Holy Cross takes advantage of Bucknell miscues to win PL title

Apr. 18—LEWISBURG — On the first play of his first collegiate start on Saturday — which just so happened to be in the Patriot League championship — Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka was sacked. On the second play, he was stuffed for no gain on a quarterback run.

On third-and-16 from his own 9-yard line, the freshman from New York scrambled for 27 yards, the first of many key plays at key moments for the Crusaders in the title game at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. He later ran for a score on the game's first drive to ignite Holy Cross.

Sluka and Holy Cross made big plays when they had to in a 33-10 win over Bucknell, taking advantage of five Bison turnovers as Bob Chesney's squad won its second league title in the Lourdes Regional graduate's three seasons as coach. Holy Cross (3-0) earned the league's automatic bid to the FCS tournament. The NCAA will announce the 16-team bracket today with the title game scheduled for May 15. Bucknell, the South Division champion, ends the season 2-2.

"It feels awesome to come back here and win," said Chesney, who played for his father at Lourdes Regional before playing collegiately at Dickinson. "I wish some of my buddies could have been here. But we have all we need right here."

It was a disappointing end for the Bison, coach Dave Cecchini said. Picked to finish last in the preseason poll, Bucknell reached the title game with wins over rivals Lehigh and Lafayette. In back-to-back losses over the last two Saturdays, turnovers spelled trouble.

Bucknell threw five interceptions on Saturday. Almost every time the Bison made a mistake, Holy Cross took advantage. Over the course of the game, Holy Cross got the ball on Bucknell's 20-yard line, 15, 45 and 20, and its own 49 on another possession. On those five series, the Crusaders scored 31 points.

"A few weeks or months from now, maybe I'll be able to look back and appreciate what we accomplished," Cecchini said. "Right now I feel awful. I feel like I let the team down with what we called or what I said before the game."

Sluka, who was the Patriot League's Rookie of the Year despite throwing just three passes in Holy Cross's two wins, hit on 10-of-13 passes, including a touchdown and ran for two scores. He was able to take advantage of a long delay — Saturday's game was the first for Holy Cross since March 27 — to get acclimated to the playbook and prepare.

"His first meeting with us wasn't until Jan. 19," Chesney said of Sluka. "But we knew what kind of player he was.

He set the tone right away Saturday. After his scramble on third-and-long, he hit Jalen Coker for 31 yards on another broken play before sweeping in from 6 yards out and a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

"That was a microcosm of the entire game," Cecchini said of the first drive. "You need to possess the ball to win football games, and we just didn't do that early."

Holy Cross dominated the first quarter, racing out to a 17-0 lead. In the first 15 minutes, the Crusaders outgained the Bison 142-0, running 25 plays to Bucknell's six. After Bucknell threw an interception on the second play of its first series, Holy Cross pushed the lead to 10 on a field goal. Following another three-and-out, Holy Cross drove 51 yards on a dozen plays with Sluka hitting Byron Shipman on a slant from the 6 to make it 17-0.

The Bison defense held its own in the second quarter, holding the Crusaders to 29 total yards, as the offense found some footing. Bucknell picked up three first downs on its first drive of the quarter before it stalled out. Momentum later tilted Bucknell's way when Brent Jackson dug a muffed punt by Holy Cross out of a pile. Two plays later senior quarterback Logan Bitikofer hit Dominic Lyles for 32 yards, and Bitikofer walked in around the right end to make it 17-7 at the break.

Bucknell used another special teams blunder to creep closer in the third quarter. The Bison used a running into the kicker penalty to extend the opening drive of the half, capping a 14-play drive with a 28-yard Ethan Torres field goal to make it 17-10.

Feeling the momentum, Cecchini opted for a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. Holy Cross's Anthony Leo recovered it, and three plays later Peter Oliver raced untouched for 37 yards to make it 24-10.

"It was an aggressive call, but I am an aggressive coach," Cecchini said of the onside kick. "We executed that play a lot, and we were an inch away from getting it."

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Patriot League Championship

Holy Cross (3-0);17;0;7;9 — 33

Bucknell (2-2);0;7;3;0 — 10

First quarter

HC—Matthew Sluka 6 run (Derek Ng kick) 10:29

HC—FG, Ng 26, 8:05.

HC—Byron Shipman 6 pass from Sluka (Ng kick) 0:06.

Second quarter

B—Logan Bitikofer 3 run (Ethan Torres kick), 4:20

Third quarter

B—FG, Torres 28, 9:11

HC—Peter Oliver 37 run (Ng kick), 8:13

Fourth quarter

HC—Sluka 15 run (Ng kick), 10:51

HC—Safety, punt snap out of end zone, 9:07

TEAM STATISTICS

;HC;B

First downs;14;20

Rushes-yards;47-192;28-22

Passing;10-13-1;23-46-5

Passing yards;97;195

Fumbles-lost;2-1;1-0

Penalties;7-76;2-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Holy Cross: Oliver, 8-67, TD; Sluka, 18-61, 2 TDs; Jonathan Abrams, 13-51; Mack Korteben, 4-14; Spencer Gilliam, 1-3; Connor Degenhardt, 1-(-1); Team, 2-(-3). Bucknell: Jared Cooper, 11-34; Coleman Bennett, 9-34; Team, 1-(-10); Bitikofer, 7-(-36).

PASSING — Holy Cross: Sluka, 8-11-1, for 78 yards, TD; Degenhardt, 2-2-0, 19 yards. Bucknell: Bitikofer, 23-45-5, for 195 yards; John McGuire, 0-1-0.

RECEIVING — Holy Cross: Sean Morris, 3-18; Alex Sloan, 2-19; Gilliam, 2-9; Jalen Coker, 1-34; Jack Jewell, 1-11; Byron Shipman, 1-6, TD. Bucknell: Dominic Lyles, 9-97; Brandon Sanders, 6-46; Bennett, 2-10; Alex Twiford, 2-4; Christian Tait, 1-16; Jared Cooper, 1-11; McGuire, 1-7; Simon Behr, 1-4.