CHESTER, Pa. - James Gillespie caught six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns and the Widener football team posted a 17-0 victory on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Elizabeth J. Hirschmann Field at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.
With the victory, the Pride pushed their record to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in MAC play. The Pride are currently in a tie for second place in the MAC with Lycoming and FDU-Florham.
Before the game, the Pride honored 27 seniors – Davon Bess, Joey Bristow, Andrew Cardinali, Keith Cheek, Jr., Tahir Cruse, Jason Eckman, Larry Eimer, Neil Erickson, Ben Gates, Eric Graff, Gillespie, Kendall Jones, Anthony Jordan, Brendan Kearns, Matt Konzelman, Owen Kramer, Anthony Liberatoscioli, Trevor Mavromihalis, Mike Pawlowski, Devon Rand, Adam Robinson, Sean Sabo, Salekri Sayeh, Mario Scotese, Stecklein, Brett Vince, and Nick Werkheiser – for their efforts over the last four years for the program.
The Pride delivered an impressive victory for these seniors, as they posted their first shutout victory since Oct. 27, 2018 when they won 51-0 over Alvernia.
The Pride posted the victory thanks to the dynamic duo of Gillespie and quarterback Triston Harris.
With the Pride leading, 3-0, Gillespie caught a ball down the middle of the field from Harris for a 23-yard touchdown to give Widener a 10-0 lead with 7:09 left in the third quarter. Then, Gillespie caught his sixth and final pass of the day on a 53-yard strike from Harris on the Pride's first play of its second drive of the fourth quarter to put the Pride up three scores.
From there, the Pride defense took over, as Mario Scotese sacked Lycoming quarterback Elijah Shemory and forced a fumble on the play, allowing Nick Werkheiser to recover the ball. Then on Lycoming's next possession, Cade Brennan and Mike Pawlowski each had a sack to force the Warriors to punt, allowing the Pride to run out the clock for the win.
By the Numbers
- With his 147 receiving yards, Gillespie posted his 10th 100-yard receiving game of his career to move into a tie for fourth on Widener's all-time list in that category. He now trails only Anthony Davis (19 from 2011-14), Jim Jones (17 from 1999-01), and Michael Coleman (15 from 1998-01).
- Gillespie also moved into third-place all-time on Widener's receiving touchdowns list. The Huntingdon Valley, Pa. native now has 32 TDs for his career.
- Scotese registered his 10th sack of the season for the Pride. The Trappe, Pa., native also recovered a fumble on a Brayden Strouse strip sack in the fourth quarter.
- The Pride now have 31 sacks as a team this year, leading the MAC.
Of note
- The win was the 717th win in Widener football history
- The win was the 12th victory of Mike Barainyak's career
UP NEXT
The Pride will travel to Doylestown to play No. 7/No. 9 Delaware Valley in the battle for the annual Keystone Cup. Kickoff is set for noon.
