McCray, Depadua lead Bryant to 40-10 win at Wagner

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Senior running back Ricardo McCray (Middletown, R.I.) rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns and classmate Jose Depadua (Frederick, Md.) posted a pair of scores to lead the Bryant University football team to a dominating 40-10 victory over Wagner on Saturday afternoon at Hameline Field.

The Bulldogs (5-4, 3-1 NEC) scored on each of their first two possession and built a 26-0 lead on their way to a key victory over the Seahawks (0-9, 0-4). With the win, the Black and Gold now control their own fate and are one step closer to their first-ever regular-season title.

A year after being held to -5 yards rushing, McCray posted his sixth 100-yard game of the year and the fourth in the last five games. He carried the ball 23 times, averaged 6.0 yards per carry and is two yards shy of becoming the first player since Jordan Brown in 2011 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Depadua enjoyed the best game of his career as well, catching five passes for 75 yards and a score while returning three kicks for 182 yards, including a 94-yard return for a score.

Bryant got down to business right from the start, scoring four plays into the game. Junior QB Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) converted a 15-yard pass to Depadua on third down and then hit junior Taylor Barthelette (East Longmeadow, Mass.) over the middle. Barthelette made one man miss and then raced down the field for a 62-yard score.

The Bulldogs got the ball right back as Charles Keenan (Tyngsborough, Mass.) recovered a fumble at the Bryant 39 on Wagner's second play of the game. Easton wasted little time, firing a 35-yard pass to Chad Ward (Delray Beach, Fla.) to put the ball at the Wagner 26. Two plays later, Easton threw a perfect pass to the corner of the endzone and Depadua made an excellent running grab for the 24-yard score.

Bryant's defense held Wagner in check for the remainder of the quarter and the Bulldog offense was able to add a late score. The Bulldogs took over at their own 21 and drove 79 yard in nine plays to make it 20-0. Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Depadua had big catches to open the drive and McCray ripped of a 31-yard run to put the ball at the Wagner 10. Three plays later, Joe Fine (Cumberland, R.I.) got open in the flat, caught the pass from Easton and scored his first-career touchdown from seven yards.

The two teams played a scoreless second quarter before the Black and Gold were able to put the game away with a 13-point third quarter. Wagner got the ball to open the second half but senior Karl Sery (Waltham, Mass.) intercepted Alex Thomson on the first play of the quarter to give Bryant the ball at the Seahawks' 40. A pass interference put the ball inside the 15 and McCray capped the quick four-play drive with a 13-yard TD run to make it 26-0.

Wagner finally got on the board late in the third quarter with an efficient five-play, 77-yard drive. Ryan Owens made a 20-yard reception on the second play of the drive and then capped it with a 43-yard scoring play.

Depadua gave the Bulldogs the momentum back immediately, however. Wagner decided to kick to the speedster and Depadua exploded downfield for his second kick return TD of the year. He now has three in his career.

The Seahawks made it 33-10 on a Bryan Maley 32-yard field goal but another big return from Depadua set up another Bryant score. Depadua took the ensuing kickoff 76 yards to the Wagner 22 and McCray raced in from 13 yards on the second play to make it 40-10.

Bryant put up 401 yards of total offense and held Wagner to 249 yards. Easton finished the game 15-of-26 for 236 yards, three TDs and an interception. With the performance, Easton posted the fourth 2,000-yard passing season in program history and became just the fifth QB in school history to throw for over 4,000 yards.

Defensively, senior Aaron Dixon (Danbury, Conn.) posted nine tackles to become the eighth player in program history to record 200 career tackles and the first since 2011. He now has 204 career stops. Junior Patrick Kenney (Camarillo, Calif.) finished with a team-leading 10 tackles, forced a fumble and also recovered a fumble for Bryant. Freshman Thomas Costigan (Stamford, Conn.) registered a career-high three sacks in the game.

With two games remaining, Bryant will welcome Sacred Heart to Bulldog Stadium next Saturday for a crucial NEC contest. The game will kick at 12:04 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN3. Bryant will honor its senior class prior to the game.