Brown Beats Colgate for First Win of Year

Behind a season-high 444 yards of offense, 351 passing yards from senior quarterback EJ Perry, and a defensive touchdown, the Brown football team rolled past Colgate for a 31-10 victory on Saturday at Richard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium. Sophomore Shane Prevot had a 74-yard fumble return for a touchdown and defensive lineman Brooks Jones caught a two-yard touchdown pass to help highlight the win for Brown. The Bears’ first win moves them to 1-3 on the season, while Colgate drops to 2-4.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
The Bears forced three turnovers in the win and held Colgate to 299 yards of offense, a season-low for the Brown defense.
Prevot and Griffin McGovern each recorded their first career fumble recoveries, while senior Anthony Mastroni also picked up his first fumble recovery of the season.
McGovern, Quincy Eutsay and Camden Gagnon all forced fumbles.
The Bears scored 14 points off the three Raiders miscues.
Perry threw for a season-high 351 yards while throwing a pair of touchdown passes, and rushing for another score.
Eight different Bears caught passes in the win. Jones’ two-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter also served as his first career reception.
Sophomore Graham Walker hauled in six catches for 89 yards one touchdown. Junior Wes Rockett had five receptions and a game-high 95 yards. Junior Sutton Hayes added eight catches for 71 yards.
Freshman Jordan DeLucia led the Bears on the ground with 41 rushing yards.
Brown continued its dominance on later down, going 8-for-13 on third down and converting both of its fourth down attempts.
Clayton Perrin had a team-high eight tackles and Jason Medeiros added seven.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Brown jumped on the board on the opening drive of the game with a 23-yard field goal from Christopher Maron. On the ensuing Colgate drive, Brown took advantage of its second takeaway of the season when Gagnon stripped the quarterback on a rush, and Prevot scooped it up and returned it 74 yards to paydirt to stake the Bears to a 10-0 lead, which they held through the opening quarter.

Brown fumbled the ball away on the second play of the second quarter, but the defense stood tall and forced a punt. The Bears then embarked on a big 14-play, 91-yard drive that took up 6:05 and pushed the lead to 17-0. The drive was highlighted by a nine-yard pass on fourth down to Walker to move the ball to midfield. Perry later found Zachary Targoff for a 27-yard completion on the sideline to set up first and goal at the five. Three plays later, Perry finished off the drive with a two-yard cutback touchdown run.

The Bears notched their second takeaway of the game on the ensuing Colgate possession when McGovern stripped the receiver and recovered the fumble at the Colgate 35-yard line.

Colgate got on the board on their second drive of the second half, going on a 14-play, 29-yard drive that ended with a 43-yard field goal that made it 17-3.

Brown responded on its next drive, cashing in on a 2nd-and-goal play from the two-yard line, where Jones lined up as an eligible receiver, rolled out to the left and made a leaping catch for his first career catch and touchdown to extend the lead to 24-3 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Bears notched their third takeaway of the game when Eutsay strip sacked Colgate quarterback Michael Brescia and Mastroni picked up the loose ball and returned it 12 yards to set Brown up at their own 26-yard line. Seven plays later, Perry hit Walker over the middle for a 30-yard catch and run for a touchdown that grew the lead to 31-3 with 6:54 remaining.

The Raiders responded with a touchdown of their own, driving 75 yards on 10 plays, capped by a seven-yard run from Brescia, which brought the score to 31-10 after the PAT with 4:25 to play.

QUOTES FROM THE COACH: JAMES PERRY
“It was incredible to watch them build upon some successes they had, but most importantly, the way they practice. We have a lot of senior leaders in the defensive front in particular, and it showed today. I really leaned on them to get this game started properly and they did that for us.”

“I think we’re taking what the defense gives us. The offensive line protected very well. The guys outside caught the ball really well. The No. 1 takeaway is we played with really good enthusiasm today. I’m really proud of the kids for that. To watch them play with that enthusiasm and play fast in all three facets was probably the most fun part of the whole day.”

“We have a great group of kids who practice hard and are the type of football player you want to coach. I was disappointed in myself in how it wasn’t translating to on the field success. It was nice to see us play well at the end of the game last week, and then play how we’re capable of playing today against a good Colgate team.”

Brown has six games remaining on its schedule, all of which are against Ivy League opponents, starting next Saturday with a home showdown against No. 24 Princeton. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.