The Dickinson Red Devils football team closed out the season with a tough loss at Ursinus College, falling to the Bears 37-14 in Collegeville.

The teams traded touchdowns on their opening possessions as Corey Kelly put the hosts on the board with a 21-yard run into the end zone to cap off a 75-yard drive. Dickinson countered right away as Billy Burger ’19 completed a pass to Jake Walbert ’19  from 28 yards out to tie the game at 7 with 8:38 remaining in the first quarter.

Ursinus quarterback Thomas Garlick rushed for a 4-yard touchdown early in the second quarter and threw for another with just eight seconds remaining in the half to put the Bears in front, 21-7 at halftime.

James Ward ’17 had a solid return to open the second half, putting the Red Devils on the 31-yard line. Moments later though, the Bears returned an interception to the Dickinson 18 yard line and punched the ball into the end zone just two plays later.

The teams punted back and forth before the Bears pinned Dickinson on their own 1-yard line. Jordan Hollander ’20 came on at quarterback and moved the Red Devils out of danger but a fumble moved the ball back and led to a safety as Ursinus blocked a Dickinson punt out of the end zone.

The Bears then returned the ensuing kick 80 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 37-7 with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter.

The Red Devils capitalized on a turnover as Ned Emala ’17  sacked Richard Coia and recovered a fumble at the 28-yard line. Burger connected with Ward for a touchdown on the next play, bringing the final score to 37-14, as neither team was able to put any more points on the board in the final two minutes.

For the Bears, Garlick completed 20-of-28 passes for 190 yards and ran for 48. Carmen Fortino made 10 catches for 87 yards while Michael Narvid led the defense with eight tackle and two sacks.

Bryan Latorraca ‘18 led the Devils with a game-high 14 tackles while Pat Irwin ’17 and James Turner ’20 made 13 and 12, respectively.

Burger threw for 92 yards and two touchdowns while Stephen Black ’17 rushed for 60 on the day. Ward added three kick-off returns for 66 yards to raise his school record to 95 career returns for 1,976 yards.

The Red Devils finished the season 1-9 overall and 1-8 in the Centennial Conference.

The highlight of the season came with Dickinson’s double overtime win over archrival Gettysburg College.

The Red Devils averaged 256.5 yards per game in the 2016 season, with 102.7 and 153.8 rushing and passing, respectively. They ranked 3rd in field goal kicking, converting 7 of their 8 attempts. Burger ended the season as the Red Devils’ leader in both passing and rushing, gaining 489 yards on the ground along with 7 touch downs. He also totaled 1457 yards and 6 touch downs through the air. Walbert led Dickinson’s receiving corp, hauling in 41 passes for 661 yards and 4 touch downs.

On the defensive side, Dickinson’s pass defense finished the season ranked fourth in the conference, allowing only 212.5 yards per game and tallying 8 interceptions on the year. They totaled 16 sacks for a total of 76 yards. Erik Detloff ‘18 led the Red Devils in interceptions with 3, tying several other players for eighth most in the conference.

Stephen Walker ’19 led the conference in punt yardage, racking up 2962 yards on 76 punts. He was also first in the conference in PAT percentage, converting all of his attempts.