Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Susquehanna's defense held up better than could be expected after being forced into action for 44 minutes against Ursinus, but the Crusaders (1-3, 1-3) fell 24-7 to the Bears on Saturday afternoon in Collegeville.

The the first half was bend but do not break for the SU defense, but their excessive time on the field caught up with them in the second half as Ursinus (4-0, 4-0) put 17 points on the board en route to the win.

Susquehanna's defense got next to no time to rest as they were on the field for 89 plays while the offense finished with only seven points and 205 yards, 179 of which came through the air.

Several SU players put up impressive numbers on defense, highlighted by Jack McCarty's (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) 14-tackle effort. Susquehanna also recorded a season-high three sacks and had 12 tackles for loss. Two of those sacks were courtesy of rookie Bill Mancini (Malvern, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep).

After a three-and-out by both teams early in the first quarter, SU got the ball back in solid position at their own 40. An 18-yard completion from Rich Palazzi (Newfoundland, Pa./Wallenpaupack) to Spencer Ercole (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) quickly moved the Crusaders into Ursinus territory. However, Palazzi fumbled on third-and-three to end the chance of a lengthy drive.

Ursinus worked its way past midfield but Mancini broke through for back-to-back sacks on quarterback Justin DeCristofaro to push the Bears into their half of the field for a third-and-26 situation. The SU defense added another highlight play to their reel when their pressure forced a DeCristofaro fumble that put Susquehanna's offense on the field.

Unfortunatley the Crusaders did nothing on their turn with the ball as the Bears regained possession.

Luck fell SU's way when a deep ball by Decristofaro bounced off his intended receiver's helmet deep in the corner of the endzone but the Bears converted on a third-and-six and worked their way to SU's 12-yard line with a fresh set of downs.

Two Ursinus holding calls forced the Bears to SU's 23-yard line and Mitch Phillips (Millersburg, Pa./Millersburg Area) came up with the team's third sack that forced a third-and-23 scenario for the Bears. After moving into field goal position, Mancini continued to disrupt Ursinus' rhythym, coming up with a block on Michael Bennett's 32-yard field goal attempt.

Ursinus got the ball back but Phillips kept SU in the game with an interception that he returned all the way to the Ursinus 45 with 1:07 left. The Bears' Joe Galie immediately responded with an interception of his own that placed the ball at the Bears' 48 yard line with 59 seconds left in the half.

Decristofaro capped off a six-play, 52-yard scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown to Nick Giarratano with 25 seconds on the clock that made it 7-0 as the teams went into the locker rooms for halftime.

The second half did not start on a positive note for the Crusaders as Mike Ritter (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) fumbled the kickoff return and Ursinus took over at its own 22.

The Bears quickly worked into a first-and-goal situation but as was the trend all day, the Susquehanna defense forced Ursinus into negative yardage and kicker Bennett came out to attempt a 31-yard field goal. His team backed him up five yards with a false start but he connected on the 36-yarder for the 10-0 score.

After Susquehanna turned the ball over on downs,  Ursinus slowly moved down the field. The officials' call on a jump ball went against SU's McCarty as Decristofaro completed a 14-yard reception. Time continued to burn off the clock and after being on the field for all but nine minutes of the game to that point, the SU defense began to show some wear. The Bears' Brian Ellis rushed three yards into the endzone to cap off a 17-play, 76-yard scoring drive and make it 17-0 with only the fourth quarter remaining.

A Ritter fumble four minutes into the final quarter gave the ball back to Ursinus and resulted in another Bears touchdown that effectively sealed the win.

Susquehanna did get put points on the board late in the game with the aid of several penalties against Ursinus that ultimately resulted in a five-yard touchdown reception to Ritter. Eppleman converted the PAT for a 24-7 score but those marked the final points of the afternoon as SU's final drive ended on downs with 26 seconds on the clock.

The Crusaders had just 11 first downs, none via the rush, and failed to convert on third down.

Next game: Oct. 2 at home vs. Franklin & Marshall, 1 p.m.

Postgame Notes:

- The honarary captains for Saturday's game were Mike Ritter, Trevor Terpening and Rich Palazzi.

- SU entered the game first in the Centennial Conference in PAT kicking and Eppleman's PAT kept SU a perfect 9-for-9.