Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Holy Cross * (Parents' Weekend)
Jackson Leads Bucknell to 53-31 Shootout Victory over Holy Cross
11/1/2003 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Quarterback John Henry Jackson passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns, ran for two scores and completed a two-point conversion pass to lead Bucknell to a 53-31 victory over Holy Cross in a Patriot League game Saturday before 8,132 fans at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Jackson, a junior making his second career start in place of the injured Daris Wilson, had two short touchdown runs and completed scoring passes of 33 yards to Albert Marquardt and 16 yards to Ian Nutt. Jackson had never thrown or ran for a touchdown in his career entering the contest.
Blamah Sarnor ran for 102 yards and Marquardt had four catches for 130 yards for Bucknell (5-4, 3-1), which bounced back from a 50-6 loss at league-leading Colgate last week.
John O'Neill completed 22 of 42 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown for Holy Cross (1-8, 1-3), which lost its seventh game in a row. Ari Confesor finished with eight catches for 71 yards and a touchdown and also had 94 kickoff return yards, making him Holy Cross' all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 4,832.
Holy Cross scored first with 5:55 left in the opening quarter when Jesse Loubier scooped up an errant option pitch and rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown.
Bucknell answered just 49 seconds later. After Dante Ross' career-long 81-yard kickoff return set up the Bison at the Holy Cross 10-yard line, Tim Johnson scored from 9 yards out two plays later. On the point-after try, Holy Cross left Zach Richards uncovered on the right end, the defensive end scored the first points of his career when Jackson hit him with an easy two-point pass, giving Bucknell an 8-7 lead.
A Steve Silva 2-yard TD run and a Mike DeSantis 35-yard field goal helped the Crusaders grab a 17-15 lead midway through the second quarter. But the Bison took the lead for the final time on freshman Ryan Korn's career-long 43-yard field goal with 3:39 left in the half.
A 2-yard touchdown run by Jackson and a 5-yard scamper by Sarnor opened the second-half scoring and pushed Bucknell's lead to 32-17. Big plays from slotback Antwan Kennedy set up both scores. He caught a 30-yard pass to move the ball into scoring territory prior to Jackson's short run, which came on fourth down. Kennedy also had a career-long 38-yard run to set up Sarnor's touchdown carry.
Kennedy finished with a career-high 90 yards rushing on only eight carries. Freshman Ed Cortez ran for 70 yards on 16 carries to help Bucknell's balanced rushing attack.
Holy Cross drew within 32-24 on Silva's 4-yard run, and after Marquardt caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jackson in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, the Crusaders again closed within one score on O'Neill's 10-yard pass to Confesor.
The Bison finally put the game away with 4:27 left in regulation, when on fourth-and-1 Jackson bootlegged to his right and hit a wide-open Ian Nutt for a 16-yard touchdown pass. It was Nutt's first career TD grab.
Ross' interception and 39-yard return to the Holy Cross 26 ended any hopes of a Crusader comeback, and Bucknell tacked on one last score on Sarnor's 1-yard run with 26 seconds remaining.
The 53 points were the most scored by Bucknell since a 55-26 win over Towson on Oct. 6, 1990. The 84 combined points were the most in a Bucknell game since a 54-33 Bison victory over Lafayette on Nov. 4, 1989.
Bucknell rushed for 302 yards and passed for a season-high 242 yards and totaled a season-high 544 yards. Holy Cross finished with 364 total yards. It is the first time in Bucknell history that the team scored 50 points one week after allowing 50.
The Bison play their final road game of the season next Saturday at Lafayette at 12:30 p.m.
