WESTMINSTER, Md. - Ursinus moved into a first-place atop the Centennial Conference on Saturday, as the Bears defeated McDaniel 48-13 Saturday afternoon at Scott Bair Stadium.

The game was stopped for 41 minutes in the beginning part of the fourth quarter due to lightning. Both teams played in a downpour for most of the game, before the rain finally stopped in the final part of the fourth quarter.

For Ursinus (4-3, 4-1 Centennial), the Bears are now tied with Dickinson, F&M and Johns Hopkins for the top spot with three weeks to play. Ursinus defeated Johns Hopkins, lost to F&M and will play Dickinson in week 10.

"This was a total team win for us," said Ursinus head coach Peter Gallagher afterwards. "The big thing for us was that we were able to run the ball in the second half and take some time off the clock."

The Bears did run for 276 yards on 60 attempts, with two runners netting 133 yards. Freshman running back Teddy Conrad (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) had three touchdowns as he rushed the ball 29 times. Sophomore running back Travis Evans (Dallas, Pa./Northwest Area) had 20 attempts for his 133 yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Al Desiderio (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) had five catches, all in the first half, for 154 yards and a score. He also returned a kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown, giving him 252 all purpose yards on the day.

Senior quarterback Justin Decristofaro (Jenkintown, Pa./Father Judge) was 8-for-14 for 186 yards and a score in the win. The Bears finished with 27 first-downs and 482 yards of total offense on 75 plays.

Defensively, Ursinus had takeaways as sophomore linebacker Greg Martell (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) had six stops. The defense had three interceptions as junior linebacker Joe Galie (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville), freshman defensive back Chris Rountree (Lawnside, N.J./Haddon Heights) and sophomore defensive back Mike Rissmiller (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) each had a pick. McDaniel was held to just 263 yards of total offense.

Ursinus scored on its opening drive as Conrad rushed for a 1-yard score with 9:17 left as the Bears took a 6-0 lead. The drive spanned 10-plays and 63 yards in 5:43.

Following a punt by the Green Terror (4-3, 2-3 Centennial), Ursinus scored three plays later on a 49-yard scoring pass from Decristofaro to Desiderio with 5:43 left for a  14-0 lead.

McDaniel got on the board with no time left in the first quarter as Matt Cahill caught a four-yard pass from Thomas Massucci for a 13-7 Ursinus lead. The Bears scored on the ensuing kickoff as Desiderio returned the kick 77-yards for the score and a 20-7 Ursinus lead.

After another McDaniel punt, the Bears upped their lead to 27-7 as a seven-play, 79-yard drive ended with an 11-yard touchdown run from Conrad with 9:34 to go in the second quarter.

McDaniel's next drive was stopped by a Galie interception at the Ursinus 44 with 8:44 left. On the first play following a 15-yard penalty, the Bears got the ball to midfield as junior quarterback Matt McHugh (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) threw a double-reverse option pass to junior tight end C.J. Yespelkis (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) for a  20 yards. The drive would eventually end on a 4-yard scoring run by Conrad for a 34-7 lead with 4:12 left until halftime.

McDaniel drove into Ursinus territory, but Massucci's pass was intercepted by Rountree at the Bears' 15-yard line with three minutes left.

The Bears lone turnover of the day came in the third quarter as Conrad fumbled at the Bears' 31 just 1:49 into the third. That turnover allowed the Green Terror to score as Massucci completed a 17-yard pass to Cahill for a 34-13 Ursinus lead with 12:29 left.

The next Ursinus drive saw Evans score on a four-yard run with 7:33 left for a 41-13 Bears' lead. The nine-play, 51 yard drive was all running plays.

Again McDaniel drove into Ursinus territory, but, Rissmiller intercepted Massucci at the 10 and returned it to midfield with 3:30 left in the third.

In the fourth quarter, Ursinus' last score came when Evans rushed the ball from three-yards out for a 48-13 lead with 3:19 left.

Ursinus held the ball for 36:28 and was 9 for 14 on third down conversions, while holding McDaniel to just seven third-down conversions on 16 attempts.

Ursinus will host Moravian on Saturday, October 31.