Bucknell Football Hosts Holy Cross in PL Championship Game

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell football team hosts defending champion Holy Cross in the Patriot League Championship Game on Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. It will pit the Bison, the South Division winners with a 2-0 record, against the Crusaders, who secured the North Division's title-game bid with a 34-24 victory over Fordham.

Up to four family members of Bucknell student-athletes and coaches, as well as Bucknell students, staff and faculty who are participating in on-campus COVID-19 testing, will be permitted to attend football games. No tickets are required for the 2021 spring season. The gates will open 90 minutes before kickoff. Family members of Bison players must enter through the main stadium gate while Bucknell students, faculty and staff should enter through the southeast gate at the top of Christy Mathewson Drive. To enter the stadium, Bucknell students, faculty and staff will be required to scan their Bucknell ID. View Bucknell's complete spectator policy, which details facility restrictions and COVID-19 guidelines, here.

The complete media notes can be viewed here. When: Saturday, April 17 – 2 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium – Lewisburg, Pa.
Television: CBS Sports Network
Internet Video: CBSSports Network.com
Radio: 100.9 The Valley (WVLY)
Internet Radio: WVLY.com/The__Valley
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_FB

With a victory the Bison would...
• capture their second Patriot League Championship (their first came in 1996)
• clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Football Championship, their first in program history
• defeat the defending Patriot League champion for the second season in a row (in 2019, Bucknell downed Colgate, 32-14, at Andy Kerr Stadium)
• top Holy Cross at home for the first time since 2009, halting a five-game losing skid

Bucknell at a Glance
• Bucknell is 2-1 (2-0 PL South) following its 31-17 loss to Fordham on April 10.
• The Bison, who were picked to finish last in the Patriot League preseason poll, knocked off Lafayette (38-13) and Lehigh (6-0) to capture the South Division title. It was the first time they defeated both of their Pennsylvania rivals in the same season since the 2014 campaign.
• Through games played on April 11, Bucknell ranks among the FCS leaders in red-zone defense (1st, .429), rushing defense (3rd, 41.3) and scoring defense (8th, 14.7). The Bison have generated seven turnovers in just three games on five interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
• P/K Ethan Torres is tied for first in the FCS in field goal percentage (1.000) and 17th in field goals per game (1.33). WR Dominic Lyles is tied for fifth in receptions per game (7.3) while RS Coleman Bennett is 10th in kickoff return yards (27.3).
• Bucknell went 3-8 (3-3 PL) during the 2019 campaign. The Bison tied for third in the Patriot League, their highest placement since they were the 2014 runners-up.
• Bucknell's 2019 Patriot League victories came over defending champion Colgate (32-14), Lehigh (20-10) and Georgetown (20-17); two of the Bison's three league losses came by a touchdown or less.
• Bucknell is in its second campaign under head coach Dave Cecchini, who spent the previous five seasons at Valparaiso.
• The Bison returned a total of 44 letterwinners, a group that includes 22 seniors, 12 juniors and 10 sophomores. Eight seniors are three-time letterwinners: OL P.J. Barr, S Brandon Benson, DL Roger Mellado, LB Rick Mottram, LB Simeon Page, Torres, TE Alex Twiford and LB Gerrit Van Itallie.
• Barr, Benson, Mottram and Page are serving as team captains.

Inside the Fordham Box Score
• Bucknell fell to Fordham, 31-17, on April 10. The Rams scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to hand the Bison their first loss of the 2021 spring campaign.
• QB Tim DeMorat completed 32 of 42 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns to lead Fordham to its eighth-straight victory over Bucknell. In addition, LB Glenn Cunningham filled the stat sheet with eight tackles, one sack and two interceptions.
• For the Bison, RB Coleman Bennett and QB Tyler Beverett each ran for his first career touchdown. Bennett had a strong showing, totaling a career-best 186 all-purpose yards on 34 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards and 128 kick return yards.
• CB Gavin Pringle led all players with nine tackles while LB Gerrit Van Itallie paced Bucknell with two tackles for a loss.
• LB Simeon Page's sack brought his career total to 25.5, matching the school record held by Dave Hibbard (1978-1980) and Ed Burman (1993-95).
• The Bison used three quarterbacks, with Logan Bitikofer seeing the majority of the action. He threw for 145 yards on 14 of 25 passing. RB Jared Cooper posted 35 yards on five carries while WRs John McGuire (41) and Dominic Lyles (40) each reached 40 receiving yards on three catches.
• The Rams led in total offense (421-199), passing yards (335-153) and rushing yards (86-46) while Bucknell held a slim edge in time of possession (30:39-29:21).
• The Bison, who did not turn the ball over during their first two games, threw three interceptions and lost one fumble.

Holy Cross at a Glance
• Holy Cross is 2-0 (1-0 PL North) following its 34-24 victory over Fordham on March 27. The Crusaders' April 10 game against Colgate was canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Raiders' Tier 1.
• Holy Cross was chosen to repeat as Patriot League champions in the 2021 spring preseason poll, receiving five first-place votes.
• Fourteen Crusaders were selected to the 2021 Spring All-Patriot League Team, with six making the First Team and eight being recognized on the Second Team. Holy Cross freshman QB Matthew Sluka was also honored as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
• In 2019, the Crusaders went 7-6 (5-1 PL). They clinched their first Patriot League title since 2009 and their seventh overall with a 24-0 whitewashing of Georgetown in the regular-season finale.
• Holy Cross advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the third time in school history, with its previous appearances coming in 1983 and 2009. The Crusaders fell to Monmouth, 44-27, in the opening round of the FCS playoffs.
• Holy Cross's five Patriot League victories was tied for first in school history, matching its totals in 1990 (5-0), 1991 (5-0), 2008 (5-1) and 2009 (5-1).
• Third-year head coach Bob Chesney has many ties to Pennsylvania. A native of Kulpmont, he attended Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School. He then graduated in 2000 from Dickinson College (Carlisle), where he was a two-time Second Team All-Centennial Conference DB. He also held coaching positions at King's College (Wilkes-Barre) and Delaware Valley College (Doylestown). His father, also named Bob, was the head football coach at Mount Carmel Area High School and Shamokin Area High School.

The Bucknell/Holy Cross Series
• The Crusaders and Bison first met on Oct. 31, 1925; they have squared off annually since 1986, the year the Patriot League was founded as the Colonial League.
• Between 1925 and 1986, Bucknell and Holy Cross met only once: in 1953.
• The Crusaders lead the series, 23-13, and hold a 13-6 edge in Worcester.
• The Bison have won three of the past six games. They took the 2014 (31-24 OT), 2016 (21-20) and 2018 (19-16) meetings, all of which occurred at Fitton Field.
• Holy Cross has won the past five contests at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
• Bucknell last downed the Crusaders at home on Nov. 21, 2009. Holy Cross, which had already clinched the Patriot League title and was ranked No. 13 in the country, never led in that contest. The Bison racked up 321 rushing yards, including 189 by QB C.J. Hopson, en route to their 23-17 victory.

The Last Meeting with the Crusaders
Bucknell 14 – Holy Cross 21 (Oct. 5, 2019 – Lewisburg, Pa.)
• Holy Cross outlasted Bucknell, 21-14, in their Patriot League opener.
• In a defensive battle punctuated by explosive offensive plays, the Crusaders flipped a 14-0 deficit into their fifth-straight road victory over the Bison.
• Bucknell, which was celebrating Homecoming, had S Gerrit Van Itallie return an interception for a touchdown and RB Chad Freshnock, who missed the 2018 season due to injury, find the end zone for the first time since his sophomore campaign.
• WR Brandon Sanders broke a school record that had stood since 1964 with 14 receptions; he finished the game with 122 receiving yards.
• The previous school record in single-game receptions was 13, set by Bucknell Athletics Hall of Famer Tom Mitchell in a 24-21 victory at Harvard on Oct. 3, 1964.
• Freshnock registered 78 yards on 14 carries while QB Logan Bitikofer completed 20 of 29 passes for 185 yards.
• The Bison had four sacks for a loss of 18 yards and seven tackles for a loss of 22 yards.
• Van Itallie and S Conner Romango each picked off a pass while LB Simeon Page blocked his first career punt, which led to Bucknell's first touchdown.
• CB Gavin Pringle and LB Rick Mottram tied Holy Cross DB Chris Riley for the game-high with nine tackles.
• Holy Cross held advantages in total offense (394-297), time of possession (31:19-28:41) and first downs (20-16).
• The Bison had a 37-yard field goal blocked, leading to the Crusaders' game-deciding scoring drive. They also missed a 40-yard field goal attempt to conclude their final possession of the game.
• Bucknell's loss to Holy Cross was its 11th in a row, matching the school record in consecutive losses set between 1957 and 1958. The 1958 campaign was the Bison's first under eventual Bucknell Athletics Hall of Famer Bob Odell, who lost the first six games of his acclaimed tenure.

Inside the Bucknell Depth Chart
• Bucknell's 11 projected starters on offense have made a combined 173 starts.
• Bucknell's 11 projected starters on defense have made a combined 178 starts.
• On offense, six seniors, four juniors and one sophomore (OL R.J. Mehan) are expected to start.
• On defense, eight seniors, one junior (CB Micah Dennis), one sophomore (CB Gavin Pringle) and one freshman (DL Mike Bright Jr.) are projected to start.
• In 2019, three Bison started every game on offense: OL P.J. Barr, WR John McGuire and TE Alex Twiford. On defense, seven Bison did the same: DL Grayson Cherubino, DL John Hunt, DL Roger Mellado, LB Rick Mottram, LB Simeon Page, S Conner Romango and DL Nnamdi Unachukwu. Of that group, all but Hunt returned for the 2021 spring campaign.
• Six Bison have at least 20 career starts: Barr (33), Mellado (31), Twiford (30), Page (26), S Brandon Benson (24) and Unachukwu (21).
• Barr (33), Mellado (31), Twiford (24), Mottram (16) and Unachukwu (15) boast starting streaks of at least 15 games. McGuire, Page and Romango will join that group with a start against Holy Cross.
• Two seniors, Barr and Mellado, have appeared in all 36 of the Bison's games since they arrived in Lewisburg. Cherubino, the only junior who saw action in his class's first 22 games, missed the 2021 spring campaign's first two contests to injury; he returned to start Bucknell's week-three game against Fordham.
• Beyond the six seniors with at least 20 career starts, seven other Bison have made at least 15: Cherubino (18), Mottram (17), WR Brandon Sanders (17), QB Logan Bitikofer (16), Romango (16), McGuire (15) and LB Gerrit Van Itallie (15). RB Jared Cooper will join that group with a start against Holy Cross.
• Pringle became the first sophomore to reach the double digits in career starts with his start against Fordham.
• Four freshmen have started for the Bison so far this spring: RB Coleman Bennett, Bright Jr., OL Ethan Pitzel and OL Casey Stephenson. In addition, Mehan and senior DL Clay Myers made their first career starts, with Myers starting all three games to date.

Milestones Met Against Fordham
• S Brandon Benson: Made 200th career tackle; now has 201
• LB Simeon Page: Matched Bucknell's career school record in career sacks (25.5)

Milestone Watch
• DL Roger Mellado: Needs 15 tackles to reach 100 in his career
• LB Simeon Page: Needs a half sack to break Bucknell's career school record with 26
• LB Simeon Page: Needs two solo tackles to reach 100 in his career
• S Conner Romango: Needs one tackle to reach 100 in his career
• WR Brandon Sanders: Needs three receptions to move to seventh in school history with 122 in career; needs 10 to vault to fifth with 129; needs 25 to reach fourth with 144
• WR Brandon Sanders: Needs 344 receiving yards to crack Bucknell's top 10 with 1,608 in career

School Record Holders on the 2021 Spring Roster
• WR Dominic Lyles: Single Game Receptions (14, 4/3/21 at Lehigh)
• LB Simeon Page: Career Sacks (25.5), Single Game Sacks (4.0, 11/18/17 at Fordham), Rookie Season Sacks (9.0, 2017)
• WR Brandon Sanders: Single Game Receptions (14, 10/5/19 vs. Holy Cross)

Bison Award Winners
• Eleven Bison made the 2021 Spring All-Patriot League Team, which was unveiled on April 13. In addition, head coach Dave Cecchini was voted as the Dick Biddle Coach of the Year.
• LB Simeon Page became the fifth Bison to earn four All-Patriot League awards, joining RB Rich Lemon (1993-96), OL Julién Davenport (2013-16), DL Abdullah Anderson (2014-17) and P Alex Pechin (2015, 2017-19). Page was voted to his third-straight First Team.
• Page was joined on the 2021 Spring All-Patriot League First Team by OL P.J. Barr, S Brandon Benson, RS Jared Cooper, CB Gavin Pringle, WR Brandon Sanders and DL Nnamdi Unachukwu.
• Bucknell's seven First Team picks is its highest total in program history. Six Bison made the 1996, 2001, 2011 and 2014 First Teams.
• Sanders is the first Bucknell WR to make two All-Patriot League First Teams; he is the second to make multiple All-Patriot League squads, joining Will Carter, who earned a spot on the 2014 First Team and the 2015 Second Team. Mike Guerrini made the 1988 and 1987 All-Colonial Teams; the Colonial League, then a football-only conference, became the Patriot League, an all-sports conference, in 1990.
• QB Logan Bitikofer, STNS Eric Holsinger, WR Dominic Lyles and LB Gerrit Van Itallie represented the Bison on the 2021 Spring All-Patriot League Second Team.
• Bitikofer is the first Bucknell QB to be voted to an All-Patriot League Team since Daris Wilson was honored on the 2004 First Team.
• Cooper is the first Bison RS to make an All-Patriot League Team since A.J. Kizekai was voted to the 2007, 2008 and 2009 squads.
• Holsinger is the first Bucknell player to be recognized as an All-Patriot League STSN; a spot on the team was given to this position beginning with the 2016 campaign.
• Sanders and Lyles, both juniors, are the first duo of Bison WRs to make an All-Patriot League Team in the same season.
• Bucknell reached the double digits in overall selections for the first time since the 2015 campaign, when 10 student-athletes were honored. Its school record in total All-Patriot League honorees is 12, set first in 1995 and matched in 2011.
• The Bison returned four All-Patriot League players in Barr (2nd in '19), Page (1st in '19 & 18, 2nd in '17), Pringle (2nd in '19) and Sanders (1st in '19). All four represented Bucknell on the 2021 Spring Preseason All-Patriot League Team; they were joined on that squad by Unachukwu.
• In 2019, Sanders became the Bison's first offensive player to make the All-Patriot League First Team since Davenport in 2016; he also became the first offensive skill-position player to do so since Carter in 2014.
• LB Rick Mottram was voted to the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team. He was the 25th Bucknell football player to be tabbed as an Academic All-American.
• Mottram was joined on the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 Team by DL Grayson Cherubino. At least one Bison has received this distinction 17 of the 20 seasons since 2000, including the past six in a row.
• Mottram was named a semifinalist for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy. Only Bucknell and Dayton have had a Campbell Trophy semifinalist each of the past 15 years.

Head Coach Dave Cecchini
• Dave Cecchini, one of the all-time great wide receivers in Patriot League history who has since gone on to achieve tremendous success in the coaching ranks, was named the 27th Bob Odell Head Football Coach at Bucknell University on February 6, 2019.
• Cecchini was voted as the 2021 Spring Patriot League Dick Biddle Coach of the Year for guiding the team to a spot in the Patriot League Championship Game.
• In his first season at the helm, Cecchini led the Bison to a third-place finish in the Patriot League, their highest placement since they were the 2014 runners-up. Their Patriot League victories came over defending champion Colgate (32-14), rival Lehigh (20-10) and Georgetown (20-17); two of their three league losses came by a touchdown or less.
• In 2017, Cecchini was a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association's FCS National Coach of the Year and the STATS FCS Coach of the Year awards; he was also voted as the Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year and the AFCA FCS Region 4 Coach of the Year.

Inside the 2021 Spring Schedule
• This is the 135th season of football at Bucknell. The Bison played their first game in 1883 and have played continuously since 1887.
• This was the first time Bucknell has competed during the spring. Its fall season was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
• Previously, the latest date the Bison played a football game was January 1, 1935; that contest, a 26-0 Orange Bowl victory over the University of Miami, put an exclamation mark on their legendary 1934 campaign. They closed their season on November 30 six times: in 1893, 1899, 1905, 1911, 1916 and 1922; they also played their first-ever game on November 30, 1883.
• For the 2021 spring season, the six competing Patriot League football teams were split into two three-team divisions. Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh comprise the South Division. Colgate, Fordham and Holy Cross make up the North Division.

How to Follow the Bison
• All of Bucknell's games will be broadcast on 100.9 The Valley (WVLY). The broadcast will also be available on WVLY.com/The__Valley and BucknellBison.com.
• All of Bucknell's regular-season games will air on ESPN+, which became home to the Patriot League Network ahead of the 2020-21 school year.
• The Bison are active on Twitter (@Bucknell_FB) and Instagram (Bucknell_FB). Interact with the team using the hashtags #ACT and #rayBucknell.

Up Next
• If the Bison capture the Patriot League title, they will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Football Championship. The championship is currently scheduled for April 18 through May 15, with 16 teams making the field instead of the usual 24.

Bucknell Football Hosts Holy Cross in PL Championship Game

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Players Mentioned

P.J. Barr

Coleman Bennett

Brandon Benson

Tyler Beverett

Logan Bitikofer

Mike Bright Jr.

Grayson Cherubino

Jared Cooper

Micah Dennis

Eric Holsinger

Dominic Lyles

John McGuire

R.J. Mehan

Roger Mellado

Rick Mottram

Clay Myers

Simeon Page

Ethan Pitzel

Gavin Pringle

Conner Romango

Brandon Sanders

Casey Stephenson

Ethan Torres

Alex Twiford

Nnamdi Unachukwu

Gerrit Van Itallie