbuo registered his second straight two-interception game along with making three tackles (two solo). Junior defensive end
Manny Saenz made four stops (three solo), 2.0 TFL, one sack, and one forced fumble and Rankins made four tackles (three solo) with his one interception.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, September 19th as they will host Moravian at 7:00 p.m. The 1996 Centennial Championship team will be honored at halftime of the contest.
