Football Mauls McDaniel to Snap Skid

WESTMINSTER, Md. – Thomas Garlick set one all-time program record and closed in on another, Samuel Ragland continued to put up monster numbers, and the defense pitched a shutout until well into the third quarter as the Ursinus College football team rolled to a 30-14 Centennial Conference victory at wet and windy McDaniel.

Garlick finished 14 of 29 for 225 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses to Ragland, who had over 100 yards rushing and receiving and scored three times for the second week in a row. Garlick became the all-time leader in completions with 442, edging past Chris Curran' 13 and moving to within just 24 yards of Curran's historic mark of 5,436.

Ragland, meanwhile, produced 113 yards and a touchdown on 27 rushes and added 104 yards and two scores as a receiver, including a 55-yarder from Garlick that put the Bears (5-3, 4-3) up 23-0 midway through the third.

Freshman Mike Reilly made huge plays on both sides of the ball, tallying his first career interception and scoring his first career touchdown with a 52-yard scamper on a fake punt. Reilly's long run caught the McDaniel special teams unit completely off guard and capped what proved to be a 9-play, 87-yard drive to kick off the scoring at the 5:36 mark of the first quarter. Sophomore Mitchell Bradford terrorized McDaniel with two interceptions of his own.

The Bears put together two more long marches in the second quarter, but only came away with three points to go into the break leading 9-0. Ursinus had a short field goal blocked earlier in the frame but made up for it when senior Kirk Cherneskie booted his first career field goal, a 24-yarder with just 4 seconds remaining in the half.

Reilly's pick – and a 31-yard return – on the first possession of the third quarter set up Garlick's 15-yard strike to Ragland, and the defense stood firm again to turn the Green Terror over on downs on their 28-yard line. Ursinus needed only five plays to cover the distance to pay dirt, Ragland running for 17 of them before taking a pass from Garlick and dashing all the way to the end zone from 55 yards out for a 23-0 advantage at the 6:17 mark.

McDaniel broke up the clean sheet on Isaac Murray's 39-yard touchdown run with 2:13 left in the third and got the ball back on a Bears punt, but Bradford intercepted Ben Igo at the Green Terror 14 and returned it eight yards to facilitate an easy scoring drive that culminated in Ragland's 2-yard run.

The Green Terror tacked on a late touchdown to cap the day's scoring.

Murray finished with 137 yards on 24 carries for McDaniel, but it was otherwise a major struggle for the home side against a Bears defense that held it to 292 yards. Igo was just 11 of 29 for 107 yards and three interceptions.

The Ursinus offense, meanwhile, had its way with the conference's best statistical defense. The Bears picked up 424 yards of offense and converted both of their fourth-down attempts.

After his latest exploits, Ragland now has 657 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns in addition to 535 yards and three touchdowns receiving. The sophomore's 11 touchdowns are tied for third-most in a single season in school history.

Senior tight end Thomas Cardozo had a big day, notching career highs in receptions (7) and yards (106).

Defensively, junior Jacob McCain led the way with 11 tackles. Sophomore Darren Sipf had his first career sack and two tackles for loss, freshman Aaron Diamond broke up two passes, and fellow rookie Anthony Reginelli grabbed his first career tackle for loss.

The Bears head to Lancaster for a big CC showdown with Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, November 3.