Football ended its short-lived losing streak by picking up a hard-fought win against St. Francis on Saturday night. This was the first ever matchup between the Bison and the Red Flash, which proved to be a 30-23 win for the Orange and Blue on Senior Night. 

The first quarter started the close brawl with a Bison punt and a Red Flash turnover on downs, followed by a touchdown for the Orange and Blue. The Bison started the trend when Ralph Rucker IV ’26 found TJ Cadden ’27 on a 17-yard pass into the end zone, with teammates Sam Milligan ’27 and Nathan Anderson ’26 each making a reception during the Bison’s 10 play, 72-yard drive. Matt Schearer ’26 held his own, scoring the extra point from the kick, and the Bison led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. 

However, St. Francis responded early in the second with a touchdown of its own in eight plays. The Red Flash led a 63-yard drive and secured the extra point to tie the game. Later in the first half, the Bison pushed to help Schearer score a field goal for an extra three to take the lead again, 10-7. Nevertheless, the Red Flash did not relent and quickly scored their second touchdown of the game, ending the half ahead of the Orange and Blue, 14-10. 

Despite trailing behind, the Bison continued their efforts in the third. The Orange and Blue defense pushed back against St. Francis, limiting a possible touchdown drive to a field goal for the opponents. Now trailing behind 17-10, the Orange and Blue responded with a six-play touchdown drive, where Rucker evaded a blitz attempt to rush into the end zone. After missing the kick to tie, the Red Flash only led by one point. 

“St. Francis did a great job of limiting our run game in the first half,” head coach Dave Cecchini said. “Our offensive coaches made some great adjustments at half time and we were much more effective running the ball in the 3rd and 4th quarters.”

The Bison defense kept limiting St. Francis’ opportunities to score throughout the third quarter and with ten minutes left before the fourth, Michael Cadden ’28 broke away from a tackle to rush 20 yards for the final touchdown of the quarter, bringing the Bison lead back up 22-17.

“Going into the game we really stressed winning the turnover battle and playing a disciplined football game with fewer penalties,” Coach Cecchini shared. “The biggest momentum swing came in the third quarter when Luke Freeman [’26] recovered a fumble in St. Francis territory for our first takeaway of the game.”

The final quarter of the game was no less close than the rest of the night, as St. Francis worked to score halfway through, bringing them up by a point. However, the Orange and Blue were fueled to win the game, as Rucker drove the Bison 68 yards down the field and then delivered the ball to Tariq Thomas ’28 for the final seven-yard run of the night. Also making their two-point try, the Bison went up 30-23 with five minutes to play in the game. The game ended when Brad Gerken ’27 prevented St. Francis’ final touchdown attempt with an interception in the end zone in the last second of the game.

The Bison continue their season at home with Patriot League play on Saturday, Oct. 4 against Richmond.