WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away with a 42-10 victory over the Colgate football team Saturday night at Polar Park.

Holy Cross (5-2, 2-0 PL) got off to a quick start scoring on their first two possessions jumping out to a 14-0 lead. The first drive only took 2:18, going 75 yards in six plays ending in a 22-yard touchdown run by Peter Oliver. The senior running back went on to rush for a career high 153 yards. After a Colgate punt, Tyler Purdy punched it in from 4 yards out to cap off a 7-play, 53-yard drive. 

Colgate (2-6, 2-1 PLL) got on the board in the second quarter thanks to a 25-yard field goal by Spencer Biscoe. The Raiders were set up inside the 10 after a muffed punt by Holy Cross and a recovery by Milton Braasch II. On the ensuing possession, Holy Cross marched down the field and took a 21-3 lead on a Jordan Fuller three-yard plunge. 

The Colgate highlight of the night came next. William Gruber returned a kick 99 yards down the sideline sprinting right into the record books. No player in Colgate history has two longer kick returns for a touchdown in a single season than the senior from Hermitage, Pa.

Gruber outdid himself last week by a whole yard going 100 yards to paydirt against Cornell. The starting defensive back ties the Patriot League record with two kick returns for a TD in a single season. Dante Ross did it one game for Bucknell in 2004 and Matt Smalley accomplished the feat for Lafayette in 2013.

After halftime, a muffed kickoff by one of the Colgate upbacks turned into a quick seven for Holy Cross.  On the first play from scrimmage, Matthew Sluka scampered 35 yards into the end zone on the quarterback keeper.  A Grant Breneman interception set up Holy Cross inside the red zone, but Colgate's J.T. Hower returned the favor recording his first career interception at the one-yard line.

Overall, the second half was dominated by Holy Cross outscoring the Raiders 21-0 for a final tally of 42-10.

Holy Cross grinded out 359 yards on the ground, the first time the Crusaders had over 300 yards rushing in a game since October 27, 2018.  While Colgate was held to a season low in yards passing with 59 and total offense at 170.

This game was played in front of a sold-out crowd at the home of the Worcester Red Sox, Polar Park.   This is only the third time a Patriot League football game has been played at a baseball stadium.  The other two were at Yankee Stadium pitting Lafayette-Lehigh and Holy Cross-Fordham.

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Stan Dakosty
"Holy Cross did a great job. We got outplayed. Will Gruber did a great job in the kickoff return but besides that they beat us in all three phases. That's not Colgate football. We got a lot of work to do and it all starts with me. We'll get it fixed and we have a big game coming up next week. We got to get this back on track."  
 
UP NEXT
Colgate is coming home for the first time in October. After four straight on the road, the Raiders host Bucknell at 1 p.m. Saturday at Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium.