COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus football team opened its 2024 season by overwhelming Alvernia 45-14 in its season opener on Friday night at Patterson Field in non-conference action.
The win marked the fourth straight win over Alvernia in a season opener for the Bears with three coming at Patterson Field.
Senior quarterback Jalen Bradford had an efficient night of going 10-of-17 for 159 yards and tossed two touchdown passes in two and a half quarters of work. Sophomore quarterback Tristan Machado wrapped up the night by going 5-of-9 for 46 yards. Senior wide receiver Cameron Dennis led the Bears with 110 yards on five catches and sophomore Ryder Zulkowski caught one pass, a 48-yard touchdown. Senior Justin Collier caught Bradford's other touchdown and finished with three receptions for 22 yards.
Senior running back Tony Holden had his third straight 100-yard game against the Golden Wolves by rushing for 118 yards on 16 carries and two scores while averaging 7.4 yards per carry. Sophomore Jason Bernard added 37 yards on 11 carries and scored his first collegiate touchdown.
The Bears started with the ball and used its ground game to easily march down the field on the Golden Wolves. Bradford found Collier on 3rd-and-5 from the 6-yard line in the right corner of the end zone as Collier got one knee in to secure the catch. Following a three-and-out from Alvernia, Bradford hit Dennis open in stride over the middle and he was hauled down at the Golden Wolves 3-yard line. Holden raced into the end zone untouched two plays later to make it 14-0 Bears with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
Ursinus turned away Alvernia as they entered the Bears territory for the first time near the end of the first quarter and later added to its lead when junior kicker Jordan Carr nailed a 39-yard field goal with 5:55 left in the first half. Senior linebacker Marc Clayton took advantage of a batted pass from junior Sean Spinosa by grabbing an interception on the first play of the ensuing Alvernia drive and taking it back 25 yards for a touchdown that made it 24-0. The Bears put the finishing touches on a dominant half when Bradford hit Zulkowski in stride for a 48-yard touchdown pass at the 1:25-mark.
Holden put a bow on his night on the Bears first offensive play of the second half with a 40-yard touchdown run that made it 38-0. Alvernia broke the shutout two drives later before Bernard powered in for the Bears final touchdown of the night from a yard out early in the fourth quarter.
Clayton was all over the field on defense for Ursinus by racking up a career-high 10 tackles (three solo) and 1.5 TFL plus his interception. Senior Ryan DiVergilis finished with six tackles (one solo) in his first game back since mid-October 2023 and snagged an interception in the third quarter. Junior Aaron Rios had the Bears lone sack of the night and made three stops overall (one solo).
Ursinus racked up 410 yards of total offense behind a balanced attack and limited Alvernia to 275 total yards with only 29 of them being rushing yards.
Alvernia quarterback Colin Payne threw for 246 yards on 22-of-36 passing and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. All-Region wide receiver selection, Dachan Thompson, caught both touchdowns and racked up 131 yards on 12 catches.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, September 14th as they will travel to face Kean at 1:00 p.m. in a Centennial-NJAC crossover matchup.
Football Rolls Past Alvernia 45-14 in Season Opener
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20240906_bpwn.xml
2024
Alvernia
14
Ursinus
45
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvernia (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Ursinus (1-0) | 14 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
Sep 06, 2024