Grove City, Pa. (November 19) – The FDU-Florham football team fell to Grove City College by a 31-14 final in the 2022 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) James Lynah Bowl. Today's matchup was the first in program history between the Devils and the Wolverines and marked the second straight ECAC bowl game for FDU-Florham.
Despite today's result, the Devils end back-to-back campaigns with winning records since the 1993 and 1994 seasons after last year's 7-4 record and this year's 6-5 mark. Today's game also marked the fourth time in program history that FDU-Florham has been selected to compete in an ECAC bowl game (1992 vs. Wesley, 1997 vs. Wilkes, 2021 vs. Saint Vincent College, 2022 vs. Grove City).
In today's game, FDU-Florham quarterback
Ryon Thomas (Mattapoisett, Mass.) completed 23 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The two touchdowns were caught by
Nayson Brown (Red Bank, NJ) and
Eric Castorina (Sparta, NJ). Defensively,
Tyrell Pereira (North Brunswick, NJ) registered 13 total tackles, while
Joe Swindasz (Hamilton, NJ) tallied eight tackles and returned an interception 39 yards.
FDU-Florham won the toss, deferred, and Grove City took advantage with a touchdown on the game's opening drive that spanned 13 plays, 73 yards and over six minutes. The Devils immediately answered on their first possession with a 12 play, 73 yard drive that lasted over five minutes and that was capped by a four yard touchdown by Castorina. Castorina ended his collegiate career with touchdowns in back-to-back games.
Grove City posted a pair of touchdowns as Ayden Gutierrez rushed one yard into the end zone and Logan Pfeuffer completed a pass to Ryan Heckathorn in the end zone as the Wolverines held a 21-7 edge at the break.
FDU-Florham made it a one possession game on its second drive of the third quarter after Grove City turned the ball over on fourth down following a bad snap on the punt. The Devils drove 63 yards that was highlighted by a 22 yard catch by Brown midway through the drive. Brown capped the drive with a two yard touchdown reception from Thomas.
Grove City pulled away for the win in the fourth quarter with a 26-yard field goal and a touchdown in today's 34-14 final from Robert E. Thorne Field.
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FDU-Florham is currently running a campaign in honor of former Devils men's basketball head coach, men's golf coach and athletic director Roger Kindel.
All donations will go directly towards funding a complete renovation of the basketball and volleyball court inside the Ferguson Recreation Center with his name dawned on both sides. If you are interested in reading more about the campaign and/or making a donation to the cause, please follow the link here: https://support.fdu.edu/athletics/devils/giving/roger-kindel
