READING, Pa. – The Albright College football team (1-0), in front of a raucous crowd at Shirk Stadium took down the Gallaudet Bison (0-1) 17-6 to start the season on a high note.
Logan Rothberg and
John Boston both found the endzone to lead the Lions past the Bison.
Tonight's meeting between the two sides was the first since 1927 and the first time Albright has played an ECFC team since 2015.
Albright won tonight's game 17-6 for their first win since September, 18, 2021 when Albright beat Alvernia 31-21. The win breaks a steak of 27 straight loses for the Lions.
Head coach
Isaac Collins has made improvements on and off the field since his hiring in February of 2022. Tonight, the hard work paid off for the leader of the Albright football program picking up his first win as head coach of Albright.
New coordinators,
Tom Pajic (offense) and
Mark Fetterman (Defense) both had their respective units ready to play from the first whistle to the last.
Albright got on the board first with one second remaining in the opening frame. Starting quarterback
Alex Gardsy made one of the best throws you will see to wide out
Logan Rothberg. Gardsy, rolling to his right lofted a ball to Rothberg in the back corner of the endzone for the score. Gardsy placed the ball perfectly to allow Rothberg to come down with the catch.
Gardsy ended with 82 yards in the air to go with a touchdown pass while adding 15 yards on the ground. Rothberg led the receiving core with three catches and 32 yards and a score.
The Lions touchdown in the first quarter held to halftime. Albright led 7-0 after 30 minutes of play.
Defense came to play in the opening half forcing Gallaudet into two fumbles. Albright fell on the ball both times,
Jamal Charles was credited with both fumble recoveries.
The Bison took a kick back to make the game 7-6 in favor of the Lions midway through the third quarter. Just before the fourth quarter got underway, Albright added a field goal to extend their lead to 10-6. Lion kicker
Antonio Vasquez was 1/1 in field goals and 2/2 in extra points.
John Boston introduced himself to the Albright faithful throughout the game but especially in the fourth quarter. Boston took a hand-off and went untouched into the endzone with 3:51 to play to push the lead to 17-6 Albright.
Boston made dazzling run after dazzling run tonight giving the Lions a tremendous ground game. The first-year tailback totaled 88 yards on 16 carries averaging 5.5 yards a rush. As a team, Albright rushed for 146 yards.
The defense was called upon once again to close out the game and did just that. On third and fourth down on the ensuing Bison possession,
Terrell Bartee was a man on a mission recording sacks on back to back plays to seal the victory for Albright.
Jeremiah Diaz averaged nearly 10 yards a carry behind an offensive line that got great push off the ball all night allowing the Lions tailbacks to enter the second level of the Bison defense on multiple occasions. Diaz finished with 39 yards on four carries.
Kyle Sapovchak hauled in three catches for 22 yards. Sapovchak's best play of the night came on a fake punt run play by Albright which Sapovchak converted with ease.
Samuel Moratori was flying around the field defensively blowing up multiple plays in the Bison backfield. The Lion safety finished with a team high 11 tackles.
Darien Osmun totaled six tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, a sack and a pass broken up. As a team Albright finished with 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and two fumbles forced. Additionally, the Lions did not allow a touchdown on defense.
Up Next:
Albright will be on the road for their next two games starting next weekend at FDU-Florham. Albright will look to go 2-0 on Saturday, September 14 against the Devils. Kick-off is set for a 12:00 p.m. start time from FDU-Florham.
