Moon Township, Pa. – A 38-yard field goal from
Nick Bisceglia helped the
Robert Morris University football team earn a 20-17 victory over Saint Francis in overtime Saturday at DeGol Field. The Colonials improved to 2-1 on its current four-game road trip, 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the Northeast Conference.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trevor Thompson missed a 26-yard field goal wide right in the first overtime for Saint Francis. The missed opportunity seemed to energize the RMU defense, which garnered a takeaway on the next possession by the Red Flash.
Jared Harris forced a Jason Brown fumble on 3rd-and-16 from the Robert Morris 37-yard line, with
Garret Fairman coming up with his second fumble recovery of the afternoon. Four plays later, Bisceglia atoned for a missed 42-yard field goal on RMU's first possession of overtime with the game winner.
BATTLING BACK
The Colonials trailed, 10-3, at halftime, and also fell behind, 17-10, with 5:34 to play after a 14-yard touchdown run from SFU's Chris Wells. The Red Flash also owned possession with 3:26 to go, but the Robert Morris defense hung tough, giving the ball back to the offense with just under two minutes to go. The Colonials capitalized, converting two fourth downs during a drive that was capped with a 13-yard touchdown pass from
Caleb Lewis to
Matthew Gonzalez.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED PART DEUX
Faced with its second situation on fourth down in the final drive of regulation, Lewis hit
DeLano Madison for a 19-yard completion to the SFU 38-yard line. The Red Flash were also hit with a face mask penalty, giving RMU another 15 yards and setting up the Colonials just outside the red zone.
SNAPPING STREAKS
Robert Morris picked up its first NEC win since 2016 thanks to the victory and snapped a 14-game slide against league opposition. It also marks RMU's first conference road win since a 9-6 triumph at Wagner Oct. 3, 2015. Finally, the Colonials snapped a seven-game losing streak to its Keystone State rivals while improving to 12-12 (.500) all-time in league openers, including 8-3 (.727) on the road.
IN RELIEF
Lewis finished 9-for-22 passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns after coming on in relief for
George Martin. In addition to his touchdown pass to Gonzalez, Lewis hit
Tim Vecchio for a 32-yard score with 1:03 left in the third quarter that tied the game, 10-10. Vecchio finished with six receptions for 94 yards against the Red Flash.
BUZZFEED
In the middle of a stellar defensive effort for Robert Morris was linebacker
Aniello Buzzacco, who registered a career-high 17 tackles against Saint Francis, including seven solo takedowns. Safety
Mason Gray, meanwhile, finished with 13 solo stops and 15 tackles overall against the Red Flash, marking the second time in 2019 he has recorded at least 15 takedowns. Also finishing with a double-digit tackle performance at DeGol Field was
Heavon Price with 10 stops.
FOUR IN A ROW
Running back
Alijah Jackson reached rarified air against Saint Francis, becoming the fifth student-athlete in program history to record four consecutive 100-yard rushing games. Jackson finished with 110 yards on the ground on 26 attempts, an average of 4.2 yards per carry. He joins a list that includes former running backs Tim Hall, Donald Dorsey, Sam Dorsett and Myles Russ.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Football is a game that includes three phases, and sophomore
George Souders III played a key role for Robert Morris in its win against SFU. He finished with 272 yards on seven punts against the Red Flash but more importantly pinned Saint Francis inside its own 20-yard line five times.
UP NEXT
RMU concludes a four-game road trip Saturday, Oct. 19, with a Noon kickoff at Wagner.
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