PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – For the second straight week, the University of Rochester football team nearly mounted a second half comeback, only to fall just short against Union College on Saturday, dropping a 14-10 Liberty League conference contest at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
Union (7-2, 6-0) is now winners of seven straight games and sits atop the Liberty League standings as the lone unbeaten in the conference. Rochester falls to 5-4 overall on the season and is 2-4 in the Liberty League, with the 'Jackets hitting the road at St. Lawrence in the season finale next week.
 
The Garnet Chargers got the scoring started late in the low-scoring first half when Patch Flanagan hit Dan Quinn for a 6-yard touchdown through the air. That was the lone touchdown of the opening 30 minutes, as Union went to the locker room up 7-0.
 
Rochester's best drive of the opening half was thwarted by a fumble, one of four turnovers on the day for the Yellowjackets. Quarterback Jett Genovese converted a third down deep in Rochester territory to keep the drive alive and later completed two long passes to Jackson Kane to reach the Union 30, but on the second reception, Kane was stripped the football, with Union's Alex Carucci falling on it for the turnover.
 
After the halftime break, the teams both traded a 3-and-out drive to open the second half.
 
Rochester got on the board midway through the third on a 25-yard field goal from first-year Seungyoon Shin. The drive was aided by a short field after a Union bad snap was loose on the ground, with senior linebacker Daniel Santos falling on it for the Yellowjackets at the Union 36-yard line.
 
The first play after the fumble was a Shawn Bellenger pass to T.J. Shifflet for 18 yards to reach the red zone. A pass to Aidan Papantonis quickly got Rochester inside the 10-yard line, but the drive stalled out from there, with Shin being able to connect on the field goal to put the 'Jackets on the board.
 
Union was able to answer Rochester's first score with another touchdown on its next drive, using 12 plays to go 73 yards, while chewing up 7:31 of clock in the process. The Flanagan to Quinn connection scored once again, this time from 15 yards out on third down play.
 
Rochester's best drive of the day came in the fourth quarter, with the Yellowjackets finally getting into the endzone on a Bellenger 5-yard rush over the left end to trim the lead to four after Shin's extra point. The possession featured another big play to Kane up the right side and a 4th-down conversion to the tight end. Papantonis also hauled in a 22-yard catch to reach the Union 5-yard line, setting up the Bellenger TD run.
 
On Union's next possession, Victor Little had a huge sack on third down forcing the Garnet Chargers to punt, keeping momentum on Rochester's side.
 
With time ticking under four minutes, Bellenger hit Papantonis on a bomb over the middle of the field, converting a 3rd-and-10 play for 49 yards, reaching the Union 18-yard line. A pair of Bellenger rushes up the left side got the Yellowjackets to a goal-to-go situation from the eight.
 
On the first down play, Bellenger looked left into the endzone for Papantonis, but the senior wide out was battling with Union defender Matt Mitchell though a lot of contact at the pylon. Mitchell won the position ended up jumping in front for the interception, thwarting Rochester's possible go-ahead TD.
 
The Yellowjackets did not give up though, stopping Union again on three plays to force a punt and get the ball back with under a minute left in the game.
 
Bellenger hit Kane for a solid completion on first down to reach Union territory and after an incomplete pass and a short gain to Papantonis, Bellenger saw another pass attempt picked off by Jordan Black, sealing the 'Jackets fate in the contest.
 
Overall, Rochester won the yardage battle decisively, outgaining Union 349 to 217 on the day. Bellenger completed 22 of 39 passes for 266 yards, with both Kane and Papantonis finishing with over 100 yards receiving. Kane caught 9 balls for 116 yards, while Papantonis secured 10 catches for 147 yards.
 
Union's Flanagan finished with 115 yards passing and 2 touchdowns while adding 56 rushing yards to rank as the games leader in that category.
 
Defensively, Santos led Rochester with 16 tackles and a fumble recovery, adding 3.5 tackles for loss. Little ended with nine tackles and a sack, while Luke Herter chipped in seven tackles, a forced fumble and pass break up.
 
Mitchell, Dywane Hids, Ryan Grenier and Logan Miller ended up leading the Union defense with seven tackles each. Mitchlle, John Droggittis and Black had interceptions, with Carucci securing a fumble recovery.