Villanova falls in overtime
Mark Ferrante faced the first big decision of his head coaching career. Down three in overtime and facing a fourth-and-one at the Albany 16-yard line, Ferrante had to decide whether attempt a potential game-tying field goal of more than 30 yards or go for the first down.
After a timeout, the Wildcats went for the first down, and the Great Danes were ready.
Eli Mencer tackled Zach Bednarczyk for a four-yard loss, stripped the Villanova and ran 80 yards untouched for a touchdown to give the Albany a 19-10 triumph over the seventh-ranked Wildcats Saturday night.
The Great Danes (3-1, 1-0 CAA) already had a 13-10 lead thanks to a 20-yard Ethan Stark field goal. That would have been good enough to give Albany its first win over the Wildcats (2-2, 0-1). The strip and score sealed the deal.
The Wildcats took advantage of a pass interference call in the end zone with three seconds left to tie the game. Aaron Forbes caught a two-yard shovel pass from Bednarczyk as time expired and Drew Kresge added the extra point to send the game into overtime.
After the defense held Albany to a field goal, the Wildcats ran Matt Gudzak three times but could only manage nine yards. That’s when Ferrante decided to go for it.
It’s the first time the Wildcats have lost the conference opener since 2011. That’s also the last time Villanova opened CAA play on the road. Albany’s defense held the Wildcats to 61 yards rushing and 254 yards of total offense. Bednarczyk completed 23 of 35 passes for 193 yards and one TD. ALBRIGHT 9, WIDENER 7 » The Pride has had some rough games at Shirk Field over the years. one of the toughest.
Freshman kicker Christian Hagans booted a 29-yard field goal with three seconds left to lift the host Lions (4-0, 3-0 MAC) over the Pride in the 67th annual Rajah Shine Pretzel Bowl. Albright went on a nineplay, 27-yard drive to set Hagans up for the winning field goal.
Widener (2-2, 2-1) was in control until that point, thanks to a one-yard touchdown run by Rob Ennis Jr. followed by the extra point kick from Chris Raczak with 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter and another stellar performance by the Widener defense.
The Pride held the Lions to 39 rushing yards on 26 attempts. Albright quarterback Alex Vignola did connected on 25 of 45 passes for 248 yards, but could only engineer one touchdown drive.
Albright’s defense was stout, too. The Lions held the Pride to 19 yards rushing and 164 yards overall. Sophomore Graham Jesperson started in place of the injured Sean McGaughey and was 15 of 28 for 145 yards. BLOOMSBURG48,CHEYNEY19» Running back Qmac Quinteh ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and the host Huskies scored the first 27 points to roll past the Wolves in the PSAC East opener for both.
Cheyney scored twice in the final period, but it wasn’t enough. Quarterback Dominick Trautz had another solid game for the Wolves (13, 0-1). He was 20-of 33 for 269 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He connected on a 13-yard scoring pass to Yves Ferdinand. Brandon French and Devin Miller scored on runs of one and nine yards, respectively, for the Wolves. This ranks as