Box Score
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(Carlisle, Pa.) - The Dickinson
College football team dug an early hole and despite a valiant
effort, came up short in the season finale against Ursinus. The
Bears survived a 35-32 shootout as the Devils held Ursinus
scoreless in the second half, scoring 15 points in the fourth
quarter. |
Ursinus started strong, going 71 yards on the opening drive and
scoring on a 38 yard pass from Justin Decristofaro (Jenkintown,
Pa./Father Judge) to Al Desiderio (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman
Catholic).
The Bears forced the Devils to punt and Desiderio returned the
ball 40 yards to the Dickinson 31 yard line. They would score seven
plays later on a two yard run to take a 14-0 lead.
Junior Gordon Craig (Grove City, Pa./Grove
City) put the Devils in the board with a 24 yard
field-goal to close out the first quarter.
Nick Giarratano (Wapwallopen, Pa./Crestwood) caught a six yard
pass to make the score 21-3 before Ian Mitchell
(Newtown Square, Pa./Malvern
Prep) and Tim Wells (Baltimore,
Md./Perry Hall) sandwiched a pair of scores around
a Mike Maxwell (Coatesville,
Pa./Coatesville) interception. That would make the
score 21-17 with eight minutes to play in the half.
Teddy Conrad (Doylestown, Pa./C.B. West) scored his second
touchdown of the day on a four yard run with 2:00 on the clock. The
Bears held on a 4th-and-1, and tacked on a 13 yard scoring pass to
Shea Wisler (Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) to stretch the
Ursinus lead to 35-17 at halftime.
The Red Devil defense closed the door on the Bears' scoring
efforts as the teams played scoreless through the third
quarter.
The teams traded turnovers to start the final period before
Mitchell drove the Devils 46 yards and Wells capped the drive with
a two yard score. That cut the deficit to 35-24 with 7:05 remaining
in the game.
Adam Farrell (Parkton,
Md./Hereford) sacked Decristofaro for a six yard
loss, forcing the Bears to punt from their own 26 yard line. The
snap went over the kicker's head and the ball rolled toward the end
zone. Derek Giannetti tried to kick the ball out of the end zone
for a procedure penalty and a safety. The ball, however, was on the
one yard line when it was kicked, giving the Devils possession on
the half yard line.
Junior Tim Smith (Hanover,
Pa./Southwestern) dove in the the Devils' third
attempt, then hit classmate Joe Sandoe (Myerstown,
Pa./Elco) on a halfback pass for the two-point
conversion to pull Dickinson within a field-goal.
The defense held once more and senior Craig Helfer
(West Caldwell, N.J./Newark Academy) got a hand on
the punt, giving the Devils the ball on their own 38 yard line.
Mitchell connected with Pat O'Connor (Exton,
Pa./Downingtown East) on three passes to move the
Devils to the Ursinus 35 yard line. A controversial fumble at the
end of the play gave the Bears the ball back with just 1:25 left on
the clock. They would take two knees to run out the clock secure
the win.
Conrad finished with a game-high 113 yards and two touchdowns
while Decristofaro threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Joe Kost
(Freeland, Pa./Hazelton Area) intercepted three passes and had
three breakups to lead the Bear defense.
Mitchell rushed for 103 yards on the day. He broke the
Centennial Conference record for single season rushing yard by a
quarterback with 927 on the year. He also threw for 215 yards to go
over the 5,000 yard mark for his career (5,090). He holds
conference records for career rushing by a quarterback as well with
2,470 and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 28.
O'Connor returned to form, making 11 catches for 161 yards on
the day. Wells and Smith each rushed for 48 yards while Wells added
two touchdowns.
Maxwell had a huge afternoon with a game-high 14 tackles,
including seven solo stops and a 13-yard interception
return. Scott Sullivan (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop
Shanahan) tallied 11 tackles and broke up two
passes. Andrew Fink (Schuyllkill Haven, Pa./Schuylkill
Haven) added 10 stops, including eight solos and
three pass break-ups.
The Red Devils finish 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the Centennial
Conference. They will await a possible NCAA at-large bid to be
announced on Sunday afternoon.