Box Score WORCESTER, MASS. – Colgate played sixth-ranked Holy Cross even through the first quarter, but the four-time defending Patriot League champion Crusaders pulled away for a 47-7 victory in the opening League game for both teams.

Holy Cross scored on a 47-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the game going 79 yards in six plays. Tyler Purdy took an off-tackle play to the house with just 2:14 gone in the contest.

Colgate responded with an 18-play, 76-yard drive over the next nine minutes to tie the score at seven. Quarterback Michael Brescia was 7 of 8 passing on the drive for 53 yards and tied the game with his legs on an eight-yard run with 3:45 left on the first quarter clock.

On its first possession of the second quarter, Colgate turned over the ball on downs at midfield with Brescia losing two yards on a 4^th and one attempt. Seven plays later the Crusaders took the lead on a 1-yard run by Jordan Fuller. Holy Cross did all the damage on the ground rushing for all 48 yards on the drive, 46 of them courtesy of Fuller.

Following a Colgate punt Holy Cross increased the lead with a 29-yard Matt Sluka to Justin Shorter strike. The two-point conversion failed resulting in a 20-7 Crusader advantage with 4:30 left in the half.

Following a short Colgate punt the Crusaders took over with 1:36 left in the half on their own 35. It took Sluka only 70 seconds to drive Holy Cross to paydirt, connecting with Jalen Coker from the two. The two-point conversion attempt again failed giving the Crusaders a 26-7 halftime advantage. Sluka was 4-5 on the possession for 46 yards and rushed for an additional 12.

Colgate went three and out following the second half kickoff and a 14-yard punt gave the Crusaders the ball on the Raider 30. Two Fuller runs and a pass interference penalty gave Holy Cross the ball on the four and following a loss of two yards, Sluka connected with Coker over the middle. The kick extended the Crusader lead to 33-7 three minutes into the second half.

Shelby Pruett drilled a 50-yard punt to the Holy Cross six-yard line. Following a loss of two yards on first down, Fuller went 42 yards up the middle. The 94-yard drive was completed When Sluka found Shorter for a 37-yard catch and run. The good PAT moved the advantage to 40-7 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.

A Brescia pass was intercepted at the Crusader 45 on the ensuing possession. A Fuller 5-yard run with just under two minutes into the final period extended the lead to 47-7.

Both teams substituted reserves liberally throughout the game's final 12 minutes. Holy Cross drove to the Colgate one but on fourth down the defense stiffened and kept the Crusaders out of the end zone.

For the Raiders, backup quarterback Zach Osborne led the team in rushing with 44 yards on just six carries. Brescia was 17 for 27 passing for 125 yards. Treyvhon Saunders had the most receiving yards with four catches for 46. Defensively, Michael Slivka led Colgate with seven tackles with six being solo stops. Cole Kozlowski and Nick Marsh each had two tackles resulting in Crusader losses.

UP NEXT
Colgate will travel to Ithaca, N.Y., Saturday, Sept. 30, for its annual upstate contest with Cornell, with a 2 p.m. start.