READING, Pa. – Led by sophomore quarterback Adam Galczynski, the Lions picked-up their second win of the season as they defeated Catholic University (2-2) by the final score of 41-31. Galczynski was 15-for-20 with 198 yards and two touchdowns. For his efforts he was named the Albright MVP of the 60th annual Rajah Shrine Pretzel Bowl, Saturday afternoon at Shirk Stadium in front of over 3,000 fans.
With Saturday's win the Lions close out their non-conference schedule with a winning record for the fourth consecutive season. Also pacing the Lions offense was Luke Wallace on his seven catches for 83 yards, and junior Josh Bakala who recorded just two catches, both of which were for TD's.
Junior tailback Josan Holmes rushed for 51 yards on six carries and found the endzone three times. He now sits just one rushing TD away from tying the all-time record of 30 set in 2004. Galczynski added to his offensive numbers totaling 40 yards rushing on seven carries.
As a team the Lions offense recorded 422 yards on 75 plays. They dominated the first downs category totaling 28 as compared to Catholic's 18. They were also 21-26 on pass attempts, and rushed the ball for 146 yards.
Defensively, the Lions combined for 60 tackles in the game and held the Cardinals to just 320 yards of total offense. On the ground the Lions defensive unit held strong allowing just 90 total yards. Malik Compton led the unit with eight tackles, while Mark Bergery and Ryan Ott each totaled seven stops which included one tackle for a loss.
For Catholic, quarterback Greg Cordivari was 23-for-45 for 230 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target on the afternoon was Alonzo Cooke who amassed 99 yards on six catches, and two of the Cardinals three touchdown receptions.
Catholic's defense was very busy all afternoon trying to neutralize the Lions. Combined, the Cardinals recorded 88 tackles against Albright. Christian Pavik and Marc McEvoy led the defense with nine tackles each. Catholic also recorded eight tackles for a loss and had the only interception of the game.
Saturday's contest was anything but clean as the two teams amassed over 200 yards of penalties, with each team getting penalized 13 times.
The contest got off to a great start for the red and white as junior Joe Arneth returned the opening kickoff 50 yards. From there the two teams exchanged touchdowns to tie the score at 7-7 going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lions took control of the scoreboard scoring a pair of touchdowns, while holding the Cardinals to a field goal. After the halftime break, Catholic wasted little time scoring on their first drive of the second half. The Cardinals went 65 yards on eight plays and on Cordivari pass to Cooke, made it just a four point game (21-17).
However, that quick score did not faze the Lions tacked on three straight scores to take a 41-17 lead. Catholic down but not out tried to battle back scoring the final two touchdowns of the contest. Despite the valiant effort, it was too little too late, as the Lions held on to take the victory.
Football will travel to Wilkes University next Saturday to open Middle Atlantic Conference play with a 1 p.m. game against the Colonels.