Bison football took on Holy Cross this past Saturday in the EBW Classic at Fitton Field in Worcester, Mass.

Bucknell entered the game 0-4, and Holy Cross came in at a scary 5-0 looking to make it six in a row.

The Crusaders got off to a hot start, as they went up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Bison had quarterback Nick Semptimphelter ‘24 in who ended his campaign completing seven of 15 passing attempts for 60 yards and an interception.

Bucknell struggled against the dominant rushing attack of the Crusaders, as Holy Cross ran for 314 yards (511 yards of total offense), averaging 6.3 yards a carry. The final score was 57-0 in favor of Holy Cross.

Danny Meuser ‘24 had a solid day for the Orange & Blue, picking up 73 rushing yards on 14 carries, including a longest run of 29 yards.

Bucknell’s defense had some highlights on the day. Chris Sims ‘25 had his first interception of the season, and Brent Jackson ‘23 had a game-high nine tackles. 

“It was a frustrating game for us because you never want to lose to a league opponent by that much,” offensive lineman R.J. Mehan ‘23 said. “They’re a top 10 team in FCS right now, but at the end of the day, we should always be able to compete on the same level as other teams in the Patriot League. We also feel like we have a lot of talented guys but we’ve been struggling to play consistently throughout games this year and Holy Cross wasn’t any different in that regard.”

The Bison fall to 0-5 and are still in search of their next win. Bucknell’s next matchup comes at Yale this Saturday at noon.

“As a team we feel like we’re so close to having a breakthrough and everyone is still bought in and working hard. Now we’re shifting our focus to doing everything we can to beat Yale and win out for the rest of the season,” Megan said.