On Nov. 14, 15 seniors on the football team were honored in their final home game of the season against Holy Cross. The Bison fell to the Crusaders 23-7, placing the team at 4-6 and 1-4 within the Patriot League.

Despite the loss, the Orange and Blue were still able to hold Holy Cross to just 23 points, which is substantial considering the Crusaders have averaged approximately 40 points in their last four games. Bryan Marine ’19 had a career-high of 12 tackles for the Bison and Abdullah Anderson ’18 also had a monumental game with a career-high of three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Even though the Bison were able to encumber the Crusaders’ offense, the Orange and Blue found little success on their own offensive front.

“We were trailing Holy Cross the entire game, and our offense failed to consistently drive the ball down the field. In the second half, I thought our defense did a great job of containing Holy Cross’s explosive offense; however, we failed to put up enough points on the board offensively,” Bobby Kaslander ’16 said.

The Bison were unable to cross the end zone throughout the entire first half and by halftime, they trailed 20-0. The Orange and the Blue showed signs of retaliation against the Crusaders in the second half when they finally put themselves on the board. On the second drive of the second half, Andrew Owers ’19 caught R.J. Nitti’s ’17 pass to complete the three-yard touchdown to make the game 20-7.

The Bison had several other opportunities to belly up to the Crusaders but were unable to capitalize on them, due in part to Holy Cross’s strong defense. The Crusaders were able to hold the Bison offense to just 282 yards. In the end, Nitti completed just 23 of 39 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown, and was sacked seven times for a net loss of 78 yards.

Although the Bison offense did not perform well collectively, Will Carter ’17 had his own notable performance on offense. Carter managed 110 yards on nine catches, making that the fifth game he had at least 100 yards. In just three seasons, Carter has recorded a total of 1,914 yards, placing him fourth on the program’s all-time list. If Carter can record 86 yards against Colgate on Nov. 21, he will be the third player in Bison history to reach 2,000 yards.

“As much as I want 2,000 yards, I’m more focused on putting the team in a position to win the game. If I have 40 yards in a win, we’ll have to wait until next year. But, I would love to have a big game and win this Saturday, and I plan on working my hardest so both can happen,” Carter said.

The Orange and Blue will wrap up the season by traveling to Hamilton, N.Y. on Nov. 21 to take on Colgate. Although Colgate has already secured the Patriot League Championship, the Bison are not letting up and are still looking to improve.

“After watching the game film the other day, we learned from our mistakes and are now focusing entirely on our next opponent, Colgate. Colgate has already clinched the Patriot League Championship, so our goal now is to go out next Saturday, beat them, and end our season with a win,” Kaslander said.