Bednarczyk poised to make return for ’Nova in home finale
It seems the news is all good this week for Villanova’s football team, as quarterback Zach Bednarczyk practiced and should be able to go in Saturday’s home finale against William & Mary. The redshirt senior missed last week’s
45-21 win over Richmond after reinjuring his left shoulder.
On an even better note, tight end Ryan Bell appears ready to play for the first time in seven games when the Wildcats (4-5 overall, 1-5 CAA) take on the Tribe
(3-5, 2-3) at Villanova Stadium for a 1 o’clock start Saturday.
The 6-2, 235-pound senior has not played since the Towson game because of a wrist injury and his absence has been felt. He’s still second on the team in receptions (22) and touchdown receptions (four) and third in receiving yards (246) despite missing the last six games. Bell missed the last seven games of the 2017 season with an injury.
“I’m happy for him because he’s had a tough couple of years with injuries,” Villanova coach Mark Ferrante said.
If Bednarczyk and Bell return, it means that sophomore safety Terrell Vassell is the only member of the original starting lineup still on the sideline.
“It looks like we may line up, for the first time since the third game of the season, with the team we started the season with,” Ferrante said.
The Wildcats got a good portion of the walking wounded back last week and that played a big part in the win over Richmond. Villanova piled up 427 yards of total offense and forced seven turnovers (five interceptions) to pick up their first league win of the season.
The object now is to finish over .500, which is still a possibility, as long as Villanova can beat William & Mary and then find a way to knock off No. 11 Delaware in the season finale next week.
Delaware Valley at Widener
1 p.m. Saturday
Not only the Keystone Cup is at stake when the Pride host the No. 13 Aggies at Quick Stadium in the regular-season finale for both teams.
For Widener (4-5, 4-3) a .500 season and a spot in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series is up for grabs. The Aggies (8-1, 7-0) are looking to clinch the conference title and earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Widener is in sixth place heading into the final weekend. The Pride must finish in the top four to be considered for the bowl series. There are a total of 16 tiebreaking scenarios to figure out which team finishes where. The bottom line, though, is the Pride must win to have an opportunity to play an 11th game.
Like Villanova, Widener has been beset by injuries. They’ve lost running backs Chris Randle and Donte’ Harrell and wide receiver Jim Gillespie for the season. All-American defensive tackle missed the first two games with a broken leg. There have been injuries on the offensive end, yet the Pride are still averaging 33 points a game with a chance to finish on a strong note.
“We’ll come to play and let’s see if we can pull this one out,” Widener coach Mike Kelly said. “We’re going to have to play really good football. We’re all about next man up, but next man up is tough thing when you have this many going down during the course of the season.”