PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester football team rallied past visiting Hartwick College with 10 points in the fourth quarter to earn a 19-13 victory in the home finale on Saturday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
Rochester's win pushes its record to 3-6 on the season, with Hartwick falling to 2-7.
 
The Yellowjackets dominated the time of possession in this one, holding the ball for over 40 minutes. UR's defense also provided a strong effort, holding the Hawks to just seven first downs and 166 total yards.
 
UR meanwhile, finished with 337 yards of offense, 230 of it on the ground courtesy of Will Varney, Daniel Papantonis, Jake Adelmann and Ryan Rose. Varney produced the bulk of the yards, finishing with a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown, recording his third straight 100-plus yard game. Papantonis added 64 yards and a touchdown.
 
Rose also passed for 107 yards, 73 of which went to junior Trey Johnson who finished the game with eight receptions.
 
UR started the game marching 62 yards in just five plays on its opening drive of the game following a Hartwick 3-and-out. Varney had a big 53-yard scamper up the left sideline and punched it into the end zone two plays later for the Rochester 7-0 lead.
 
After a second straight Hartwick 3-and-out, the Yellowjackets offense again reached the red zone, but Rose forced a pass into traffic and saw it intercepted in the end zone by Hartwick's Bryan Grimes, thwarting the scoring chance.
 

On the ensuing drive, Hartwick reached the Yellowjacket 29-yard line and attempted a 46-yard field goal with Nick Andrade, but the try was blocked by a charging Bradley Beckwith inside, keeping the Hawks off the board.
 
It was a similar situation on UR's next offensive possession, but a Jordan Laudani blocked field goal resulted in a Hartwick touchdown. Richie Mercurio charged through the line on the 42-yard attempt and stuffed the kick, with Owen Lawler picking up the ball for a scoop-and-score 75-yard touchdown.
 
Rochester's next drive was another Rose interception, setting up the Hawks near midfield. Hartwick got a big 42-yard pass from Kyle Szokoli to Nate Rath on the first play to quickly reach the Rochester red zone. Three plays later, Szokoli punched in a 1-yard touchdown putting the Hawks up 13-7.
 
On the PAT, J.T. Monahan reached up and blocked the Andrade kick, with Jordy Tawa getting the ball and returning it to the other end zone for a 2-point play, making the score 13-9, which was the score as the teams headed into halftime.
 
Neither team could generate much in the way of offense in the third quarter, with Rochester starting a strong drive late in the period.
 
The 10-play, 42-yard drive chewed up over five minutes of clock spanning the third and fourth quarters, but Hartwick's defense stopped Papantonis three times from inside five and Rose once on a QB sneak from the 1-yard line, maintaining the four-point lead.
 
The Yellowjacket defense forced another 3-play drive for the Hartwick offense, immediately getting the ball back to the offense for what proved to be a go-ahead scoring drive following a big 64-yard punt from Andrade.
 
UR's ground game was key in the drive, with Varney and Papantonis combining for 66 of the 72-yard drive which took six and a half minutes off the clock. Papantonis notched his ninth touchdown of the season, plowing in from five yards out to put UR ahead 16-13 with under five minutes to play.
 
On the next Hartwick play from scrimmage, Caden Cole and Braydon Bush came up with a big turnover for the Yellowjacket defense, forcing and recovering a fumble following a pass completion to Carlvin McDonald.
 
Rochester returned to its rushing attack, but Hartwick forced a field goal attempt from 30 yards out by Laudani, keeping the game within one score. The UR sophomore connected on the kick, his eighth of the season, moving him into a tie for third most in a single-season at Rochester.
 
A UR personal foul penalty on the kickoff set up Hartwick near midfield, but the Yellowjackets defensive line forced Szokoli into several rushed throws over the final few plays, holding off the Hawks for the win.
 
Szokoli ended 12-for-22 passing for 122 yards for Hartwick. McDonald was the teams leading rusher at 32 yards, while Naquan Bradshaw finished with three catches for 44 yards receiving.
 
Defensively for UR, Nolan Ragland was the leading tackler with seven stops, including four solo. Cole had six tackles and the forced fumble while Monahan ended with six tackles, one tackle for loss, one blocked kick and one QB hurry. Beckwith had a block, hurry and TFL to go along with five stops.
 
Rochester concludes its regular season next Saturday with a road contest against Hobart College.