The Brown Bears win with “chaos” —
SMITHFIELD, R.I – “That’s just the way we play, we embrace chaos” said wide receiver Wes Rockett post game.
And chaos was exactly what the second half of play between the Brown Bears and Bryant Bulldogs was. It was a fight to the finish for the in-state rivals, with two touchdowns in the last two minutes of play. The Brown Bears ultimately ended off on top getting into the endzone with only 13 seconds to go, final score 29-25.
The game winning touchdown was sophomore tight-end Dillon Golden who found an open pocket in the endzone. This wasn’t just his first touchdown of the game but rather his first ever collgiant touchdown.
“I do think Graham [Walker] and Wes [Rockett] were the big threats. That was my first touchdown too so they probably weren’t expecting that,” said Golden, “Great way to start, great touchdown and great throw.”
The Bears came out of the gates hot, setting a fast tempo from the first snap. The first score of the game came at the end of the first quarter, Stockton Owen had the run for 2 yds for a touchdown. But that was just the beginning of the statement the Bears made in the first half.
With just 16 seconds left of the first quarter, Sam Smith recovered a fumble on Bryants 28 yard-line on the punt return giving the Bears great field positioning and momentum heading into the second quarter. And that momentum paid off, within the first minute of the second quarter, Jake Willcox toWes Rockett for 3 yds gave the bears a 13-3 lead after the extra point was blocked by the Bulldogs.
Including the 3 yard run, Wes Rockett ended the night off with an impressive stat line. Rockett racked up 121 yards over 8 receptions, but rather than taking the credit, he gives all the props to his teammates.
“We had to capitalize on the opportunities that we got. The defense gave us a lot of chances tonight but luckily we came on top and did enough to win the game.” said Rockett.
The Bulldogs fought until the finish, crawling back into the game both before the half and the fourth quarter. With 8 seconds to go in the first half, Jalen Powel trotted into the endzone for 6 yards, elevating the score 16-10 after the first half of play.
A controversial final two minutes also resulted in a Bryant fumble being changed to an incomplete pass, and resulting in Ryan Clark running for 5 yards and getting a touchdown for the bulldogs. This put Bryant up three after a successful two point conversion with just over a minute to go.
Overall, Bears Head Coach James Perry was proud of his team for playing the full 60-minutes and showing resilience in their home opener against a strong Rhode Island opponent.
“I'm really proud of how the guys handled that. They worked so hard all through training camp,” Coach Perry said, “They played a terrific team, tons of talent on that field and I'm really proud of how our guys handled it. You're playing a full scholarship team with great talent, I think it will be something to build off of.
Brown has a quick turnaround, playing Harvard on Friday and Bryant will be playing Princeton on Saturday.
