READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions football team was unable to overcome a relentless Widener passing attack as they fell 59-34 to the Pride on Saturday afternoon in MAC play for the 69^th annual Rajah Shrine Pretzel Bowl.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 0-7 overall and 0-5 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Pride snaps a three-game losing streak by improving to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
 
Senior quarterback Jimmy Lahay finished the game 31-of-53 for a career-high 403 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. The 53 attempts is the third-most by an Albright quarterback for a single-game in program history. Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Zehner earned Albright Pretzel Bowl Team MVP honors after setting career-highs with 12 catches for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Zack Miller tallied 124 receiving yards on eight catches and one touchdown, while sophomore Malik Bootman tallied 88 yards on eight catches. Sophomore running back Tony Thorpe led the Lions in rushing with 80 yards on 26 carries with one touchdown.
 
The Lions forced a three-and-out on the Prides opening possession of the game, and drove into Widener territory on its first drive. However, a dropped pass on 4^th down halted the Lion drive at the Pride 27-yard line. The Pride began getting its passing game going as two big completions set Widener up for its first touchdown to make it 7-0 at the 9:24 mark of the first quarter. Each team traded punts on their next series before Albright marched back into Widener territory. The Lions got to the three-yard line before Thorpe fumbled the hand off to give the ball to the Pride. Widener used its passing game to get into the red zone, but the Lions were able to hold the Pride to three points on a 25-yard field goal to make it a 10-0 game at the 10:57-mark of the second quarter.
 
Lahay fumbled on the first play of the Lions next drive, and Widener needed just two plays to go up 17-0 on a one-yard touchdown from James Gillespie. Albright got on the board on its next series as Lahay found Miller over the middle for a 65-yard touchdown pass to cut the Pride's lead down to 17-7 at the 9:21-mark of the second quarter. Pride quarterback Sean McGaughey found Gillespie twice on long passes on their next drive, with the second resulting in a touchdown to put the Pride back up 17 points at 24-7. Albright went three-and-out on its next offensive series, and managed to stop the Pride in their own territory on their next drive despite a roughing the punter penalty. The Lions used momentum from the stop to drive 94 yards on 10 plays, and make it a 24-14 game following a one-yard touchdown from Thorpe.
 
The Lions got the ball to start the second half, but saw any continued momentum from the end of the first half vanish when Lahay got picked off at midfield. The interception was returned to the Lions 24-yard line, and McGaughey needed just one play to put the Pride up 31-14 on a pass to Ty Holbert. Albright looked to respond by driving into Pride territory, but were again stopped on 4^th down. Widener took to the air on its next drive again, and made it a 38-14 game at the 6:56-mark of the third quarter on an 11-yard strike from McGaughey to Gillespie. First-year safety Kyle Komanitsky picked off McGaughey on the next Pride drive, but a Thorpe fumble set the Pride up at the Lions 12-yard line. McGaughey found Zack Vanscovich for a 12-yard score to make it 45-14. Widener added another score following a Lions three-and-out to make it 52-14 at the 14:37-mark of the fourth quarter. Albright finally ended the 28-point run from the Pride as Lahay found Zehner for a 21-yard touchdown at the 12:16-mark of the fourth quarter. The extra point was blocked, and the Pride added one last touchdown on their next drive after being set up with good field position to go up 59-20.
 
Lahay opened the next series with a 31-yard strike to Roselli to set the Lions up in Pride territory. He then capped the drive with a 10-yard strike to Zehner to make it a 59-28 game after a two-point conversion. First-year Matt McWilliams intercepted McGaughey on the Pride's next drive, and ran the ball back to the Pride 20-yard line. Lahay found Zehner for one more touchdown to bring the final score to 59-34.
 
Four players each tallied six tackles to lead the Lions on defense with senior Kaamal Stewart tallying four solo tackles and a forced fumble. McGaughey finished with seven touchdown passes and went 21-of-41 for 453 yards. Holbert led the Pride with six catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns, while Gillespie added eight catches for 140 yards and three touchdowns. Ken Davis led the Pride on defense with 13 tackles (seven solo) and 0.5 TFL.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, November 2^nd as they will travel to face King's at 1 p.m.