FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Senior running back Bruce Burley (Mansfield, MA) scampered into the end zone from nine yards out to lift the Bridgewater State College Bears to a come from behind 42-35 victory over the Framingham State Rams today at Maple Street Field.
With the win, the Bears even their record at 3-3 and move to 2-1 in the New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division, while the Rams, who are also 3-3, fall to 1-2 in the division.
Burley, who finished the day with 228 yards on 27 carries and 4 touchdowns, moved into fifth place on the Bears all-time rushing list as he became the seventh player in BSC football history to crack the 2,000-yard barrier. Burley, who now has 2,181 yards rushing in just three seasons with the Bears, also moved into eighth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list (176 points) with his four touchdowns.
Junior running back Dave Leach (Chelmsford, MA) led the Rams offense with 4 touchdowns, 3 rushing and 1 receiving, and set a new single season touchdown record. Leach, who has had 4 touchdowns in each of the Rams last three games, now has 14 touchdowns on the year which passes the old mark of 13 which was set in 1991 by Rodd Patten.
The Rams took a commanding lead in the first half as they scored on their first four possessions of the game. Leach hauled in a 13-yard TD pass from senior Bruce Rich (Chelmsford, MA) and then scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards. Sophomore wide out Jonathan Hayes, who finished the day with 8 catches for 115 yards, caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Rich with 11:03 remaining in the first half to give the Rams a 28-7 lead.
Burley, who scored the Bears first touchdown on a 36-yard run with 7:56 left in the first quarter, added a second touchdown on a 10 yard run with 4:44 remaining in the half to cut the Rams lead to 28-14.
The Bears took the second half kickoff and drove 69 yards in 6 plays capped by a Burley 51-yard touchdown run to pull within 7 points after the extra point was converted at 28-21. The Bears defense forced the Rams to fumble at the Bridgewater 23 yard line. The Bears offense capitalized as junior wide receiver Jesse Teixeira (Taunton, MA) caught a 73-yard touchdown strike from senior Tyler D'Ambra (Mansfield, MA) that tied the game at 28-28 with 7:59 remaining in the third quarter.
Leach would give the Rams the lead back at the start of the fourth quarter as he scored on a 5-yard run with 14:14 left in the game. The Bears would answer on their next possession with a touchdown of their own as D'Ambra scampered in from 15 yards out to tie the score at 35-35.
After another Rams fumble, Bridgewater State had the ball on the Framingham 39 yard line with 3:05 remaining. Burley gave the Bears the lead for good with 42 seconds left as he scampered in for his 4th touchdown of the day from 9 yards out for the game winning score.
Leach, who has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the Rams first five games, finished the game with 118 yards on 29 carries and Rich finished with 261 passing yards and 2 TDs.
The Rams return to action next Saturday as they travel to Westfield State for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff, while the Bears host Coast Guard at 1 p.m.