Connor Rogowsky forces and recovers fumble to close out the win; D.J. MacDonald scores in OT

BOX SCORE

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (October 11, 2013) – Running back D.J. MacDonald (Mattapoisett, Mass.) scored on an 11-yard touchdown run in the first overtime, and defensive back Connor Rogowsky (Nashua, N.H.) followed by forcing and recovering a fumble two plays later on Penn’s OT possession, to lift the Franklin Pierce University sprint football team to a thrilling 33-27 come-from-behind win on Friday night at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

The win was Franklin Pierce’s second straight – marking the first winning streak in program history – as the Ravens improved to 3-2 overall. The Quakers fell to 2-2 with the setback.

Friday’s win also enabled the Ravens to pull off a three-game season sweep of the Ivy League opponents in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL). Franklin Pierce downed Cornell, 13-6, in the Allegiance Bowl on Sept. 21, and started this current winning streak with a dominating 66-12 triumph at Princeton last Friday.

To say this Friday’s game was a wild affair would have been an understatement. The final few minutes of the fourth quarter and the handful of snaps in overtime were filled with dizzying plays. And all that came after the Ravens had mounted a huge comeback after trailing 21-6 in the first half.

Rogowsky made the play of the game on the final snap as he stripped the ball from Freddy Ordonez, who had caught a little one-yard pass in front of the defensive back. Rogowsky jumped on the loose ball, and the Ravens had returned the favor to the Quakers following Penn’s last-second Hail Mary win in Oakmont last season.

Rogowsky’s strip and recovery came just two plays after MacDonald barreled his way in for the go-ahead touchdown from 11 yards out.

The game almost didn’t make it to overtime, as the Ravens lined up for a potential game-winning 40-yard field goal by Tyler Holdsworth (New Bedford, Mass.) on the final play of regulation. However, a rash of Quaker defenders busted through the line to block the kick to force the extra stanza. The Ravens got themselves into position to attempt the game-winning kick thanks in large part to a 33-yard pass completion from Ryan O’Kelly (West Warwick, R.I.) to Michael Holdridge (Peru, N.Y.), and a 15-yard pass interference call on Penn.

Holdsworth’s miss came just moments after Penn kicker Aron Morgan sent a 48-yard attempt wide right, which would have staked the Quakers to a 30-27 lead with 1:50 remaining.

O’Kelly and Holdridge played pitch and catch all night, as the Ravens were able to knot the score at 27-all with 5:35 remaining on a 20-yard scoring strike between the two, followed by a two-point conversion sneak by the rookie quarterback.

MacDonald, the reigning CSFL offensive player of the week, turned in yet another fine performance as he ripped off 95 yards on the ground with that winning touchdown. His total was part of a 210-yard rushing effort by the Ravens, who ultimately ended with 452 yards of total offense.

O’Kelly ran for a team-high 98 yards and two scores, while also going 13-for-38 for 242 yards, three TD tosses and no interceptions. Holdridge snagged five passes for 113 yards and the tying score.

Penn took the early lead on a Mike Beamish two-yard touchdown run a little more than a minute into the game, but the Ravens were quick to answer thanks to the defensive and offensive efforts of sophomore Mike Abrams (Newark, N.J.).

Abrams blocked a Quaker punt on Penn’s next series, and two players took a toss and raced through the Quakers’ secondary for a 17-yard touchdown run to pull Franklin Pierce to within 7-6.

The momentum was short-lived as a pair of Mike McCurdy touchdown tosses bridged the first and second quarters to stake Penn to a 21-6 lead. McCurdy threw for 314 yards on 23-of-47 passing.

O’Kelly scored on an 11-yard run late in the second to get the Ravens to within eight at 21-13, but Penn tacked on an Aron Morgan 39-yard field goal in the closing seconds to put the Quakers up 11 at halftime.

The third quarter was a mirror image of the second with O’Kelly scoring on a 31-yard run to make it 24-19, only to see Morgan drill a 34-yarder to put the Quakers up by eight.

Sophomore linebacker James Willette (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) led the Ravens’ defense with 10 tackles, while Abrams followed with six. Defensive lineman Shawn Wright (Hartford, Conn.) notched a pair of sacks in the process.

Franklin Pierce returns to action next Saturday when the Ravens play host to Mansfield (Pa.) at 7 p.m. at Arthur Hurd Field at Oakmont Regional H.S. in Ashburnham, Mass. The game will mark the inaugural primetime home football contest in program history.

For more information on Franklin Pierce sprint football, please visit the team’s page at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce sprint football apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)