Happy Homecoming: Holy Cross football shuts down Colgate in Patriot League opener

WORCESTER — Holy Cross, which yielded 58 first-half points over its first three games this season, emphasized starting faster on defense in Saturday’s Patriot League opener against Colgate.

The Raiders sustained a long scoring drive on its first possession, but after that, the Holy Cross "D" was shutdown.

HC held Colgate to 17 yards in the third quarter, and with fifth-year linebacker Jacob Dobbs leading an inspired effort on that side of the ball and the Holy Cross offense doing its thing, the Crusaders dominated the Raiders, 47-7, at Fitton Field.

“Their first drive was not ideal,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said, “but after that, everybody started playing a different brand of football. (Dobbs) was playing a little possessed out there.”

Dobbs, who registered a game-high 12 tackles and a sack, was the recipient of the Johnny Turco Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding player in HC’s Homecoming Game.

The No. 6 Crusaders (3-1, 1-0) scored more than 40 points for the third time this year and rolled up a season-high 507 yards.

Junior Justin Shorter had seven receptions for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and junior running back Jordan Fuller carried 15 times for 123 yards and two TDs. It was the second time this season HC had a 100-yard receiver and a 100-yard rusher in the same game.

With two touchdown receptions, senior wide receiver Jalen Coker tied Sean Gruber for the all-time Holy Cross mark with 22. Senior quarterback Matthew Sluka tied a career high with the four TD passes.

Coker’s feat is especially impressive considering his team as a freshman played just four games during the spring 2021 COVID season. Coker entered the week tied for the FCS lead in TD receptions with four.

“He’s a playmaker,” Chesney said. “You put a ball up there, and he’s coming down with it. He runs crisp routes, understands coverages, and connects really well with his timing with Matt. It’s a hard task to cover that guy, and the history books agree.”

HC won its Patriot League opener for the fifth straight season and extended its winning streaks against PL foes to 18 games and against FCS opponents to 19 games. The Crusaders have won 12 straight home games.

Holy Cross won its fourth straight over Colgate (0-4, 0-1).

HC scored on its opening drive, less than three minutes in, on senior Tyler Purdy’s 42-yard run up the middle.

On its scoring drive, Colgate converted three third downs and one fourth down, before junior quarterback Michael Brescia plowed into the end zone from 10 yards, and it was tied, 7-7.

The Raiders covered 76 yards on that opening series, and had just 90 total yards the rest of the first half. They finished with 280.

“We responded a lot better in the first half after that first drive,” Dobbs said. “I thought we settled in really well.”

Three freshmen, lineman Brice Stevenson and safeties Stu Smith and Donovan Comestro, started on defense for HC. Freshman cornerback Eli Thompson had the first two interceptions of his career.

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“Watching these young kids grow and compete,” Dobbs said, “there’s no fear. They go in, and they play football. It looks like they’re not freshmen. I give a lot of credit to the young guys who step up on a weekly basis and absolutely play out of their minds.”

Holy Cross has allowed 17 points in the second half over their four games.

Shorter, who was coming off a preseason injury and had just eight catches for 70 yards in HC’s first three games, was a focal point of the offense.

“Every game I go in with the same mindset,” Shorter said, “get open for Sluka and make plays when the ball is thrown to me.”

Shorter had four TDs and more than 400 receiving yards last year, and his return to form makes HC’s offense even more dangerous.

“When it’s said and done,” Chesney said, “who do you cover?”

Chesney complimented his kick coverage and punt rush teams.

“It was a decently complete game,” Chesney said. “We would like to have that first drive back, but after that, I thought we settled in and did our thing.”

Freshman defensive lineman William Robinson tackled Brescia for a 2-yard loss on the last play of the first quarter, and the Crusaders stopped the Raiders on fourth-and-1 at midfield two plays later.

Fuller keyed the ensuing drive and scored his eighth rushing TD of the season from 1 yard.

The Raiders punted on their next two possessions. Late in the second quarter, Dobbs sacked Brescia for a 2-yard loss on second down and, on the next play, chased him out of the pocket and forced him into an incompletion.

HC got the ball back with 1:36 left and went to work quickly. A pair of completions to Shorter helped set up the Crusaders inside the Colgate 5, and Sluka hooked up with Coker for a TD and 26-7 halftime lead.

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross shuts down Colgate in Patriot League opener