COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus college football team battled its way to a gutsy 17-14 season-opening win over Delaware Valley on a warm Friday night in non-conference action at Patterson Field.
It was the eighth-straight season opening win for the Bears and they have now won 12 of their last 13 openers overall. The meeting between the two local Southeastern Pennsylvania schools was the first regular season matchup since 1968 season.
The Bears had success on the ground against the Aggies as they totaled 207 yards as a team. Senior
Brooklyn Jones registered a team-high 110 yards on five carries for his first career 100-yard game. Senior
Jason Bernard powered for 67 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown while junior
Devon Green had 30 yards on five carries which some key runs coming down the stretch.
Senior quarterback
Tristan Machado went 13-of-25 for 119 yards with a touchdown and interception. Senior
Ryder Zulkowski caught his touchdown pass and hauled in a team-high 47 yards on five carries.
The Bears went three-and-out to start the game, but the defense forced the Aggies into a turnover on downs after advancing to the Ursinus 41-yard line. Machado went a perfect 5-for-5 on the Bears ensuing drive and put Ursinus in front at 7-0 with 3:43 left in the first quarter when he found Zulkowski for a 22-yard touchdown. Ursinus marched back into Aggies territory one drive later, initially taking advantage of a roughing the passer penalty, before having to punt. Delaware Valley took the Bears punt back 53 yards after a favorable deflection went into the arms of the Aggies returner but had the drive end as junior defensive back
Andy Zigbuo intercepted quarterback Mike Galasso in the end zone. The Aggies finally broke through on its next drive to tie the game at 7 on a 15-yard touchdown catch from Joel Perez on 3
rd-and-9 that was initially ruled incomplete before video replay determined Perez had a knee down in the end zone. Jones responded by ripping off a 41-yard run to set the Bears up in the red zone and junior kicker
Ben Kiedrowski gave the Bears the lead back at 10-7 on a 35-yard field goal with 4:13 left in the first half. The Aggies had another crack late in the first half to score again before another Zigbuo interception preserved the Bears lead at half.
Ursinus was pinned at its own 5-yard line on their first drive of the second half following an Aggies punt before Jones broke through for a 60-yard run to put the Bears at the Aggies 35-yard line. Machado brilliantly kept the Bears drive alive by escaping a sack and finding Jones for a first down on a 4
th-and-6 situation and Bernard put Ursinus up 17-7 with a 2-yard plunge at the 5:34-mark. However, the Aggies made quick work to respond and made it a 17-14 game at the 3:03-mark that was aided by a dazzling one-handed 46-yard reception by Perez. The Bears went back-to-back three-and-outs into the fourth quarter, but its defense stood to task by keeping them in the lead. Delaware Valley attempted a 44-yard game-tying field goal but it was blocked by first-year
Noah Porter with 4:23 left in regulation. Ursinus drained the rest of the clock out to preserve the win behind 36 yards from Bernard on the last drive and a 4
th-and-1 conversion from the Aggies 21-yard line to ice the game.
Zigbuo had two interceptions and three solo tackles while junior
Jake Ziegler had the Bears lone sack and five tackles (three solo). Junior
PJ Blessington led all players with eight tackles (four solo).
The Bears return to action on Saturday, September 12th as they will travel to face Waynesburg at 1:00 p.m.
