Moon Township, Pa. – The Bryant Bulldogs scored the last 21 points of the game to pull away from the
Robert Morris University football team in a 42-21 game at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township on a frigid Saturday afternoon. The Colonials slip to 2-8 overall and 0-5 in the Northeast Conference with the setback in their final home game of 2017.
RMU received season-best performances from quarterback
Jimmy Walker and cornerback
Heavon Price in the loss. Walker went 25-48 for 314 yards and a pair of touchdowns throwing the ball. He is the first Colonials quarterback to eclipse the 300-yard mark since Paul Jones tallied 321 yards against VMI in 2013. Walker hit
Tim Vecchio five times for 71 yards,
Brandon Magee five times for 70 yards and
Matthew Gonzalez five times for 69 yards. The offense tallied 333 yards in total.
Price, making his fourth start of the season, was a menace in the secondary. He had two interceptions – returning one for 17 yards – forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and recorded nine solo tackles. Junior linebacker
Adam Wollet had 11 tackles, his sixth game with double-digit stops, while freshman linebacker
Brayden Thimons had 10 stops in his first start.
After a first quarter that featured eight fruitless drives, four for each team, Bryant got on the board with 14:09 to play in the second quarter when Price Wilson found Tom Kennedy for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Kennedy finished with a game-high seven receptions for 60 yards and Wilson 23 of 37 attempts for 236 yards.
The Colonials defense set up the team's first touchdown of the game when
Drew Allen stripped the ball from Wilson and Price recovered at the Bulldogs 41-yard line. On the first offensive play of the next series, Walker floated a pass down the middle to wide open Vecchio who jogged in for the 41-yard score. Bryant pulled ahead with 8:34 left in the opening half as Wilson rambled 10 yards to cap an 11-play, 84 yard drive.
Price was again responsible for putting the offense in position to find paydirt. The redshirt-sophomore picked off a pass at the Colonials 44-yard line. Walker converted on the turnover as he capped the drive with back-to-back completions to Gonzalez, the final pass going for seven yards and a score to knot the game, 14-14, at halftime.
Bryant score the only points of the third quarter when Alfred Dorbor rolled into the endzone from three yards out to cap an eight play, 75-yard drive that spanned 4:17 seconds. Robert Morris responded with a workman-like drive that covered 74 yards and 12 plays that was highlighted by a 25-yard completion to tight end
Reggie Green. Freshman kicker
Nick Bisceglia finished the march with a 19-yard field goal.
It was all Bulldogs from that point on, starting with the ensuing kickoff. Jean Constant fielded the kickoff at his own 14 before jetting 86 yards down the right sideline to put the visitors ahead, 28-17, with 13:59 to play. Bryant added another score with 35 seconds left as Jake Wiswall ran in from six yards and made it 42-17 when Walker was strip-sacked by Thomas Costigan and Peter Corbett recovered in the touchdown.
Robert Morris wraps up the 2017 season next Saturday, Nov. 18, at Central Connecticut against the league-leading Blue Devils. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon.
