Rhode Island football dominates in Saturday's intrastate clash with Bryant
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Bryant swung and missed while attempting to throw an early knockout punch. The University of Rhode Island responded accordingly.
The Bulldogs came up short on a fourth down in the red zone, passing up a chance to pad their lead with a short field goal. The Rams opened the floodgates from there on a soggy Saturday afternoon at Meade Stadium, dominating on defense while capturing this in-state rivalry showdown.
Kasim Hill had the hot hand in the pocket early and URI starred on the other side of the ball over the majority of the final three quarters. The 24th-ranked Rams pulled away for a 49-26 triumph in front of a sellout crowd on Parents Weekend.
More: Jake Willcox has a career day as Brown football beats Central Connecticut
“It’s a Rhode Island rival,” URI linebacker AJ Pena said. “Throughout practice, we emphasize how important this game is.”
Bryant held a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter and faced a fourth down at the URI 12. The Bulldogs sent Zevi Eckhaus up the middle on a quarterback sneak and he was pushed back for no gain. The Rams took over on downs and had ultimately turned the momentum for good.
“I thought he got it on the surge,” Bryant coach Chris Merritt said. “We told the kids going into the game we were going to be aggressive. We were going to play to win.”
More: Bryant basketball coach Jared Grasso is on leave from the program. No reason given
URI needed just 1:34 to cover 88 yards, with Hill finding a pair of deep connections with John Erby. The second went for 57 yards down the middle and the Rams had a 14-13 edge with 8:46 left in the half. It was the start of 28 unanswered points, as URI raced away to a third win in as many seasons against Bryant.
“That’s a big stop,” URI coach Jim Fleming said. “They were battling. They had a chance to pop it in there. It made a big, big difference for us.”
The Bulldogs (2-3) went nearly 45 minutes of game time between offensive points. Ryan Clark’s 2-yard rush and Ridge Docekal’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Prochaska sandwiched 10 empty possessions. Bryant covered seven total yards while punting eight times, throwing an interception and kneeling on the ball into halftime facing a 28-13 deficit.
“That’s what we build off of as a defense — confidence,” Pena said. “Just taking one play at a time.”
The Rams (3-2) were coming off a 35-9 road dud at Villanova and looked to flip the script from the outset. URI won the coin toss, elected to receive the opening kickoff and threw deep on the game’s first play. Hill found former Classical star Marquis Buchanan down the middle for 39 yards, and former North Kingstown standout Gabe Sloat capped the quick drive with a 1-yard smash up the middle.
“Coach Flem put his faith in us,” Hill said. “We went out there and executed. We were excited when we heard kick return was going out there first.”
Buchanan led the receiving corps with nine catches for 111 yards and Hill hit three different pass-catchers for touchdowns. He also slipped around the right side for a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, as URI geared for a Governor’s Cup battle with Brown and a potential in-state sweep next week on the East Side.
“It’s great winning against an in-state rival,” Buchanan said. “That’s one down. We’ve got another one next week.”
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island football beats Bryant University Saturday Meade Stadium
