OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Triston Harris threw two touchdown passes,
James Gillespie caught a touchdown pass, and
Mario Scotese put together a standout defensive performance, but the Widener football team could not come away with a victory on Saturday as it dropped a 29-24 contest to Stevenson in its MAC game at Mustang Stadium.
The loss put the Pride at 6-2 overall on the year and 4-2 in MAC play.
The Pride had led the Mustangs, 17-7, through the first quarter and 17-14 at halftime. They built their lead after Harris found Gillespie for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 7:38 left in the first quarter and Harris threw a 37-yard TD strike to
Joe Bristow six minutes later. Gillespie's TD reception moved him into a tie for third place on Widener's all-time reception TDs list.
In the second half, the Mustangs rallied to take a 24-17 lead by scoring on a field goal and a 30-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Pride tied the game at 24 after
Colin Murt blocked a Stevenson punt on fourth down in which
Danny Dutkiewicz recovered at the Stevenson 16-yard line and
Shawn Thompson ran the ball for a 16-yard TD on the first play of Widener's ensuing drive.
The Pride kept the game tied in the fourth quarter after forcing the Mustangs to punt on their next two possessions. During those possessions, Scotese wreaked havoc on the Stevenson offense, making 2.5 of his career-high 3.5 sacks on the day, including a sack on third-and-8 on the second drive to force Stevenson to punt.
However, Stevenson pinned the Pride on their own 1-yard line and recorded a safety two plays later to take a 26-24 lead with 3:10 left that it would not relinquish. The Mustangs added a field goal with 1:55 left to round out the scoring.
BY THE NUMBERS
- In addition to his 3.5 sacks on the day, Scotese made a career-high four tackles for loss and finished with seven tackles (five solo, two assisted). The Trappe, Pa. native now ranks first in the Middle Atlantic Conference in tackles for loss (14), sacks (nine), total yards lost (87), and tackles for loss per game (2.0).
- Michael Schoenleber also stood out on the Pride's defense, making a team-high 11 tackles (eight solo, three assisted). The Ambler Pa. native also had one tackle for loss and one pass breakup.
- The Pride now have 26 sacks as a team this year, leading the MAC.
- Gillespie is now tied for third place on Widener's all-time reception TDs list with Jim Jones, who had 30 TD catches from 1999-01. The Huntingdon Valley, Pa. native currently trails Michael Coleman (44 from 1998-2001) and Anthony Davis (41 from 2011-14) on the list.
- Harris finished with 273 yards on 17-of-30 passing. Along with his two TD passes, Harris had a 52-yard completion to Ty Holbert in the game.
UP NEXT
The Pride will have a bye week before facing Lycoming on Nov. 6 in its final home game of the season.
