Bison football suffered their first loss of the shortened Spring season against Fordham at Christy-Mathewson Memorial Stadium on Saturday, April 10. The Bison led by a touchdown midway through the third quarter, but the Rams scored three unanswered touchdowns in the remainder of the second half and hung on to win 31-17.

There were many bright spots, despite the tough loss. Coleman Bennett ’24 and Tyler Beverett ’24 both scored their first collegiate touchdowns and kicker Ethan Torres ’21 notched a career-long field goal.

Logan Bitikofer ’21 once again saw the majority of action in the two-quarterback system that Coach Cecchini has tended to favor this season. The senior went 14-25 for 145 yards and 2 interceptions. He struggled at times to find open receivers against Fordham’s feisty corners and press coverage, but maintained a calm presence in the pocket as usual. Gavin Pringle ’24 had nine tackles to lead the Bison defense, which suffered greatly due to the four turnovers on offense.

Defensive end Roger Mellado ’21 said, “Last week’s outcome wasn’t what we expected but it gave us an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and prepare for a championship game this weekend. With that being said we’ve had a great week of practice this week and the guys are really excited to do something a lot of teams haven’t gotten a chance to do here and that’s winning a championship and making the playoffs.”

The loss could prove to be beneficial for the Bison, who will now be battle-tested as they play host to Holy Cross in the first ever Patriot League Championship Game this Saturday, April 17.