Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Fordham
Bucknell Football Falls Short Against Fordham, 28-21
11/5/2005 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2005
BRONX, N.Y. - James Prydatko rushed for a career-high 201 yards as Bucknell lost to Fordham 28-21 Saturday afternoon at an unseasonably warm Jack Coffey Field in a Patriot League football game. The Bison lost their fifth straight game to fall to 1-8 overall and 0-4 in the Patriot League. The Rams improved to 2-7 overall and 2-3 in Patriot League play as they won their second consecutive game after opening the season 0-7.
Bucknell opened the scoring in the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Josh DeStefano with 10:48 remaining. A fake field goal set up that score. Will Carney, who is 4-for-5 on field goals this season, lined up for a 28-yard field goal attempt, but holder Daniel Zvara completed a five-yard pass to Brandon Bailey to pick up the first down. Two plays later DeStefano tallied his first touchdown of the year.
Fordham evened the score on its next drive, which covered 84 yards on 10 plays, and ended with an 11-yard touchdown run by Jonte Coven, who rushed for two touchdowns in the contest. That touchdown closed out the scoring in the wild first half that featured two blocked field goals, one fake punt and one fake field goal.
Fordham, which rushed for just 61 yards in the first half, piled up 287 yards on the ground in the second half as it jumped out to a 21-7 advantage with 4:52 left in the third quarter.
Coven registered his second touchdown of the game on the opening drive of the second half. However, Prydatko set the touchdown up by carrying the ball five times for 69 yards on the drive, including a 42-yard scamper.
Bucknell opened the fourth quarter with its second touchdown of the game as quarterback Dante Ross, who rushed 30 times for a team-high 111 yards, completed a 10-play, 64-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Ross ran five times for 33 yards on the drive that left 14:56 on the clock.
Just 97 seconds later Prydatko had his largest gain of the day, running 74 yards down the left sideline to give the Rams a 14-point advantage again.
Bucknell was able to cut the lead to 28-21 when freshman Kevin Mullen ran through the Fordham defense for a 24-yard touchdown with 2:18 to play. It was the first score of Mullen's career.
After a failed onside kick, the Bison defense, which had Matt Palermo and Devon Lutz intercept passes in the contest, limited the Rams to five plays and forced a punt to give Bucknell the ball on its own 20-yard line with 33 seconds to play. The Bison were able to gain just 14 yards before a Ross pass was picked off by Marcus Taylor to end the game.
The opening drive of the game was a successful one for Bucknell, which took the opening kickoff. The Bison marched 64 yards on 14 plays and ate up 6:25 off the clock, but a 33-yard field goal by Carney was blocked.
In addition to his rushing total of 111 yards, Ross passed for 85. He was 9 of 19 passing with just the interception on the final play of the game. His counterpart, Derric Daniels, was 4 of 13 for 44 yards.
The Bison were outgained 388-28, with 191 of those yards coming on the ground. Peter Kaufman led the way in the receiving department with four catches for 34 yards.
Stephen Collage led Bucknell on the defensive side of the field with eight tackles, while Dorian Petersen had seven tackles and a blocked field goal. Jacob Burney and Brandon Bailey teamed up for the lone sack for the Bison.
Bucknell completes its three-game road trip next Saturday at Colgate. Kickoff is slated for 12:30 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y.
