Bucknell led 7-3 after the first quarter, but Merrimack scored 28 points in the next two quarters to beat Bucknell, 31-21, on Saturday night at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg.
Going into halftime, Merrimack led Bison 17-14 on a 25-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Corbett with 1 minute, 46 seconds left in the half. From there, Merrimack never trailed and continued to hold off Bucknell.
The Bisons’ only score of the second half came when Sam Milligan caught a 26-yard pass from Michael Hardiway with 46 seconds left to cut the deficit to 10.
Ralph Rucker IV completed 16 of 27 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bison but was intercepted twice. The Bison couldn’t establish a ground game on Saturday. Tariq Thomas led Bucknell with 51 yards rushing and Michael Cadden had 36 yards, but the team was held to just 96 total yards.
Meanwhile, Merrimack rushed for 258 yards, with Corbett rushing 19 times for 166 yards and a touchdown for an average of 8.7 yards per attempt. Merrimack’s Aiden Pereira was 11 of 15 for 147 yards.
Merrimack outgained Bucknell in total yards, 503-270.
Bucknell will host Marist College next week, looking to improve to a .500 record after dropping to 1-2 with Saturday’s loss.
Merrimack 3 14 14 0 — 31
Bucknell 7 7 0 7 — 21
First Quarter
MC- Liam Davis field goal 19, 7:55.
B-Josh Gailey 10 pass from Ralph Rucker IV (Matt Shearer kick), 4:04.
Second Quarter
MC-Malachi Anthony 2 run (Davis kick), 9:23.
B-Rucker IV 11 runs (Shearer kick), 8:35
MC-Jermaine Corbett 25 run (Davis kick), 1:46.
Third Quarter
MC-Brendon Wyatt, 13 pass from Aiden Pereira (Davis kick), 10:43.
MC-Nicholas Lennon 26 fumble return (Davis kick), 8:04.
Fourth Quarter
B-Sam Milligan, 23 pass from Michael Hardiway (Shearer kick), 0:46.
Team Statistics
MC B
First down 21 21
Rush yards 45-258 33-96
Passing yards 147 164
11-15-0 17-30-2 …
Total yards 503 270
Fumble lost 1-0 2-1
Penalty Yards 7-65 4-32
Personal Statistics
Rushing – Merrimack, J. Corbett 19-166 TD, B. Wyatt 9-40, A. Pereira 7-31, M. Latham 5-15, D. Wadley 3-4, M. Anthony 1-2 TD, J. McDonald 1-0. Bucknell, T. Thomas 7-51, M. Cadden 5-36, L. Bush 2-11, E. Weatherly 1-5, P. Neal 4-3, D. Museer 1-0, R. Rucker IV 15-(minus 10) TD.
Passes – A. Pereira 11-15-0 147 TD. Bucknell, R. Rucker IV 16-27-2 141 TD, M. Hardy 1-3-0 23 TD.
RECEIVING – Merrimack, D. Wadley 3-73; T. Yoakum 2-26; J. Mason 2-15; B. Wyatt 1-13 TD; T. Shorter 1-10; M. Wilson 1-9; J. Corbett 1-1. Bucknell, E. Weatherly 6-77; S. Milligan 1-23 TD; N. Anderson 2-21; J. Gailey 3-17 TD; T. Thomas 2-13; P. Neal 1-9; D. Anderson 1-3; CC Kleinbacker 1-1.
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