Interceptions plague McDaniel, help Ursinus to 42-10 win
WESTMINSTER, Md. – Ryan VanWright had two interceptions and returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown to lead Ursinus to a 42-10 win over McDaniel in Centennial Conference (CC) football action on Saturday.
The Bears (6-1, 4-1 CC) picked off four passes by the Green Terror (1-6, 1-4 CC), turning those into 28 points in their first victory in Westminster since 1993 – a stretch of seven games.
Ursinus had a balanced attack on offense, running for 153 yards and throwing for 160 yards that included a 14-for-15, three-touchdown performance from Nicholas Dye.
McDaniel mustered just 10 yards in the passing game with its three quarterbacks going a combined 4-for-18. T.J. Develin (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area) led a rushing attack that gained 175 yards with 62 yards on a career-high 18 carries, a number that doubled his previous career best.
Taking over at the McDaniel 26 on the first VanWright interception, Dye needed just four plays and 1 minute, 33 seconds to put the visitors on top, 7-0.
Two drives later and taking over at their own 37, the Bears matched 63 yards on 10 plays for its longest scoring drive of the afternoon, capped by a Mark Jaskowski four-yard run with 1:02 to play in the quarter.
Jaskowski, filling in for Ursinus’ leading rusher Aaron Harper, finished with career-high 67 rushing yards. Jaskowski had 30 of those yards on the long drive.
Two plays into the next Green Terror drive, Zach Swope (Jessup, Md./Hammond) threw his second interception, which VanWright returned 49 yards to give the Bears possession at the McDaniel 8.
Dye found Keith Mazonkey on the next play and Erich Wolf converted his third PAT of the quarter to give Ursinus a 28-0 lead after 15 minutes.
With 1:31 remaining in the first half, VanWright returned a punt 61 yard to stake the Bears to a 28-0 halftime advantage.
A third interception on the Green Terror’s first drive of the second half gave Ursinus the ball at the McDaniel 36.
After a Jaskowski eight-yard run and Dye seven-yard scamper, Dye found Carl Scholl from 21 yards out to stretch the lead to 35-0.
After a punt and turnovers on three consecutive possessions, the Green Terror took over at the Bear 19, managed eight yards on six plays to set up a Jay Leonard (Westminster, Md./Westminster) 28-yard field goal.
Travis Wenrich (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad Weiser) opened the fourth quarter with his first collegiate punt return for a touchdown, taking the kick back 76 yards to pull the hosts within 35-10 with 12:06 to play.
A fourth interception gave Ursinus the ball at the McDaniel 24, allowing Wolf to engineer a five-play drive, capped with a nine-yard scoring pass to Scholl for the final margin.
Bryan Letourneau (Damascus, Md./Damascus) had a game-high 11 tackles to lead the Green Terror. He also recovered two fumbles. Chris Frank and Mike Kimpel had nine tackles apiece.
The Green Terror returns to action at home against Franklin & Marshall on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
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